For the ladies eager to find vintage inspired fashion from all walks of life (and moments in history), you’ll want to follow Victoria at Vintagemaedchen_by_victoria. This modern day retro fashion icon focuses on all types of retro fashion from between the 20’s and 60’s, giving you a glimpse into fashion that your grandma, great-grandma, great, great-grandma would have worn. She also has a blog that focuses on books, arts, history and vegan life.
My friend and I are in a vintage girl band called Diamond Darlings. When we first started out, we wanted to conduct a photo shoot in order to use the pictures for our publicity materials, such as our business cards and our website. Luckily my uncle is a professional photographer so we enlisted his help to take vintage style photos of us on our local beach and harbor. Although I wouldn't technically call it a pinup photo shoot, we definitely had elements of pinup girl glamour within our snaps. We even managed to use items that were already in our wardrobes so we didn't have to spend a ton of money on costumes and props.
Pin-up fashion is synonymous to and a combination of Burlesque, Rockabilly and Old Hollywood Glamour in terms of clothes, hair, makeup, shoes and accessories. It's all about being classy yet elegant, flirty without going overboard. It's more on minimalism and simplicity with just a little skin exposure. With a little cleavage men are teased. This style celebrates women, from their curves to their flawless faces. Don't worry if you think you aren't skinny enough to pull off the perfect pin up girl look. The pin-up culture embraces your natural hips and curves.
Swing coats were popular when a lady went out because their fullness helped cover the bulkiness of many dresses. These coats featured fitted shoulders and flared out at the bust line. Most had large buttons all the way down the front. Many had a large belt helping to keep the coat securely closed. Jacques Fath first introduced this coat in the late 1940s, but it grew in popularity during the 1950s as it was easy to hide the baby bump which no self-respecting woman would show. Dior added one to his collection in 1951. You may hope that it rains everyday with this beautiful retro swing coat from Miss Poppy Wear(@misspoppywear).
Do you or did you used to work in an office environment? Then you're bound to own a pencil skirt. The classic pencil skirt is a key piece to bring to a pinup shoot as it's very usable and can be worn with shirts and cardigans or even just with your favorite bra. It is reminiscent of 1950s wiggle dresses that made the wearer walk with a little wiggle in their step.
Read my article Sammy Davis, for complete details, but no fashion designer had more influence on the 1950s fashion than Christian Dior. His influence can be seen in the A-line dress that he introduced in the spring of 1955. Until that point, women had worn fashions with tightly nipped-in waist and broad shoulders. The A-line was seen as radical because of its narrow shoulders, elongated waistline and trumpet-like flared hemline. Take a look at this vintage A-line dress from Rose Wholesale (@rosewholesale_official) to create this look for yourself.
