Who inspired you to get into pinup?

[Modeling]

i was six when i first saw bettie page, only a glimpse my grandpa had a magazine of her. her hair caught me first because only my mother and i had coal black hair. years passed and i turned sixteen and found her again. that same day i  cut my bangs into bettie bangs. loved them and felt more "me" that was the start of rockabilly/pinup  for me found who i was sort to speak.

so the question is who inspired you?

[Brittles-CGPinups]

The female form is one of the most incredible pieces of art on the planet. From first seeing lingerie clad models in department store flyers to the provocative poses of the ladies in Playboy it was apparent that I loved to see how a woman's figure enhanced what she was wearing. What you didn't see basically said more than what you could see.

So as a youngun it was the people and models making a living photographing beautiful women. Now as a man in his 40's with a gorgeous woman in his own life, I'm very happy to say that she keeps me into pinup and indulges my photographic and artistic impulses.

The ladies are the muse...

[miss melanie glitter glamour]

me ! and natalie woods -Gypsy !- and the awesome and great , Peita breeze ! xo

[VirginiaRose]

When I was young, about 14, the curvaceous nature of my body had already asserted itself. I was a dancer, and I remember the day, in ballet class right before a recital, when I glanced around me (reflected 1,000 times by the floor to ceiling mirrors), all of us in our tutu's and pointe shoes, and realized the clear distinction between myself and the other tall, thin, muscular girls that surrounded me. I was 5'1 with baby making hips. I wanted to burst into tears right then and there (in front of all the girls, because obviously I was put in the front...so people could see me). 

After class, one of the senior ballet dancers from the advance class came up to me as I headed to the dressing room. She pulled me aside, put her hand around my shoulders, and smiled at me. She said, very clearly "You are breathtaking.The next Marilyn Monroe." And I turned, and looked in the mirror, and saw it.

From that day forward, I knew it was my duty to celebrate the wonderful boobs and hips nature gave me. So I pinup! For the other little girls in ballet class who haven't been told how beautiful they are.<3

That, and the promise of free drinks at bars. 

[Violet LeBelle]

Like many of you, my first inspiration was Marilyn.  When I was a child, my grandfather had a huge framed picture of her nude shoot that was kept behind a red velvet curtain in his office.  I remember so many times sneaking a peek behind the curtain to steal a glimpse and thinking how I wished I could grow up to look just like her.  Years later I developed an obsession with old movies.... anything with Marilyn, Betty Grable, Rita, Jane, Elizabeth Taylor, etc.  The hair, clothes, music....it was all so wonderful.  That peaked an interest in the real life time period and I spent many hours of researching the 40's and 50's, (not just the fashion aspect of it.)  I LOVE old women's magazines and fashion catalogs.  The articles and advertisements in those magazines offer a spectacular glimpse into societal expectations of the time.  My inspiration for my personal style now is Dita.  She seems such an accurate representation of the time period's fashion to me and I wish I could pull it off as fabulously as she does.

[miss melanie glitter glamour]

 also say marrilyn monroe  - and betty page and betty grable  lana turner  ginger rodgers and fred astair 

[John at My Favorite Pinups{★}]

When I started working on My Favorite Pinups I posted this

why

Well since you asked...
when I was young, my mom watched a lot of movies from the golden age of hollywood
so I had a steady diet of WWII movies, Elvis, Musicals, Westerns, and of course drama/comedies

The very first movie I can remember seeing was <i>Some Like it Hot</i> with Marilyn Monroe, Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis
Now this was the early 70's (<i>Some Like It Hot</i> was released in 1959)
I was 6 or 7 years old at the time and I fell in love with Marilyn Monroe
Now I was way too young to understand her sexuality, I just thought she was funny and pretty

People started getting me Marilyn memorabilia for all the holidays up thru my late teens
Someone, I admit I forget who, gave me a copy of the 1953 Marilyn Playboy Centerfold
Good God I'm glad I was well into puberty at that time

but I digress...
Taking a steady diet of Marilyn, Jane Russell and of course Betty Grable, I started looking at the women in these movie and I really started to love that classic 40's and 50's pinup girl.

There is something about the pinup that I find more sexy and alluring than any nude woman I've seen in print. There is a hint of sensuality, a flash of skin, sometimes a tad too much décolletage (naa not really), but it's those hints and teases that are so attractive

Flash forward a few years, I lost sight of the pinups I so loved and assumed that the time had come and gone for them.
I sign up for myspace and lo and behold what do I find... a pinup girl

an honest to goodness pinup girl
granted she might have some tattoos and sometimes piercings
or wild colored hair
but she's the same girl I loved back in the day

Of course it's not the same girl. Marilyn Monroe died 6 years before I was born
but the spirit of those early pinups survive
Give me a girl in black stockings and a garter with that oh so perfect dress
hair and make up all done to the nines

I'll take that over some nude chick with fake boobs and a shaved gidge any day
Give me sensuality and sexuality without being so totally in my face
Give me a hint and a promise of what is to come
Rather than assaulting me with what amounts to nothing more than porn

So those of you who look at the women I show here and wonder where the tits and ass shots are?
Sorry.. not gonna happen here ... get over it

that still sums it up for me... it was Marilyn :)

[barbie]

My dad brought home the Petty Girl calendars when I was a kid. I absolutely loved them even as a little girll

[Taylor Mor]

I've been dreaming of pinup since 6th grade. Of course I always loved Marilyn Monroe and Bettie Page. But Michelline Pitt inspired me and I probably discovered her in 6th or 7th grade and seeing how similar my body was to Doris Mayday (before I put on weight and started losing my waist, I went from 38-26-40 to 40-30-40 and am working my way back down to 26/27 range) inspired me to come out of my shell. I also love Ashley Marie and watching her hair tutorials over the last few weeks was like my last shell to come out of and I dress full pinup/vintage, do my hair and makeup every time I go out and it feels so good to be out of my shell and be comfortable in my skin.