Photos by: Emily Attarian, Evelyn Kosta and Miss Black Devine
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Photos by: Emily Attarian, Evelyn Kosta and Miss Black Devine
Miss Black Divine
Me considero uma pin up.
Acho que hoje em dia ser pin up é mais algo voltado pra estética e personalidade e eu tento ao máximo trazer isso pro meu dia a dia.
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I consider myself a pin up girl. Currently being a pin up is more related to aesthetic and personality and I do my best to keep it in my lifestyle.
This is a delicate situation because unfortunately the vintage/pin up scene in Brazil is still elitist, conservative and racist so if you don't fit in the pattern, probably you will be excluded and you are going to receive disapproving looks.
Until recently we were a small scene and I believe it began to win strength after the pin ups contests started in São Paulo in 2014, and with growth of social media, which caused more brands to appear aimed at this audience as welll. Currently as the theme "diversity" is on the rise, some people are trying to talk more about it and get into the fight but this is still not reflected even in the middle of the advertisements, so there is still much to do.
Essa é uma situação meio delicada, infelizmente a cena vintage/pin up no Brasil, ainda é elitista, conservadora e racista e se você não se encaixa no padrão, provavelmente será deixado de lado e receberá
olhares de desaprovação.
Até pouco tempo ela era bem pequena e acredito que começou a ganhar força depois que os concursos de Miss Pin up começaram em São Paulo, em 2014, e com o crescimento das redes sociais, o que fez com que aparecessem mais marcas voltadas pra esse público também. Atualmente, como o tema "diversidade" está em alta, algumas pessoas estão tentando falar mais sobre e entrar na luta, mas isso ainda não está refletido nem na metade das publicidades, ainda há muito a se fazer.
Josephine Baker é uma paixão na minha vida! Admiro muito a sua história! As fotos que fiz usando o figurino inspirado no seu look mais marcante, a saia de bananas (que aliás, foi todo feito por mim) e depois se tornou capa da Black Pin ups Models, foi uma sessão fotográfica que ganhei como prêmio por ter vencido um concurso pin up e achei que seria a oportunidade perfeita para fazer a homenagem, pois ela foi a primeira mulher negra nas artes cênicas a ficar mundialmente famosa, abrindo portas para todas nós e ao receber aquele prêmio, eu senti muito dessa luta pois eu fui a primeira mulher negra a ganhar título de Miss Pin up aqui no Brasil. Me inspiro muito no glamour que ela tinha e também na força, ela continuou mesmo quando não a aceitavam por conta da sua pele, me enxergo muito nela.
Josephine Baker is a passion in my life! I admire her story! The photos I made using the costume inspired by her most striking look, the banana skirt (which, incidentally, was all made by me) and then became the cover of Black Pin ups Models, it was a photo shoot that I won as an award for having won a pin up contest and I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to do the tribute. She was the first black woman in the performing arts to become world famous, opening doors for all of us and receiving this award, I felt very much about this fight because I was the first black woman to win the title of Miss Pin Up here in Brazil. I'm very inspired by the glamour she had and also her strength. She continued even when they didn't accept her because of the color of her skin, I see myself a lot in her.
When I began in the style I thought that I had to follow the classic pin ups, which was what appeared in the searches but gradually I realized that I could show my racial pride through vintage too and started adding African fabrics to my looks.
I can no longer see them as separate styles, I use a piece with vintage modeling, but I choose to wear with African print, I like to say that I follow the Afro retro style.
Quando comecei no estilo, achava que eu tinha que seguir o clássico das pin ups, que era o que aparecia nas pesquisas, mas aos poucos eu percebi que eu podia mostrar meu orgulho racial através do vintage também e comecei a acrescentar tecidos africanos nos meus looks.
Não consigo mais ver eles como estilos separados, eu uso uma peça com modelagem vintage, mas escolho usar com estampa africana, gosto até de dizer que sigo o estilo afro retro.
Photos by Bianca Gouvea, Mel Gabardo Fotografia, T.S.L.O.A.E
Larissa aka Murder Queen
I actually don’t have a pin-up name! I go by “Murderqueen” on Instagram but never really intended it to be a nickname, usually people just call me by my real name, Larissa. I guess it is too late to come up with a pin-up name now!
Nowadays pretty much everything I do is involved with the pin-up/vintage/retro lifestyle in various ways, it is definitely much more than an aesthetic to me. I own a vintage inspired brand called Scandal Clothing, I’m a pin-up illustrator, a make-up artist, pin-up model… Most of my references for everything I do come from the past and I love all the glamour that this style can bring to my daily life (which is not as glamorous as I wish it was!) I think it is really empowering to women and brings a sense of confidence and strength that is truly special. I have many more projects that I would like to do in the future that involve the whole vintage universe.
Dita von Teese is probably my biggest (modern) inspiration, also Micheline Pitt, Rachel Ann Jensen, Vintage Vandal.. there are SO MANY wonderful girls that inspire me every day on Instagram and I think we are truly lucky to live in an era when we can communicate and reach other people with the same interests all around the world.
I feel like my style is in constant development and I’m always working on it (and not nearly done since I still don’t have access to many things I wish I had!!) ... I try to examine and see beyond the obvious, draw inspiration from the past and create something new with my own identity.
My grandmother has been a seamstress for her entire life and I grew up playing between her sewing machines and fabric scraps, somehow I always knew fashion would have a big role in my life. Later I went to college to study Fashion Design and upon learning about the 1940s and 1950s more deeply I fell much more in love with these decades and vintage fashion.
I also must say that Bettie Page played an important role on my passion for vintage and the pin-up universe. I don’t remember exactly when I first found out about her, but I have a picture of her hanging on my bedroom wall probably since I was around 13 years old! Like so many people I’ve always been mesmerized by her, and it was because of her that I became even more interested on vintage and pin-ups, and wanted to be just like her.
Photos by Sini Ariell, Jamie Gilmore for Honkajoen Panimo, and LIFU/Life is Fun.
Sini Ariell
I have always been very theatrical person. Since I was a kid I have been doing dress ups on a daily basis. My persona creates itself each day with different looks and styles.
In Finland I started Pin Up in the media-wise by bringing it to public by creating Pin Up Finland
model competition platform. I wanted to bring all shape and size women into modeling promotions exhibitions and on the stage.
My boss hated the idea actually. She didn’t believe anyone could like bigger size models in my competition but let me run it anyway as I had planned. It became Finland’s first ever pin up event.
After that my name got out and I was dragged into many different tv shows, movies, radio and other media platforms. For me it was supporting and encouraging other women and so we did. That’s
how the whole pin up industry and modeling kickstarted in Finland.
I can’t say if I’m pin up or not ‘cause I can’t
see the ultimate real pin up or what it is.
If it was Betty Page then yes. She snapped
her pics in her undies in her living room
without any distractions. Just had fun in front
of the camera. Big smile with a great pose
that delivers the message saying positivity is everything and life shouldn’t be taken too seriously. Then yes I am a pin up.
I think that every smiling woman with a great pose can be considered as pin up, without any limits or regulations. Get your smile out, posture right and give a flashy pose for great pic.
Pin up is more with the whole idea in the
picture, idea of embracing yourself with everything you are and how you look.
They actually contacted me as they wanted Finland’s ” most famous pin up model ” on their bottle. It was great opportunity to be part of something different.
I started modeling 1999 at the age of 18. I was in one of Finland’s biggest modeling agencies ’til 2009. After that I started pin up modeling, glamour, bikini, lingerie, latex, and all sorts of art forms.
I love expressing myself in many different ways
Sveta Shubina
Думаю, стоит начать с того, что мне всегда была интересна история середины 20-ого века. Особенно, в силу моей профессии, область дизайна и искусства. Однако решение рисовать именно пин-ап не было рациональным и обдуманным, я пришла к нему эмпирически. Я просто рисовала на досуге всевозможные иллюстрации, и, как оказалось, pin-up у меня получался довольно неплохо, да и вполне соответствует моему интересу к графике и культуре 20-ого века.
The decision to draw a pin-up was not rational and deliberate; I came to her empirically. I just drew all kinds of illustrations at my leisure, and as it turned out, pin-up turned out pretty good for me, and it matches my interest in graphics and culture of the 20th century.
The series is not called “women in history”, but simply “historical personalities,” because you can see Che Guevara in my drawings.
In addition to Che, candidates for a place in the pantheon were Felix Dzerzhinsky (Iron Felix), Churchill, Ernst Telman, Gagarin and Stalin, according to a survey on social networks. If we talk about the series as a whole, it seems to me that the culture of postmodernism is saturated with fictional heroes, super-heroes of all stripes. Teenagers sometimes know more about Marvel or Star Wars than about their relatives, the role of real ordinary people in history is forgotten. I don’t like this trend, therefore, at least in the framework of an amusing challenge, changing the course of thought for
a short time will not
hurt the audience.
Cерия называется не "женщины в истории", а просто "исторические персоналии," ведь можно увидеть и Че Гевару в моем исполнении. Помимо Че кандидатами на место в пантеоне были Феликс Дзержинский (Iron Felix), Черчиль, Эрнст Тельман, Гагарин и Сталин, согласно опросу в социальных сетях. Если говорить о серии в целом, мне кажется, культура постмодернизма пресыщена вымышленными героями, супер-героями всех мастей. О Мarvel или Star Wars подростки знают порой больше чем о собственных родственниках, роль реальных простых людей в истории забывается. Мне эта тенденция не нравится, поэтому, хотя бы в рамках забавного челленджа, сменить ненадолго курс мысли
аудитории не повредит.
Widespread anti-communist propaganda is depicting the Soviet Union as the terrible gray Mordor, in which everyone wore only gray, lived in fear, did not know beauty, and every day dreamed of fleeing to the West. No, that’s a lie. And in the example of Samokhvalov’s series of paintings "Metro-builders", I wanted to break down these stereotypes as much as I could, draw attention to this period of history through my illustrations and simultaneously introduce the audience to Soviet painting. On canvases we see brutal, but strong and sensual images of women workers, these canvases, for all their ideological content are not devoid of eroticism and love of female nature. Yes, a pin-up similar to the American one did not exist in the Soviet Union, it could not appear in conditions of equality, and it was not needed. They had their
own sex symbols, there was
a cult of beauty and health.
Cейчас повсеместная анти-коммунистическая пропаганда рисует из Советского Союза страшный серый Мордор, в котором все носили только серое, жили в страхе, не знали красоты, и каждый день мечтали сбежать на Запад. Нет, это ложь. И на примере серии полотен Самохвалова "Metro-builders" я хотела немного, насколько это в моих силах, разрушить эти стереотипы, обратить внимание на данный период истории через свои иллюстрации и попутно познакомить аудиторию с советской живописью. На полотнах мы видим хоть и брутальные, но сильные и чувственные образы женщин-работниц, эти полотна при всей своей идеологической наполненности не
лишены эротизма илюбви к женской натуре. Да, pin-up аналогичный американскому в советском союзе не существовал, он не мог появится в условиях равноправия, да и не нужен был. Были свои секс-символы, был
культ красоты и здоровья.
The value of inspiration in creativity is very exaggerated. Drawing for me is primarily a job, so I’ve gotten used to the fact that no matter what your mood, it’s difficult to have ideas, you need to do the job well and you can do the job well only if if you are constantly expanding your horizons, mastering the necessary skills, gaining the necessary knowledge and are able to critically analyze your work. Creative inspiration is a pretty good addition to working days, but it’s not at all the basis of activity. However, I can highlight several artists who are not that they were inspirational, but whose work greatly influenced my vision of pin-ups. These are Dan Decarlo, Bill Wenzel, Gene Bilbrew, Eric Stanton and others.
Эначение вдохновения в творчестве очень преувеличено. Рисование для меня это
прежде всего работа, поэтому я уже давно привыкла к тому, что какое бы у тебя небыло настроение, как бы не было сложно с идеями, выполнять работу надо и надо хорошо, а выполнять работу хорошо можно лишь в том случае, если ты постоянно расширяешь свой кругозор, овладеваешь необходимыми навыками, получаешь нужные знания и в состоянии критически анализировать свою работу. Творческое вдохновение это довольно неплохое дополнение к трудовым будням, но никак не основа деятельности. Однако, я могу выделить нескольких художников, которые не то, чтобы были вдохновением, но чьё творчество очень повлияло на мое видение пин-апа. Это Dan Decarlo, Bill Wenzel, Gene Bilbrew, Eric Stanton и др.
My art is a cross between pin up art and like anime type style drawing and Kawaii stuff.
So it's kind of like a mismatch of all three.
But I like to paint different pin ups.
The Urban Pin Up
I don't even specifically aim to draw like only Black people, stuff like that. I just want to draw everyone. I always try to draw everyone, but sometimes wave a flag for us people who are not seen, you know?
I specifically started because I used to draw in general but I started doing painting and pin ups in my own little style just because I would go online and see like all these drawings of these amazing pin ups but none looked like me. And none looked like half the people I followed. And I thought, well if I feel like that then other people feel like that. So wouldn't it be nice if I just drew one of the people that I loved as a cartoon and said hey, I see you?
I didn't even know any pinups that looked like me, except for the obvious one.
Dorothy Dandridge.
I've seen so many different cultures. I've seen so many different types of people.
I've seen so many different types of subcultures and I feel like
that's just kind of rolled into this big thing inside me.
The Urban Pin Up
Both my parents are from the Ivory Coast, that's in West Africa. So even growing up I was I was never surrounded by anything vintage or pinuppy like that. So you know like when I go into it that's when my parents found it really really weird. Till this day, I’m always the window into it. Because they don't understand where it came from and I can't even pinpoint exactly where it came from.
Fan art of Susi Dahl
There had to be someone somewhere like paintings of a Black pin up somewhere or the like. It seems like they specifically only put out a couple key names, but if you like really dig into it you find out there's like a different pin up from here that you've never even known about.
And it's just like where are these people? No one even waves the flag for them but I feel like it's just we don't even know. And how would we know? How would we find out about them?
Tiffany Cadillac as Kawai pin up
I've always been insecure about my art. I've just got weird artist’s syndrome and I never feel like my art’s good enough. But so many people have just been like supporting me and tell me yeah keep doing what you're doing because it makes people happy.
Fan art of Adaeze, a Nigerian manga-style character,
inspried by Igbo culture and created by
Adorned by Chi.
Photos by Teddy Mitchener, Neomi Nganga, and Henry Wanjala.
Neomi Nganga
I consider myself as a pin up girl because pin up represents cultures, art through the journey of women since time immemorial.
I'm happy to be an African pin up girl who embraces all this aspects of style
just to express it in a confident and a beautiful way.
My feed empowers women to be confident in their bodies,skin etc. Traditional standards of beauty is great and I admire it because it's our roots, I believe when ideas come we should jump on it,be open minded and taste new waters. Trying out new styles from other countries is fun, I mean we all want a taste of new things right? Fashion and style isn't any different from food and culture experiences across the globe, you just need to be open minded but also to never forget our roots/heritage.
Style to me is more than shoulder length hair cut, fashionable coat or your Gucci bag.
It's just how we express our inner
being outwardly. This includes our thoughts, emotions, interests, values. Everything on the outside is merely a reflection of
what's on the inside.
We have very old streets and buildings that are maintained in our cities and people are allowed to go and take pictures, videos etc. Also once in a while we host our events in those areas where the theme is centered around vintage attires. And let me not forget to mention that we still have a lot of historical sites, monuments, scrolls, museums e.t.c that are vintage and people go visit this places, take a lot of pictures, do video shoots some even shoot movie scenes in this places. So yeah vintage is still a very BIG scene in Kenya.
When it comes to vintage as a style, I love how it connects people to the past, how it let's you in to see how the people of that era dressed up, and above all I love that it's our roots and we still rock it at this day and age
and connect to our culture.
My vintage looks are a representation and more of a connection between the past and the modern evolution of style. It's basically for us as women to remember our roots with a touch of modern style but still be confident and comfortable to rock the outfit in this modern time.
That's why from time to time I do a reminder of a vintage just to show how the women's journey of fashion has been and how to integrate into today's world and how we can still make it stylish and fashionable.
Sometimes inspiration comes from the most unexpected sources. Everything in fashion is an ongoing process that I need to train my mind to collect ideas and store it in a place where I can use whenever I need especially when creating a fashion line. Basically my inspiration comes from a lot of things like my family and friends, traveling, even my clients give me even more inspiration because when we come together to share ideas something happens.
All my designs have a story behind.
Photos by Ms. Bombshell/Robert Kilgore and Soliz Images Photography..
I'm grateful for what pin up brought to me in my life and allowed me to
finally be the Vietnamese American woman I am now..
Delicious Ruckus
I took this early on in my pin up journey. I was inspired by the amazing images of Chinese women from the 1940s. The famous cherry blossom images on perfume bottles!! I threw in my Vietnemese hat to put a spin on my take on the image.
I was born in Saigon and left at six months old via boat. I grew up as a Vietnamese refugee wanting nothting more that to be an All-American Girl!
From being a refugee boat girl to ending up in foster care at 13 and then a sexual assualt survivor after college, I've had my fill of life experiences. I was seeking a community of loving and creative souls.
I really wanted to do an East meets West modern pin up shoot when I shot this with Soliz Images during their yearly Colorado shoot trips. The red corset was designed by Cinched Tight.
Photos by Why Moments Photogrphay and Winston Gomez
I just love the fashion, style and the attitude. But I can’t tell myself that I am 100% a pin up girl.
Juwita Pohan
I've loved black and white movies since I was 12 years old I think. And I love Marilyn Monroe so much. I just love her style and everything about her.
Sometimes I give a touch of roses pinned in my hair to look more vintage. and add a fake mole on my cheek to add more Marilyn Monroe as my inspiration ????
We have this Indonesian traditional clothes called KEBAYA. and I just love to wear it because it’s so traditional so vintage and elegant. I think that kebaya itself already look vintage. It’s so oldskool kinda look. And when you wear that kebaya you will even more vintage if you wear the big hair bun on your hair.
We have this pin up community which I joined ages ago. It’s not that big thouugh.
But still every time we are together we always are the centre of attention. Everyone is looking at us from head to toe because of our look ????
Photos by Bec Bushnell Photography, Jess Ford for Ink Australia and Rosalies Perspective..
Sini Ariell
I love doing photos. I love creating my looks into whatever.
I just love to pose and be me.
Tattooing your own skin is an art form itself so the women who are expressing themselves with ink are usually expressive on their clothing and makeup as well. Also many pin up models do not fit to the editorial model criteria on height and measurements so there is no chance of being into fashion modeling where tattoos have been forbidden.
In pin up modeling there is no limitations or harsh criteria as in professional modeling.
I have been in both industries so I know how strict the editorial catwalk modeling industry is. There is not much fun times and laughter, I felt more like a coathanger without face expressions.
I judged Miss Pinup Doll Australia 2016 and performed in Miss Pinup Australia 2017 charity event whilst I was pregnant. I started women’s
self-esteem courses of how the create yourself a better version of yourself. And helped 480 women thru the few years time I was having the courses.
You do good. You do the whole thing to empower and help others. You do it with love for your neighbor. You do it sincerely with heart. You create you give and you get a lot of good outcome as well. But it also comes with this other side of the bargain.
None of us got any money out of the pin up competitions or courses or shows.
We did it with a pure heart
All of the pin up industries are the same around the world. Envious women who you first help then turn around and backstab you. Take your ideas and create competing companies, events and platforms just to destroy everything you have tried to build.
This same thing happened over and over again to all of us pioneer ladies who first started the pin up scene in our countries.
Bullies maybe thought they could become like us and thought there’s big coin involved in the industry.
But they all were just copies and quietly faded away before anyone found them.