Pinup Tales

Two great news items popped up today, both in the New York Times:

The first is that the July issue of Italian Vogue will use exclusively black models, all photographed by the venerable Stephen Meisel. This makes me very excited. If I haven't written much here about racial diversity in pinup art of the 1940s and 1950s, it's because there isn't much to write about. In all my browsing of Vargas, Frahm and Elvgren, I don't recall having ever seen a woman who was anything but white (the exception is that you can find some suggesting the women are from or visiting Mexico or South America). I can't blame the artists; their editors wanted them to make money and probably didn't think black pinups would sell very well. PLEASE correct me if I'm wrong on this, but meanwhile, here's to more diversity in contemporary mainstream pinup icons and inspirations.

The second is a short post by Elizabeth Spiridakis on her blog with the Times regarding this photo released of Amy Winehouse cleaning house, beehive and all. Winehouse is commended for maintaining her look even while performing mundane tasks, and this is probably something I should try to do myself. She's fortunate--or smart?--that her look isn't polished; it's bedraggled and messy, so it's not terribly difficult to conjure during a drug bust or a late-night romp through London. My problem is that my look is fairly polished, but I'm inherently lazy and can't muster the energy to put on makeup and dress nicely if I'm just hanging around the house. I'm sure my man would appreciate it if I did more. Perhaps that will be my resolution...starting next week.