My Pinup Journey

Posted on May 11, 2020 by missamymay

How did I get here?

It seems crazy to me now but it’s been 7 years since I began dressing pinup. That term, of course, technically refers to the models whose mass produced pictures were pinned up as posters back in the last early to mid-century. These days though, for those of us within the vintage style community it’s just so much easier to say ‘Oh I dress pinup’ than ‘I love the fashion and beauty aesthetics of X decade(s) so I dress that way daily/part-time/for special occasions.’ Plus, there’s the fact that for many of us vintage-style lovers owning actual vintage is impractical, inaccessible, or too expensive, thus adding in the additional complicating factor that the word ‘vintage’ has a genuine descriptive meaning that may not technically apply to the modern reproduction clothing hanging in our wardrobes.

Continue reading →

You’re Allowed To Unpin

Posted on April 14, 2017 by missamymay

The pinup style is a very effort intensive one. Whether you wetset, heat set or prefer an elaborate set of victory rolls, the hair takes time to craft each evening or morning. The liner flicks and sharp brows and perfect pout all require regular practise and daily precision. The stockings and garter belts and corsets can all take a while to cinch into and layer up under the petticoats and swing dress or the slips and tight wiggles. All of these things are something you get faster at over time, and get used to, becoming an automatic part of your routine that you’re used to allowing time for. And part of being a pinup is that you love doing all these things, it excites you to get your glam on; if we hated doing it, then we wouldn’t do it. We enjoy it.

That being said, we don’t always enjoy it. There’s not a pinup I know who doesn’t have mornings when she wishes her liner wouldn’t take a full 10 minutes when it’s misbehaving, or that she could just wash her hair without having to plan which day it most makes sense to do so to make the most socially out of her fresh set. Sometimes there are days, weeks or even months when despite your love for the style, some of the things we do, or even all of them, just seem like too much effort.

That is okay. Continue reading →

Pinup Hermione Part 1: Potter Pinups Tour

Posted on October 9, 2015 by missamymay

Today’s blog post comes to you in two parts for a double whammy of pinup Hermione goodness. This post focuses on the trip I took to the WB Harry Potter Studio Tour in London with 3 of my nerdiest and loveliest pinup friends.

After meeting Kayla and Laura at The Pinup Picnic In The Park in June I fell in friend-love with them. Two wonderful, witty and sweet ladies, Sophie (my British Belles wifey) and I were both thrilled to discover the girls are big Potter fans just like we are. ‘Why don’t we do a Potter meet up then? We could go to the tour,’ it was suggested after we had all recovered from the Picnic. ‘OMG! Potter Pinups tour!’ was the response. It was almost immediately suggested that we go as pinup wizards. There was talk of representing all Hogwarts houses, or specific characters. In the end I opted for being Pinup Hermione, something I had been wanting to do for a year or so, and Soph, Kayla and Laura all chose to be vintagey Hogwarts students.

Casual Knight Bus ridin’

On the train up to London I couldn’t tell whether people were staring because they’d spotted my time turner and understood I was vaguely in character, or whether it as the usual that-girl-seems-to-be-from-a-whole-other-era stares. Once we got to the studio the states intensified–but that might be because Kayla and Laura were so excited they were spinning in their circle skirts and shrieking as we approached the entrance. We calmed it down a bit once we were indoors, but the staff immediately shared their appreciation of our outfits by handing us each a Potter Passport–a little booklet you get stamped as you walk round be studio, usually reserved for handing out to children. Clearly the Studio staff understood the calibre of the grown-women-children they were dealing with. Ha! Continue reading →

My Very Deadly Weekend

Posted on April 24, 2015 by missamymay

deadlylogo

I’ve been a fan of Deadly Is The Female for a while. I discovered them early on last year when I was pleased to find they were a UK stockist of my favourite brand, Pinup Girl Clothing, which is a pretty rare thing, as well as a stockist for many other of the best quality repro clothing brands, such as Stop Staring, Tatyana, The Pretty Dress Company and Trashy Diva. I had already been following Miss Scarlett Luxe, the first ever Miss Pinup UK and member of Team Deadly, one of their favourite models who’s been working with them for years. Around the end of last year I began to really want to go visit the store itself rather than merely perusing it online, but when a quick google maps search enlightened me to the fact that it was 3 hours away I knew I had to put that daydream on hold.

So, imagine my surprise and delight in early March when I got an email from owner Claudia Deadly asking if I wanted to model for them at their next photoshoot in April. After some squeaking and much capslock messaging to my friends, I told her, YES, YES, I WOULD LOVE THAT OMG.

The weekend of April 11th-12th came and I awoke at 6am ready to drive from my home in East Sussex to Frome in Somerset, where Deadly is located. That’s a 3-ish hour drive in good traffic and I had high hopes that an early start would ensure that smoother and quicker journey. My mum, Mumma May, was going to come along as she had a friend she wanted to visit in nearby Bath, so off we went with our snacks packed and my hair still in pincurls.