Bettie Page

When you ask about pin up models of the 1950s, one name stands out. Bettie Page. Her dark hair, those bangs, that cheeky smile and those amazing curves... Bettie Page has long been an idol of mine. Her innocence, the way she was comfortable in her own skin, her attitudes and the way she lived her life is a breath of fresh air.

"I was just myself. I didn't know any other way to be, or any other way to live."

Born in 1923, Bettie begun modelling across the country after leaving home in her early 20s. In 1950, photographer Jerry Tibbs took Bettie's first pin up photos and her life changed. (He also suggested for her to cut her hair in bangs!)

"I never kept up with the fashions. I believed in wearing what I thought looked good on me."

Bettie appeared in the 1955 issue of playboy as a centerfold, but it was her fetish and bondage photos with Irving and Paula Klaw that stand out as one of her most successful endevours. Interestingly enough, Bettie never saw the photographs as provocative, or 'wrong'. She imaginaed herself playing a character, one who was the total opposit of who she actually was.

"Sex is a part of love. You shouldn't go around doing it unless you are in love…."

The photos are fairly tame to look at from todays standards, but at the time they were scandalous and created an underground stir for those who were interested in the fetish genre.

"I was not trying to be shocking, or to be a pioneer. I wasn't trying to change society, or to be ahead of my time."

Bettie dissapeared from the public eye after legal disputes surrounding her work with the Klaws and a public uproar about pornography and today enjoys a queit life with her family. She still remains a modern icon, inspiring artists, editorals, designers and film makers alike.

"She had a saucy innocence that is both contemporary and provocative, and also nostalgic." - Hugh M. Hefner