R.I.P., Bettie Page

Today we mourn the death of Bettie Page, unquestionably the queen of pin-ups. In her obituary in today's New York Times, Bettie is quoted as saying, "I want to be remembered as a woman who changed people's perspectives concerning nudity in its natural form."

I think she did. One of the great things about Bettie is how natural she looks--no implants, no tanning. Her trademark hairstyle is often a little frizzy, and her locks are never ramrod straight. I imagine she rolled out of bed, showered, and let her hair air-dry as she drove to a shoot. She doesn't wear lots of make-up, and generally isn't dripping in jewels and rhinestones. More or less, she's wearing underwear that happens to match.

Another thing I take from her referring to "nudity in its natural form" is her SM photography, although I am sure that is not what she meant. Nudity inspires different feelings and thoughts for everyone, many of which stem from a culture that treats nudity as taboo. Her work helped to make it okay for people to have their dirty thoughts, partially because she herself was so clean and tasteful. One thing that can be very difficult about enjoying SM play is that most people go through various stages of denial, in much the same way that I imagine gay men and women do as they come to realize their homosexuality. It's hard to admit that you enjoy being spanked or tied up, or to confront an innate desire to inflict pain on someone you love. Bettie helped make SM public, and it became part of the sexual revolution she inadvertently helped launch.

It's my belief that there is still an awful lot of prejudice and misunderstanding about SM and the people who practice it. I myself am extremely private about it, whereas my man is not, because I am very sensitive to the criticism I anticipate from others. But the message Bettie sends has helped me be at ease with my own desires. Sex is fun, and it's fun in a lot of different ways; there's really no right or wrong way to enjoy it and assumptions to the contrary are thrown out when you look at the scope of Bettie's photos. Like Bettie, you can be a good girl in soft lace some of the time and still be the bad girl in leather at other times. Because come on, admit it--you are a little bit of both.

Doing it DIY

I adore luxury. I love pedicures, manicures, facials, getting my hair done and wearing nice clothes. But sometimes, it's true: If you want something done, you've got to do it yourself. I'm on a budget. I don't make lots of money, but that's no reason why I (or anyone else) can't look like a million bucks.

1. Know what you want.
Look for pictures of people whose style you admire, then try to emulate its essence. For example, let's take Grace Kelly. The Princess of Monaco was always elegant, wearing clothes that were tasteful and tailored, often favoring full skirts, fitted tops and flattering drapery. She mostly didn't wear large patterns, her skirts hit at about the knee or lower, and she wasn't spilling out over plunging necklines. So when you go shopping, stick to this criteria and look for clothes that are conservatively but flatteringly cut, choose solid colors or dainty patterns, look for things that are or can be belted--but don't forget the gloves and headscarf. Which brings me to my next point:

2. Accessorize.

You can get a lot of mileage out of a simple, solid dress with the proper accessories, and you'll notice that's what many women in the 40s and 50s did. You won't find sequined shirts, rhinestone-studded skirts or busy prints, but you'll see solid prints in simple lines with bold jewelry, gloves and hats. It makes all the difference. Let's look at Audrey Hepburn in her iconic look from the beginning of Breakfast at Tiffany's as she eyes the pieces in the window. Her dress by Givenchy is beautiful in itself in solid black with clean lines, but what everyone really remembers is the assortment of pearls at her neck, the sunglasses and the gloves. If you can, spend a little more on your accessories, because they are the first thing to make you look cheap (which is different from being on a budget). And besides, you're better of if you...

3. Learn to sew.

When you can sew, you can take almost anything and make it look great. Add trim to a tired skirt, have some fun with buttons, or make the easiest pattern you can find in a crisp, richly-colored fabric. Perhaps most importantly, you should learn to tailor your own clothes so they fit just right. Of course you can take them in to a professional tailor, but that costs money. Still, the tailor will probably cost less than if you shop at a high-end store for the shirt that fits like a glove while you're still in the dressing room.

4. Prioritize.

This is key to any budget. Think about the things that are most important to you and the look you're trying to achieve. How much is it worth to have someone else dye your hair versus doing it yourself? Do you find all mascaras to be pretty much equal, but you're picky about your eyeshadow? Put your money where it matters.

5. Remember that practice makes perfect.

The first time you paint your own nails, they may not be exactly right, but they'll be better the next time, and the time after that, until they're virtually indistinguishable from the manicure you'd get at a spa. The same goes for dying your own hair, maintaining your eyebrows, styling an updo or whatever else you choose to do for yourself. Don't forget that YouTube is not just for stupid cat videos; you can also find some really great tutorials.

Now, off with you! You don't have to wait until you can afford a team of experts to create your perfect look. It'll take some work doing it all on your own, but it's worth it to feel good and take time out for yourself.

How Not To Pay Homage

I wasn't going to write about this--so many others have--but now that the parodies are coming out, it must be done.

For those of you who may have been living under a rock, Lindsay Lohan recently recreated Marilyn Monroe's final photo shoot, known as The Last Sitting, for New York Magazine. She was photographed by Bert Stern, who did the original shoot with Monroe back in 1962, six weeks before she overdosed on barbiturates. The shoot has been gaining a lot of attention--some claiming that it encourages a kind of necrophilia, others wondering why Lohan would do a nude photo shoot just after her third stint in rehab, but for myself, I wonder: Why do it at all?

Let it be known that I am incredibly conservative when it comes to icons. When Natalie Portman wore Audrey Hepburn's dress on the cover of Bazaar, I cringed. Even if it was somehow an improvement on the original, I would never enjoy watching a remake of a classic like Casablanca or Gone With the Wind. In my opinion, there's a conceit in trying to recreate icons which compromises their impact on the pop culture of their time. If that's the point, fine, but I don't believe that Lindsay Lohan or Natalie Portman were trying to imply that Marilyn Monroe and Audrey Hepburn weren't all that important. I think they were trying to pay homage to two incredible women who inspired them, but copying an icon is not enough to constitute an homage.

In my opinion, you need to take it further. You need to show me something new about what this person, this ideal means to us decades after he/she/it peaked, and only then is the icon status affirmed. When I saw Anna Kournikova channel, but not precisely copy Marilyn Monroe over a grate in The Seven Year Itch, then I considered how our perceptions of sexuality have changed since my parents were my age, how images can be reappropriated to sell something, and personally I had to consider the fact that I recognized what was being recreated without having ever seen the original creation. For me, that made me imagine what it might have been like that day when Marilyn's skirt blew up around her waist over the Lexington Avenue subway line.

I think the Lindsay Lohan photos are beautiful, but still they irritate me. If she wanted to do a nude photo shoot, why couldn't she just do one of her own? Why did she have to hide behind the auspices 0f homage? And over forty years later, can't Bert Stern be a little more creative about contextualizing troubled tabloid actresses of the past and present? One can only blame Lindsay Lohan so much for jumping at the chance to play a personal hero. Really, it's the folks at New York Magazine and Bert Stern who need to dig a little deeper.

Getting into it

I had been wearing a corset regularly for quite some time when my mom said to me, "Do you know how long women fought to get out of those things?" After a moment I replied, "Do you know how long I've fought to get into one of these things?"



I've been interested in tightlacing at least since I saw Hattie McDaniel tighten up Vivien Leigh in Gone with the Wind. Beyond that, I've always admired the classic pinup styles of women like those painted by Gil Elvgren and used nowadays as humor by Anne Taintor . Their allure and coy, (sometimes) innocent faces have never failed to inspire me and inform my sense of style. Not only that, classic pinups timeless, defying fads and trends that are in one year and out the next. In the many conversations I've had with others about pinups, beauty and the definition of sexy, not one person of any age (or gender) has been able to claim that a Vargas girl does nothing for them.


As I became more and more immersed in emulating classic pinups, sexiness became more about hinting that I might have a secret, and if you happen to be around at the right time, I might give you a peek. Classic pinup style has nothing to do with your ass hanging out of your shorts, but has more to do with the sprinkler that just blew up your skirt. What's a girl to do? Gather everything she's learned about classic pinup style and put it in one spot.