Marilee also did the beautiful makeup and hair, which works well with the fashion aesthetic even though we intended it to be fantasy. The dress is by Kay Gnagey of Originals by Kay and is based on an original ensemble in the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s fashion collection. The Chantilly lace shawl is an antique, and the fan is from Amazon with a vintage silk ribbon from Etsy.
Marilee did the fabulous early 1960s makeup and hair (and lent me those awesome vintage earrings!), and I supplied my own clothes and vintage copy of the magazine. The playmate necklace (crystal pave bunny head) is a cheapie I got years ago on Ebay, the velvet dress is the olive green velvet Starlet Wiggle from the Vixen line by Micheline Pitt, and the shoes are my old reliable Christian Louboutin Piou-Piou patent stiletto pumps.
I was basically channeling one of my old Vampire: the Masquerade LARP characters, a dancer from Clan Toreador whom I named Lily after Lily Bart in Edith Wharton’s House of Mirth. Marilee did some very romantic Rachael-from-Blade-Runner-ish hair and makeup, and I wore one of my “Elisabeth” dressing gowns from Catherine D’Lish, a black lace bodysuit from Torrid, garter belt and stockings by What Katie Did, and a pair of signed Manolo Blahnik Campari pumps I got third-hand for like $35. Oh, and the fangs are one of two great custom pairs I got from Kaos Kustom Fangs.
Some of you may remember my 2014 “Rio” shoot from 2014 with Miss Missy Photography. I was super-happy with the pictures (I love Duran Duran and Patrick Nagel), but never expected them to ever be published as they were such a weird combination of 1980s and midcentury pinup aesthetics.
Well, fast-forward to 2022 and Retro Lovely’s 20th Century Retrospective series, and I realized that my Rio pics finally had a chance – the 1980s special edition! And indeed, four of the images from the shoot have been included in Volume 2 of this years ’80s retrospective.
Thanks to Missy for doing such a great job, and for helping me submit the photos this year.
To grab copies of my most recent pinup, keep an eye on my Linktree. 🙂
Tiki pinup incoming! I’m super-thrilled to share that I got one of the Retro Lovely Tiki special edition covers this year (Volume 2)! Marilee Caruso shot me at an amazing home tiki bar in the Sacramento area (Danger Island!). I’m so happy with these images and also grateful to see a few friends in the issue with me, including Miss Melody Noir!
You can get signed copies of the issue and/or a 12×18″ poster of the cover art direct from me! Prices include USPS Priority shipping to US addresses. If you need international shipping, contact me! Buying these from me doesn’t make me much money, but it does help me defray the cost of bringing you pinup (which I love to do!)…