We here at the thehepburnmovement strive to show the diversity of pinup/vintage culture every chance we get, to show that ANYONE and everyone can be a pinup regardless of your age, sexual orientation or race. That despite the lack of representation in the media, we exist and are here to inspire others to step out into the spotlight. People from all kinds of nationalities and identities make up this community and we aim to show that with every post. We want to highlight the wide variety of pinup/vintage loving people because they come from all walks of life, and deserve to be seen. This weeks wonderful pinup to be featured is one of those amazing people who are apart of the pinup community, she strives to show that there are ore sides to her culture than meets the eye, that anyone can truly be a pinup.
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BRENDA
We have been loyal followers of Brenda on social media for as long as we have been apart of the pinup community, she was actually one of the very first hispanic pinups we ever laid eyes on. We love her timeless look/elegance and her ability to stay true to herself despite all odds. Her youtube was one of the very first channels I followed to try and find hair styles that worked for my hair type, being a curly haired latina woman the other run of the mill videos simply wouldn't do. It was from there that I found her instagram/ Facebook where we later became friends. She inspired me (Paola) to truly take the plunge and become a pinup, seeing her be such a prominent role in the community made me realize that I could belong too. She never fails to inspire or motivate me to be true to myself and is the real life embodiment of our motto "Any one can be a pinup". She is a hard working, kind, down to earth, moving Mexicana who strives to show that theres more to her culture than sombreros, tacos and tequila. It is our greatest pleasure to share her story with you today.
When did you get into the pinup life style ?
I started showing appreciation for the aesthetic when I was 10 years old, I used to see photos of my grandmother, gosh she was hermosa, I immediately knew I wanted to look like her. However it wasn't until my 17th birthday, when I started to dress up and learn more about the pinup style. You know, we all start from somewhere, and my case was a bit of mess, it took me a long while to truly find myself. At the beginning I didn't feel confident, because it's a totally different style, at least in Mexico you don't get to see many girls with that look, so I was the "weirdo". Not to mention that i'm a small town girl, and they didn't appreciate how much I stood out. It was a long time coming, but I never let anyone not even myself talk me out of dressing this way. Nowadays I can tell you that I truly love how I look, and this style in particular brings me great confidence. For the first time, this small town girl doesn't feel ugly and I owe it all to becoming a pinup.
(Left to right: Brenda, Her abuelita & Lupez Velez)
Who is your biggest style inspiration ?
As I mentioned before, my love started thanks to my Abuelita, so of course she is a BIG inspiration for me. Some of the classic girls would be wonderful women like, Lupe Velez, MarÃa Félix, Tongolele, Dovima. For the modern inspirations there's Aida Dapo, Angelique Noire, Lisa Love, just to name a few. To be honest I think all the people I follow on social media, have something I love about their style and they inspire me so much. All people have their own kind of beauty so I try to find a little bit of it in all of them.
How does it feel to be a minority in the pinup community ?
It's hard. I don't know if it's my perception but I feel that for us, it is much more difficult to make ourselves known. Almost as if we have to work so much harder. This is incredibly apparent on social media, (based on numbers), the girls with the most followers, the ones who advance faster and farther, and those who the companies ask to model their products are in the most part white, a certain body type and heterosexual. This is incredibly discouraging for me and it makes me sad when I hear girls say things like “Pin up is not for us, woman of color”. I remember one time, a girl approached to me and told me “You look gorgeous but it wouldn’t look good on me because i’m darker than you and i’m fat”… I immediately asked her “Who told you that?!” and she responded “No one directly, but when I search pin up on internet the very first images that pop up are many white girls with a specific body type, they look pretty”…
In that moment I realized that even I was guilty of this, along with her and many other girls, we wanted so much to fit in and try to look like the Pinup stereotype. I decided when I became a Pinup that I was going to tear down those stereotypes and inspire others like me to dress this way. I was so motivated and moved. I wanted to show the world, that Mexican girls can also look beautiful and we can show our culture at the same time.
I just want them to know that no matter their size, race, gender, age, sexual orientation or socioeconomic status, Pin Up is for everyone and anyone can join this community.
Also being a minority has given me the opportunity to know many awesome girls, like you, and I think despite being less in numbers, we have created a group of strong girls. A group where we try to support each other, because we know how hard it is and we won't stop until all others like us know that they can be pinups too.
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We hope you enjoyed this weeks edition of "Anyone can be a pinup", we truly enjoyed sharing Brenda's story with you. We are truly amazed by the incredible power of the pinup community and all the incredible friendships it has brought us. We were able to befriend Brenda, a huge inspiration thanks to it and are so honored to share her story with you. She is just one of the many wonderful people we've met, who shows that there is nothing more beautiful than being true to yourself. After all anyone can be a pinup and we can't wait to share stories from pinups from all walks of life with you.
Follow the Cherry Up on social media!
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If you have any comments,questions or even suggestions on who you'd like to see us feature next, feel free to comment below and we'll do our best to reply in a timely manner.
As always thanks for reading, may your days be filled with pretty dresses, dapper clothes & a lot of happiness.
Paola & Kirsten xx
Aka "thehepburnmovement"
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