The classic style of the pin-up originates back from the 1940s. Models like Twiggy and Jean Shrimpton represented a more modern and androgynous version of beauty, with Twiggy’s boyish figure and short haircut becoming iconic. The Poodle Do is a tight and elegant hairstyle where the lady’s hair is first set in curls. The curling techniques vary as to whether you use traditional or modern techniques.
These images were promoted as helping boot the men’s morale and to give them something to fight for. InessaThe first photo evokes the playful, over the shoulder look made inconic in pin-up photography. The second shows off Inessa’s amazing curves in a sexy bikini that has a retro feel with the sailor theme. Dorothy Dandridge was an American actress and singer, as well as the first African-American to be nominated for an academy award. Again, similar to Marilyn Monroe, Betty Grable, and Jayne Mansfield, she was cast as the “blonde bombshell” type. She acted in 47 films over her career before retiring in the 70s.
In her early years, all her roles were small, and shestarred opposite actors such as Leo G Carroll and John Agar. The actress also worked in a few western filmssuch as Taw Edge and Man without a Star. Haver started her career with four musicals shorts atUniversal, one of which was called the Trumpet Serenade and involved the TommyDorsey orchestra. Her first mainstream appearance was in a bikini on the coverof Life Magazine, and after that, she began working on the ABC series HollywoodPalace. Her first major movie role was in Roustabout that also starred ElvisPresley; next, she appeared in the movie A House Is Not a Home, in which sheplayed a prostitute. Nevertheless,she has proven herself as a durable figure in the constantly changing world ofHollywood and has made a name for herself.
June Haver was a sunny blonde actress that was said to bethe next Betty Garble. Haverwas also dubbed as Hollywood’s sweetest star, and on some occasions, herfriends even asked her to turn down the cheery attitude. Jane Russell wasunable to have biological kids, and she stated that it might be due to the backalley abortion she had in her teen years.
Although these images would be a mix of the hollywood starlets or the soldiers loved ones at home, and tended to be racier than the Yank magazine images. In the 1950s it was “in” to have a curvy, hourglass figure, as you’ll see reflected on most of the pin up girls below. Young people all over the country would pin up their favorite models, actresses, singers on their walls, a bit similar to a college dorm today.
She actually became the pin up first model toget a piece of the earnings whenever her picture was posted. She was theinternational standard of beauty well before Marilyn Monroe came onto thescene. Her career as a pinup model was short-lived and didn’t go past the1950s, but that was in no way the end of her career. She later married asuccessful bodybuilder Joe Weider, who was also the creator of Mr and Ms’Olympia. Betty wrote many books on bodybuilding and fitness and is still aleading figure on the topics. Much of the style of pin-up photoshoots and art comes from early burlesque performers such as Josephine Baker.
Historically, Black women in pin-up are still not as common as White women pin-ups. However, the recent revival of pin-up style has propelled many Black women today to be interested and involved with. Making works based on the classic pin-up look to create their own standards of beauty.
Photoshoots often contained the models performing tasks, posing in bathing suits, or lounging. While most people think of Marilyn Monroe when they think of pinup girls, Marilyn Monroe didn’t reach the height of her popularity until later in the 1940s and really the 1950s. However, there were other famous pinup girls that didn’t sport the hourglass figure like Rita Hayworth or Lauren Bacall. Pinup fashion now often refers to the pinup models of the 1940s and 1950s, or even refers to the classic style of 1940s fashion and 1950s fashion.
