‘‘My experience being an Asian American pin-up girl has proven to be oddly and surprisingly rewarding. I never set out to be a pin-up girl. I was a geeky, shy, socially awkward kid with no siblings. I spent my free time watching old movies with my parents. My dad grew up on the films of the 50s and 60s. Even though I grew up with the grunge and 70s throwback that was 90s fashion, I never loved any of it. I was obsessed from day one with vintage style fashion. I started collecting vintage as soon as I could drive myself to vintage stores. Thanks to this little thing called social media, I somehow became a pinup girl. I was surprised enough in the past year to find myself being called a pinup girl.
I was even more shocked when messages began to arrive from those of Asian descent. I have Chinese, Vietnamese and Japanese ancestry. I'm a 5 feet tall 32-year-old woman with 32A boobs and small mono-lidded eyes. Representation matters and it has been really touching to hear how much it means to those who never thought they'd see themselves represented. It is especially bittersweet to hear from those with mono-lids. It isn't something noticed by many others outside of the Asian community but it is something we grow up keenly aware of. Western standards value big Bambi eyes and are nearly all double-lidded. The most common plastic surgery procedure in South Korea (and most likely across Asia) is blepharoplasty or double eyelid surgery. Not only would someone with mono-lids be hard pressed to find their eyes represented in American media, but, until recently, they'd also have a pretty hard time finding themselves in Asian media as well. The opportunity I've been given to model, and the stamp of approval that goes with it, is considered validation by some ladies with mono-lids. I've just been generously given a lot of support by a lot of great people in the pin-up/vintage community and I'm very humbled by it and grateful for it.
My advice to aspiring pinups is to love yourself and be true to yourself and everything else will fall into place. I'm just out there being me. If you love pin-up or vintage, wear it. And, as with anything worth having in life, do the work. Yes, I said it, WORK. We all start somewhere, and to be entirely honest, I consider myself quite the novice. To this day, I study all the time. I own and study pinup and vintage books (everything from old black and white books I pick up in old bookstores to Dita's The Art of the Teese). I pore over the photos on Pinup Girl Clothing (Doris Mayday cherry picking pose, its a thing people). I study my favorite pinup babes on Instagram. Before every shoot, I, kid you not, practice posing in my birthday suit in front of a full-length mirror. It is the only way I can fully see what my body is doing. I practice in heels. I practice in flats.
I practice with different clothing silhouettes so I can see how the clothing looks with different poses. I sit in front of a mirror and close my eyes to practice facial expressions, and then I open my eyes to see what facial expression I've made. Spoiler alert: I do make some awkward facial expressions sometimes. I do this because we generally don't have a mirror in front of ourselves during a shoot. I need to make those faces based off of muscle memory. If you're aspiring to be a pin-up who gets to work as a model, you're going to be required to have more than one facial expression in your arsenal. If you can afford it, book pinup photography sessions. There's nothing quite like learning in front of a camera and from the photographers shooting you.
I didn't set out to be a pin-up model, so actually, all of that work I outlined above, I didn't start doing until I was given the opportunity to model. To be entirely honest, I never expected to be a model, any kind of model, let alone a pin-up model. If anything, I probably would have pegged my chances at a run of the mill commercial modeling higher than pin-up modeling. If you're wondering why it is precisely because of the factors that I outlined above. I am 5 feet tall, I have 32A boobs (seriously, bras are entirely optional in my life) and I have tiny mono-lidded eyes. My optometrist can't even fit me with soft contact lenses because my eyes are physically so small. I'm not exactly your typical pin-up.
So how did I get into pin-up modeling? Social media. I had always had a catchall Instagram account where I shared photos about my business, my family and sometimes my OOTD. I found myself wanting to post OOTDs all the time but, fearful that it would dilute my professional work portfolio or annoy my friends and family who didn't care about fashion, I refrained from posting much. When Instagram made it easy for us to hold more than one account, I started MissLilyLaurent. It was a fun account entirely dedicated to spamming the internet with my closet. I always tried to tag where I got my clothes from and one of those tags brought me to Pinup Girl Clothing. Shoutout to Laura Byrnes and Doris Mayday for a truly amazing opportunity that I never dared to dream of having. ’’
‘‘I was lucky enough to win a vintage styling course with the Bombshell Burlesque Academy and consequently fell head over (kitten) heels for pinup and rockabilly. Taking the time to sew beautiful garments, set my hair and look after my appearance makes me feel amazing, inside and out! I love looking in the mirror and feeling like I have accomplished something before I even set foot out the door. I also cherish the connections that I make as a pinup – genuine smiles from random commuters, being approached by kind strangers with compliments or questions, and discovering like-minded friends to add to my “burly girl gang”!
I first took to the stage in November 2016 as a finalist in the Connor’s Christmas Appeal Miss Show n Shine pageant and have appeared in a number of local events since then, being crowned the second runner-up in Miss Beachfest 2017. I just love being involved in photo shoots and creating art in this medium so much so that my besties and I have recently launched our own pop-up pin-up photography studio called Festive Femmes!
As a child of Chinese descent growing up in a regional Australian town, I had very few friends with “exotic” ethnicity and was singled out for being different. I remember being chased around the playground with jeers of “Monkey Magic!” ringing in my attached-lobed-ears. When blowing out the candles on my 8th birthday cake, my wish was to have brown hair, just like everyone else. As a teen, I had my heart broken when my crush told me that “Asian chicks just didn’t do it for him”. Fortunately, since discovering pinup, I have learned to love my unique appearance and celebrate my cultural identity, particularly by recreating hairstyles and poses from my grandmother’s glamour photos from the fifties!
Modeling and dancing have given me the unique opportunity to share my cultural heritage and exotic look with a wonderfully inclusive audience. It was very moving for me to have the chance to shoot a photo series featuring traditional food that she was taught to make by the women in my family, served on Chinese patterned Willow Ware (which my grandmother collects), wearing a cheongsam purchased in Singapore, where my cousin lived.
I am very passionate about the #pinupsofcolor movement and promoting diversity in burlesque. I feel very strongly about cultural misappropriation and make every attempt to ensure that our burlesque and pinup community is an intersectional safe space for everyone.
The importance of role models with whom one identifies strongly is often underestimated. Venturing into a world which is dominated by a certain (Caucasian/European) look can be daunting but don’t be discouraged! Take inspiration from the strong, beautiful women who have come before you and who are currently on the scene and know that every time you don your red lipstick and heels, you’re positively contributing to making the pinup world a more diverse and inclusive place.
In a competitive environment, it can sometimes feel as if one should accept the status quo and not cause a fuss. However, if you are ever in a position where you feel uncomfortably exoticized or fetishized by a photographer or someone else on the scene because of your heritage know that you have the power to call them out or walk away. Pinup is supposed to fun and you should never have to put up with something that makes you feel uneasy. Know that I have your back and you will find that other models will definitely be there to support you too and make sure you feel safe!’’
And on that note, I want to thank all the models that helped contribute to this article! They were so helpful, kind, and cooperative! I’ve linked their Instagrams to their names so when you click on them it will lead straight to their pages, Make sure to give them a follow!
