How to Dress Like a Pin up Girl

From Veronica Lake and Marilyn Monroe in the 1940s and 1950s to Dita von Teese today, pin-up girls have been displayed on walls and billboards for generations and admired by men and women alike. No matter their dress size, pin-up girls wear clothes that accentuate their assets, bring out their sexual appeal, and make them look gorgeous, fun, and elegant at the same time. To start channeling your inner pin-up girl, you must balance style with natural beauty, grace, and confidence.

Part 1

Part 1 of 3:

Doing Your Hair

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1
Curl your hair. Pin curls and victory rolls were a popular look for most pin-up girls. Curls were often achieved by a “permanent” which made hair easier to mold into a curl, but you can achieve this look without chemicals.
- To get pin curls: dab gel onto the root of a small section of damp hair, then twirl that section of hair around your finger until you get to your scalp. (You can twirl in whatever direction you’d like the curls to flow.) Slide your finger out of the curl and pin the curl to your head. Repeat for your entire head of hair, allow hair to dry, then remove pins, and voila!
- You can find many authentic vintage ways to style your pin curls online. There are also books that show you how to do these hairstyles.
- You can also use hot rollers or a curling iron to create curls, although it will take some practice to get the right look.
If your hair is too short or you don’t want to go through the effort of styling, try a wig in a pin-up style of your choice. These can easily be found online.
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3
Add an embellishment. Pin-up girls’ hair should generally be kept soft and simple, with minimal product use, but feel free to have some fun and add a little bit of personality to your look with hair accessories.
- Good options include a hair flower, bandana, or large bow.^{[1]XResearch source} You can also use a snood or a pin.

Part 2

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Doing Your Makeup

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Your skin should be clean and free of blemishes. Find good skin products and use them daily.
Pin-up girls need flawless skin, so use a full coverage foundation that matches your skin tone perfectly. Follow with a creamy concealer to disguise any blemishes or dark circles, and set your base with a dusting of translucent powder.
3
Get great eyebrows. Groom your eyebrows and make them pop. First, brush them until they are neat, then fill them in with a matte powder that’s one or two shades darker than your natural brow color.^{[2]XResearch source}. This will create sufficient drama without being garish.
- If it’s been a while since your shaped your eyebrows with tweezers, you may need to do that before brushing and applying color.
4
Make up your eyes. Along with the lips, the eyes are a major focal point of pin-up girl makeup.
- Apply a vanilla or champagne colored eye-shadow to the entire upper eyelid,^{[3]XResearch source} then contour with a darker neutral color, and blend.^{[4]XResearch source}
- Next, use black liquid eyeliner, making sure the eyeliner wings out at the corners of your eye. This is called the “Cat Eye” or “Bedroom Eyes.”
- Allow eyeliner to dry and then apply at least 2 coats of a good lengthening and thickening mascara. It's a good idea to practice this look a lot before actually using it formally.
- For extra points, try applying false eyelashes before applying your mascara. This can be tricky but well worth the effort.
5
Perfect Your Pout. Pin-up lips should be red, though the exact shade will depend on your skin tone. Go with as dark and deep a red as you can, based on your skin.
- Outline the shape of your lips first with a red pencil but at the peak of your lips create a sharp cupid bow “V.” Fill in with lipstick that perfectly matches your lip pencil.^{[5]XResearch source} Don’t forget to blot!
- No matter your skin tone, there’s a red out there for you. There are countless shades to choose from, from blood red to cherry red to fire engine red and so on. Have fun experimenting until you find the one that works for you.
Use a brown pencil to give yourself a small beauty mark and a more glamorous look. A black beauty mark will look too severe, but dark brown is a bit softer and more realistic.
7
Don’t forget your nails. Deep reds, reddish browns, and pinks are good colors to go with, but you can also try black, which was surprisingly popular. Go for medium-length nails with tapered sides and pointed (but not sharp) tips.
- Pin-up girls frequently left the lunula, or the white half moon at the bottom of the nail near the cuticle, unpainted.

Part 3

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Getting a Pin-up Wardrobe

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1
Draw inspiration from the 1940s and 1950s. Your aim is to create an alluring hourglass silhouette. Shirtdresses and belts that cinch tight at your waist are a great way to achieve this look.
- Think about pin-ups from the past whose style your admire. Ava Gardner, Jayne Mansfield, Sophia Loren, Elizabeth Taylor, Lena Horne, Dorothy Dandridge, Kim Novak, Jane Russel, Betty Gable, and Marilyn Monroe all provide stunning examples.
- Even as you use famous pin-ups as a guide, try to create your own unique look. This is what will make the experience of dressing like a pin-up most fun and fulfilling.
2
Shop vintage and secondhand stores. Look for genuine vintage items from this era, including pencil skirts, A-line skirts, Cuban heeled stockings, round toed pumps, wiggle dresses, swing dresses, petticoats, 3/4 sleeve cardigans, cropped cardigans with full sleeves, and high waist capri pants, to name a few.
- If you don’t live near any good vintage stores, you can search for vintage goods online. You can also buy vintage reproduction clothing online from numerous companies such as Bettie Page Clothing and Stop Staring!
- True vintage clothing was produced in the era you are trying to portray, whereas retro clothing looks like it’s from that era but was made more recently. Retro is a copy of the real thing produced in mass market, whereas vintage is the real thing. If your clothing was made before the eighties, check for the “Made in the USA” seal or whatever country you are situated in. On the tag there should be a union name and ID number. A tag that says “Made in China” is a sign that the article of clothing is not vintage.
- Clothing made of linen, cotton, and other natural fabrics are more likely to be genuine vintage items.
- Instead of buying clothes, you could invest in fabrics with vintage patterns and make your own clothes. This will require time and some level of skill, however, and so is better left to those with experience in sewing.
Some items from your closet, like sweaters with boat necks and v-necks were popular in the 40s and 50s; you can add these to your pin-up wardrobe. Or try turning a cardigan backward and buttoning it up for a quick vintage pin-up look.
This is the pointy-cupped brassiere that will give you the Marilyn Monroe sweater look which was all the rage during the pin-up era.
5
Invest in a girdle or corset. 1940s and 1950s clothing is designed to be worn with base garments, so consider investing in a vintage girdle to give you a lovely silhouette.
- Though you may not have a natural hourglass shape, these undergarments will do a great job helping you “fake” it!^{[6]XResearch source}

Expert Q&A

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What sort of style and clothes bring out a person's natural beauty? What should I wear if I want to appear naturally pretty?
Natalie Tincher
Style Strategist & Wardrobe Specialist
Natalie Tincher is the Owner and Principal Style Strategist of BU Style. With more than 10 years of experience, Natalie specializes in personal styling to reflect clients’ individuality, confidence, and comfort. In 2019, she was named the Global Head of Styling for Bloomberg Television. Natalie is certified in Image Consulting through the Fashion Institute of Technology. She regularly shares her expertise with corporate groups at major financial institutions, media companies, and news outlets including: Time Out New York, Refinery 29, and NBC News.
Natalie Tincher
Style Strategist & Wardrobe Specialist
Expert Answer
Soft and relaxed style personalities tend to desire looks that complement their natural beauty. A “natural” style means wearing clothes and colors that are harmonious with your authentic features instead of competing with them. For example, if you are light in coloring (ie, light hair, light eyes, and light skin), wear light colors instead of bright or high-contrast colors. If you are older and starting to get wrinkles, wear clothing with texture (eg, tweed, herringbone) to mimic the texture of your skin. Also, natural beauty means wearing minimal makeup or the appearance of minimal makeup.
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Do you have any styling tips for younger people that want to look pretty at school?
Natalie Tincher
Style Strategist & Wardrobe Specialist
Natalie Tincher is the Owner and Principal Style Strategist of BU Style. With more than 10 years of experience, Natalie specializes in personal styling to reflect clients’ individuality, confidence, and comfort. In 2019, she was named the Global Head of Styling for Bloomberg Television. Natalie is certified in Image Consulting through the Fashion Institute of Technology. She regularly shares her expertise with corporate groups at major financial institutions, media companies, and news outlets including: Time Out New York, Refinery 29, and NBC News.
Natalie Tincher
Style Strategist & Wardrobe Specialist
Expert Answer
Your youth is a time to start learning “who you are,” and your clothing should reflect that. You will look prettiest when you feel prettiest. Worry less about what everyone else is wearing and more about what makes you feel uniquely “you." You can do this by experimenting with different styles and shapes, creating a mood or inspiration board with styles you like, and journaling to keep track of what outfits made you feel the best.
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How short should my hair be in order to get a wig?
Community Answer
You can have any length of hair in order to get a wig, but if your hair is long you will need to get a wig cap to hold up your hair so it does not show when you have the wig on.
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Rockabilly is a modern-day recreation of the pin-up look that is a music style and often associated with the burlesque. In addition to having things in common with pin-up style, rockabilly also favors cherries, animal print, roses, and sugar skull patterns for clothes and purses. Sparrows, bows, roses, stars, sugar skulls, casino- and nautical-themed accessories are also popular.
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Perfume can add a nice touch to your pin-up style. My Sin Perfume was discontinued, but you can spritz on a little Vertivert, White Diamonds (a cheaper alternative by Elizabeth Taylor). or Chanel No. 5. Spray your fragrance onto a cotton ball and nestle it in your brassiere. Save the cotton ball till next time and you won’t use as much perfume.
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Watching movies from the 1940s and 1950s may help give you inspiration.
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