The classic style of the pin-up originates back from the 1940s. Due to the shortages of materials during WWII, this period of makeup is considered the "natural beauty" look.[20] The US was immersed in war-time economy, which put distribution restrictions on consumer goods.[21] General rationing was supported; women applied mild amounts of products. Despite the rations, "Women were encouraged to keep buying lipstick and to send letters to the front covered in 'lipstick kisses' to boost the morale of the soldiers."
No longer were women stuck wearing men’s jeans around the house. They could now wear them out in public. Levi, GWG and Wrangler were all household names. Women’s jeans were often lined with plaid fabric and had wide bottoms that teens usually rolled up to show off their bobby socks. Often times, these jeans had large pockets that were outlined with a coordinating color stitching. Look fashionable at your next rockabilly party in a pair of 1950s jeans from Urban Outfitters (@urbanoutfitters).
The majority of pin up hairstyles were quite difficult to make. The girls of that time repeated their hair routines hundreds of times to memorize each step and their sequences. Today you do not need to reinvent the wheel and can just follow the tutorials! There are plenty of them on the Internet, and girls from all over the world use them successfully, and look wonderful on any event that they decided to visit, wearing a pinning up hairstyle. Pin up is one of the most interesting and unique styles to be used for events like weddings, parties with friends, dates, etc. Even an ordinary day will get a fresh coat of paint, if you will take on a bright red scarf with polka dot, so be brave and paint your life with pin up!
You can’t be anything but eye candy in vintage inspired pin up dresses with A-line, pencil or circle skirts that dance with your every step. A wide cinch belt helps define your waist and add a contrasting color to your pinup fashion. The strapless, spaghetti or halter neck pin up dresses are the most popular 50s pinup clothing for summer. Pin up dresses with sleeves are harder to find however with a little crop or cardigan sweater sleeveless dresses are wearable all year long.
From Veronica Lake and Marilyn Monroe in the 1940’s and 1950’s to Dita von Teese today, pin-up girls have been displayed on walls and billboards for generations and admired by men and women alike. No matter their dress size, pin-up girls wear clothes that accentuate their assets, bring out their sexual appeal, and make them look gorgeous, fun, and elegant at the same time. To start channeling your inner pin-up girl, you must balance style with natural beauty, grace, and confidence.
To get the best results from a set, great tools and products are a must. To create a strong curl, you need a small barrel tong. My favorite is from the Babyliss Pro Dial-a-Heat range. I just don’t think you can beat it. Everyone has their own favorite brushes, but I favor a Denman bristle brush or Spornette Wonder Brush and a comb to create this look.
Very similar to the swing coat, many women wore a clutch coat. These coats were highly impractical because they were open all the way down the front without any buttons or zippers. Women would hold them shut with one hand clutched across their front. Many were made to be worn with the sleeves pushed up. Stay warm in the cooler weather with this great choice from the Shopping Channel.
The Pretty Dress Company: As the name suggests, this is the place to find the dress of your dreams. The cuts are extremely ’40s-, ’50s-, and ’60s-leaning, with tucked-in waists and longer hems and pencil skirts. They aren’t cheap, but the quality is amazing. If you’ve been eyeing a gorgeous vintage blogger on Insta, this is where they got that dress.
Lipstick "turned into a symbol of resilient femininity in the face of danger"[25] and was seen as a way to boost morale during the war. The shape of the lip was also iconic of the 1940s. The lips were painted on to look plumper, a broad outline of the lip was added for roundness. This fuller look is known as the "Hunter's Bow", invented by Max Factor.[26] The pin curl is a staple of the pin-up style, "women utilized pin curls for their main hair curling technique".[27] Originating in the 1920s from the "water-waving technique", the hair style of the 1940s consisted of a fuller, gentle curl. The drying technique consists of curling a damp piece of hair, from the end to the root and pin in place. Once the curl is dry, it is brushed through to create the desired soft curl, with a voluminous silhouette.[27] Victory rolls are also a distinctive hairstyle of the pin-up. The Victory roll is curled inward and swept off the face and pinned into place on the top of the head. Soft curls, achieved through the pin curl technique, finish off the look of pin-up.[28] As a makeup style, the classic pin-up underwent a revival in modern fashion. The red lip and winged eyeliner made a re-emergence in 2010, with singer, Katy Perry being the most accessible example of modern pin-up makeup. There is a lack of representation in the media of women of color as pin-up models, even though they were influential to the construction of the style and were just as glamorous.[29] As a makeup style, it is simple and sleek makeup, that is noticeable and glamorous.
Though Marilyn Monroe and Bettie Page are often cited as the classic pin-up, there were many women of color who were also considered to be impactful. In the 1920s two of the most notable Black burlesque dancers were Josephine Baker and Lottie Graves. Despite the little history on Black burlesque dancers, Baker and Graves are a good starting point for evaluating women of color in pin-up. Dorothy Dandridge and Eartha Kitt also added to the pin-up style of their time, using their looks, fame, and personal success. African-American pin-up finally had a platform when the magazine, Jet, was created in 1951. Jet supported pin-up as they had a full page feature called, "Beauty of the Week", where African-American women posed in a swimsuits and such. This was intended to showcase the beauty these women possessed as they lived in a world where their skin color was under constant scrutiny. It was not until 1965 that Jennifer Jackson became the first African American to be published in Playboy as Playmate of the Month. And it was not until 1990 that Playboy's Playmate of the Year was an African-American woman, Renee Tenison. Historically, women of color in pin-up are still not as common as their white counterparts. However, the recent revival of pin-up style has propelled many women of color today to create and dabble with the classic pin-up look to create their own standards of beauty. In Jim Linderman's self-published book, Secret History of the Black Pin Up,[37] he describes the lives and experiences of African-American pin-up models.
That’s where reproduction boutiques come in. Many shops have popped up within the last decade to reproduce items from the post-war time period, some even using original patterns and fabrics. If you’re looking to try out a pillbox hat like Midge Maisel, interested in a classic red lipstick, or thinking of going full pinup, there are lots of options at myriad price points, not to mention styles and sizes for many bodies.
