Thatpinup - Find Your Inner Pin-up Girl

One day, I was scrolling through my Instagram feed while I was at the gym with my Friend, when I had come across a picture of Rachel. It had also caught my friend's eye and she commented on it to me about it, something along the lines of "Her waist is way too tiny! It has to be photoshopped!" I then explained to her how many pinups corset train to cultivate their curves and achieve a more Hourglass look. "That sounds dangerous! you don't do it, do you?" she said as she looked down at my waist. I myself have a somewhat small waist, even though I have yet to try any form of corset training, but it is something that I'm interested in trying in the future.
Corset training has been around since the 1500s, but it still has somewhat of a negative stigma surrounding it. Even though the very similar act of "Waist Training" has become very popular and mainstream. Being a woman who has yet to try it myself, I can see how it can look dangerous to women wh…

For those of you who don't know, there's a term in the pinup community called "Period Perfect" it means you have to have your look resemble everything in the era you're trying to mimic. That means no tattoos do to when the pinup first became popular it was considered "unladylike" to have tattoos. Pinup culture is all about expressing yourself, not fitting into people molds or standards of what you should or shouldn't be. I spoke to Cherokee, AKA Cherry Dollface a pinup Youtuber and Author to see how she feels about the stigma of tattoos in the vintage community.


How do you feel about there still being a stigma surrounding women with tattoos? Do you think it makes you any less “Ladylike” or ruins the vintage look? "I think there are all kinds of traditions that we are breaking in the modern vintage world. Women have rights, we work, we don’t all do our hair and makeup every single day… I think being tattooed just fits into the mold of not fittin…

For many, fashion can be a creative outlet and when find someone who shares the same outlet with amazing things can happen, which is the case with Lynsey and her mom. They decided to combine their love of vintage apparel thus creating Dandelions And Pearls. I spoke to the two of them to find out more about their shop.

How did you and your mom start your shop? "Dandelions and Pearls began as a hobby that my Mom and I shared. Dressmaking has always been a passion of ours. For me, it was an outlet for my creativity while my children were young and I was a stay at home Mom. The Etsy shop really came about as a way to sell our sample dresses. We’d been making custom vintage reproductions for friends and clients for some time, but every now and then we’d have an idea for a design or come across a vintage pattern that we just had to try out. When we started out we only ever wanted to create truly unique one-off garments, but over time realized that this doesn’t make much business sense.

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The pinup community has been known for being inclusive. Especially when it comes to size. Mainly because when pinups such as Marilyn Monroe and Betty Brosmer first became popular in the 1940s during the war era, they didn't have a "Boyish" 1920s figure that people expected women to have. Re-starting the hourglass figure trend - Because the style flatters curvier body types, women with curves often flock to the style. At least this was the case for Cynthia, the owner of an online pinup clothing store called "Heart My Closet" whose mission is to design modern pinup style clothing for all shapes and sizes. I spoke with her to find out more about the history of her shop.
How and why did you start your shop? "I was always very fascinated with clothing from the old eras like the 40s, 50s, and I always had such a hard time finding things that fit. I then started making clothes for myself and friends, and then opened my store on Etsy "just for fun" Thing…

Getting into the pinup community can be a bit daunting at first. One way to build your confidence is to have your own pinup shoot - I know this may seem even more daunting for some, but seeing yourself all dolled up in a professional setting can really do wonders. But don't just take my word for it, I spoke to Nicholette, a pinup model for a Photography studio calledModBettie. I asked her various questions on her journey to becoming somewhat a Modern Bettie Paige.


How did you get into pinup fashion and how did it lead you to model for Modbettie?Getting into pinup and modeling at Mod Bettie actually went hand in hand.  I had made a bucket list of things I wanted to do before turning 30. One of the things on it was to participate in a pinup contest. I went, had a good time. Definitely did not place. After that, I did a Valentines themed photo shoot. The photographer told me I should look into modeling.  I scoffed. I was 30, curvy and way to short ( Exact words the modeling company …