Pin up girls or cheesecake models have been popular since the early 20th centry – here are my pick of my favourites and the most influential.
Betty Grable
Betty Grable was one of the most popular pin up girls during WW2. Famed for having the best legs in Hollywood her pin up photos were a real favourite stuck on the lockers of GIs.
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The Gibson Girl
The Gibson Girls were one of the earliest popular ‘pin up’ girls. Drawn by Charles Dana Gibson there were idealised drawings of the beauties of the age and were all the rage in the late 19th and early 20th century.
Above: source and copyright: Some rights reserved by Stmarygypsy
Varga Girls
Varga girls are some of the most iconic pin up images – partly because they were copied onto the noses of planes during the Second World War as symbols of good luck.
Alberto Vargas started painting quite modest beauties for Esquire Magazine during the 1930s but during the war the girls became more and more risque as they played dress up in military uniforms. Thouseands of copies of Esquire were sent to American troops as a morale boosting exercise during WW2.
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Bettie Page
The ‘Queen of Pinups’ and a popular pinup girl of the 1950s, Bettie Page is famed for her fetish and bondage photos. Her style is still emulated today with her trademark bright blue eyes, trademark black hair and short fringe.
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Marilyn Monroe
Easily the most famous of all pin up girls, Marilyn Monroe cemented her pin up status when she was the first woman to cover
Playboy magazine in December 1953.
More photos of Marilyn.
Above: Source and copyright: Some rights reserved by Antonio Marín Segovia
Jane Russell
Jane Russell caused outrage when she displayed her ample cleavage for her first mainstream move The Outlaw. She never really looked back after that…
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Brigitte Bardot
French actress Brigitte Bardot reached fame in 1956 when she starred in And God Created Woman which launched her sex kitten image. She was one of the iconic sex symbols of the 1960s with her big hair and kohl rimmed eyes.
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