- Pin-up girl
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"Pinup" redirects here. For other uses of pinup or pin-up, see Pin-up (disambiguation).For the 1944 film, see Pin Up Girl (film).
Betty Grable's famous pin-up girl photo
A pin-up girl, also known as a pin-up model, is a model whose mass-produced pictures see wide appeal as popular culture. Pin-ups are intended for informal display, e.g. meant to be "pinned-up" on a wall. Pin-up girls may be glamour models, fashion models, or actresses.
The term pin-up may also refer to drawings, paintings, and other illustrations done in emulation of these photos (see the list of pinup artists). The term was first attested to in English in 1941;[1] however, the practice is documented back at least to the 1890s.
The pin-up images could be cut out of magazines or newspapers, or be from postcard or chromo-lithographs, and so on. Such photos often appear on calendars, which are meant to be pinned up anyway. Later, posters of pin-up girls were mass-produced and became an instant hit.
Many pin-ups were photographs of celebrities who were considered sex symbols. One of the most popular early pin-up girls was Betty Grable, whose poster was ubiquitous in the lockers of G.I.s during World War II. Other pin-ups were artwork, often depicting idealized versions of what some thought a particularly beautiful or attractive woman should look like. An early example of the latter type was the Gibson girl, drawn by Charles Dana Gibson. The genre also gave rise to several well-known artists specializing in the field, including Earle K. Bergey, Enoch Bolles, Alberto Vargas, Gil Elvgren, George Petty, and numerous notable artists, such as Rolf Armstrong and Art Frahm.
Notable contemporary pin-up artists include Elias Chatzoudis, Armando Huerta, and Chuck Bauman. Another is popular Pin-Up Artist Olivia De Berardinis who is most famous for her Pin-Up Art of Bettie Page and her pieces in the earlier editions of Playboy.
Contents
Notable pin-up girls
1910s and 1920s
1930s
1940s
1950s
- Pier Angeli
- Carroll Baker
- Brigitte Bardot
- Candy Barr
- Virginia Bell
- Betty Brosmer
- Jeanne Carmen
- Cyd Charisse
- Mara Corday
- Hazel Court
- Dagmar
- Dorothy Dandridge
- Sandra Dee
- Faith Domergue
- Diana Dors
1960s
1970s
1980s
1990s
2000s
- Jami Deadly
- Bernie Dexter
- Eva Green
- Masuimi Max
- Veronica Varlow
- Heidi Van Horne
- Loulou von Brochwitz
- Dita Von Teese
- Jodi Kronmann
- Vivi Louise
- Doris MayDay
- Clair Sinclair
Other kinds of pin-ups
In comic books, a pin-up is simply a full-page piece of artwork, most often without dialogue, that showcases a character, group of characters, or significant event, published within an issue, rather than made available by itself as a poster.
In professionally published fan magazines for films and television series, a posed photograph of actors or actresses from the subject matter, but which might also showcase specific scenes from the subject matter in photograph form (called stills) are occasionally called pin-ups. The label is very casual, though, as these types of fan media are more accurately described as posters.
Pin-ups are also referred to as "cheesecake", the male counterpart being "beefcake".
See also
- Bad girl art
- Bombshell (sex symbol)
- Good girl art
- Gravure idol
- Irving Klaw
- Nose art
- Page three girl
- Sweater girl
References
- ^ Ayto, John (2006). Movers and shakers: a chronology of words that shaped our age. Oxford University Press. p. 126. ISBN 0198614527.
- Buszek, Maria Elena (2006). Pin-up grrrls: feminism, sexuality, popular culture. Duke University Press. ISBN 0822337460.
External links
- 50 Years of American Pin-Ups - slideshow by
- Pin-Up Tribute.
- The Pin Up - The Pin Up Magazine for more information on Pin Up Girls from 2000's
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