Natanic Pinups (2024)

FAQs

Were there black pinups? ›

The three most famous black pinups known are Josephine Baker, Dorothy Dandridge, and Eartha Kitt. Josephine Baker was the first major black superstar, she was a singer, dancer, actress, humanitarian, activist, feminist, and Nazi spy.

Images of pin-up girls were published in magazines and newspapers, and as postcards, lithographs, and calendars. The counterpart of the pin-up girl is the male pin-up, also known as beefcake, including celebrated actors and athletes such as the actor James Dean, the singer Jim Morrison, and the model Fabio.

Monroe's pinup images were some of the most popular of the era, and she remains one of the most recognizable and enduring symbols of the pinup style. But if we had to choose just one, our pick would be Bettie Page. Page was a model and actress in the 1950s who is often credited with popularizing the pinup style.

Today, the pinup style is still going strong, with a new generation of models and celebrities embracing the classic look. Pinup-inspired fashion, including corsets, bustiers, and high-waisted roots, has made a comeback, and pinup photoshoots have become a popular theme for bachelorette parties and other special events.

The term “cheesecake” also started being used synonymously with pinup. It originated in the 1930s as a female alternative for the term “beefcake,” which refers to attractive photographs of men.

The term “cheesecake” has been synonymous with “pinup” for the last century, often used to refer to an attractive female whose image is reproduced by an artist or photographer, highlighting and accentuating her physical form and sensual charm.

Pin-up is all about embracing femininity and showing off your curves in a sultry, playful way. Rockabilly is like a pin-up girl gone alternative - with tattoos, edgy band shirts, and plenty of piercings.

Black cowgirls like Sylvia Bishop (a beloved horse trainer), Johanna July (an incredible horse tamer who developed her own method of taming horses), and Mary Fields, aka Stagecoach Mary, (at right), who protected stagecoaches out West, were leading the charge.

In 1895, Charles Gibson, an illustrator who drew for Life magazine, was credited with drawing the first pinup girl. His renderings of well-endowed women with hourglass figures and full lips became known as Gibson Girls. Gibson based his illustrations on American girls he came across in his travels.

Betty Grable was perhaps the most popular pinup girl during WWII. Betty's studio, Twentieth Century Fox, provided five million copies of one pinup photo to distribute to troops. After the war, Grable became the most highly paid woman in America, earning about $300,000 a year.