Obsessed with Pin Ups

Part of my vintage obsession (but only a part...it stretches far and wide, people) is the pin ups of the 40s and 50s. They're so fun. And innocent, yet not. But by today's trashy standards (don't even get me started on today's trashy standards...), they are innocent. And to me, they are just lovely. As far as fashion, I'd even call them inspiring. Inspiring and frustrating. Because my long stick straight hair just won't do the things their hair did back then. How did they DO that?? I admit that I am low maintenance (read: lazy) when it comes to hair and makeup, but even with product and tools that plug into the wall, I cannot make my hair look like that. I do realize that these sweet girls slept in curlers in the 40s and 50s. I understand that they laid their hair on the ironing board in the 60s. But my hair tends to do just one thing: Nothing. Curl it, it falls straight. Straighten it, it looks damaged and unhealthy. I do realize that there are products that can help with all these problems. I'm just not a product girl. They cost money, they cause "build up" on my tresses (which involves buying another product), so in my lazy and thrifty state, I just can't figure out the retro hair. Unless we skip to long hippie skirt type retro. That, I can pull off. Two braids look adorable with my hair.

I digress. Back to the pin ups. Let's look at some favorites of mine:

• "Shady Trick" I really do hate when this happens to me. But I really do love her shoes.

"A Spicey Yarn"...Yeah, I don't knit. It's bad, I've tried. JMom showed me how to knit and purl, but seriously not for me. BUT, if I did, I would totally wear this get up.


"All Yours"...It doesn't get much more innocent than this! Nor does it get anymore impractical. But if I go to a citrus grove you better believe I'll have on my yellow shoes.

"Appreciative Audience" I know what I appreciate about this one. I appreciate that I'm terrified of birds (and the back of the garage). I also appreciate that she's applying some sort of ointment that hopefully contains SPF. Lastly I appreciate her boobs. Sorry, I do. If you know me well, you get that statement! Let's move on.

"Sheer Delight". This is one of my all time favorites. I just love her! I love her sheer gown that you can just barely see through. I love the colors of it, I love that her hair is pulled back, and I love that she is wearing high heeled slippers. So fancy for bedtime! Makes my fleece snowman pants feel a little, well, snowman-y.

Oh, remember when I had to get the wheelbarrow and do all that work getting the garden site ready? This next one is almost exactly what I looked like that day. I just forgot to take a picture of myself. No matter, it's shockingly similar to this:
Yep. That's my gardening outfit.

Let's do one more. This picture confuses me.

What on earth is she doing on the roof? I mean, I suppose that the reception on her TV has gone ka-put. But honestly...I don't want to watch anything enough to climb on the roof in my thigh highs and heels. I'll consider picking oranges and gardening in thigh highs and heels, but no way am I climbing on the roof. And how did she even get up there? I see no ladder. I do love her white house with green trim, though.

All of these pictures are by Gil Elvgren. There were many pin up artists, but I tend to like that dude's art the best. Look through the entire gallery here. (Warning: Some of them really are less innocent than the ones I posted, but they're all really lovely. Just not for little eyes!) I really should peruse pictures like this more often...because it reminds me that it's okay to dress up for no real reason. So off I go to try to curl my hair...again. I think it's a vintage dress kind of day!