We all see those two words thrown
around all the time. Pinup… Rockabilly, but have you ever wondered what the
difference between the two is? If there is even one?
First a bit of history for all those that like
to get all the technicalities out of the wayJ.
Rockabilly emerged in the late 30’s early 40’s and began gaining popularity in
the 1950’s. Technically it isn’t a style it’s a genre of music. Actually it’s
one of the earlier styles of rock n’ roll that blends hillbilly (which at the
time was an offensive term), boogie woogie, and rock n’ roll of course. Some of
the more popularly known rockabilly artist would be Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee
Lewis, and Bill Haley and His Comets who recorded ‘Rock Around The Clock’. Initially
Rockabilly had a lot of negative connotations and was received poorly by not
only older and northern Americans but musicians alike. Around the 1960’s
Rockabilly music began to die out, so though it had a big impact on American culture
it really wasn’t around for very long at least in popular culture. However Rockabilly
music did experience resurgences off and on in 1980 and again in the early 1990’s
with groups like The Cramps, The Polecats, and Los Lobos.
When you talk about Pinup it gets a little
tricky. If you want to know when the term Pinup Girl or Pinup was coined? That
would be 1941… essentially a Pinup was a model who’s mass produced photos,
postcards, drawings, posters, etc… could be found ‘pined up’ on a wall or wherever.
Even though the term Pinup didn’t come
about until ’41 we know that women have been posing for this genre of
photography since as early as the 1890’s. As before with Rockabilly originally Pinup
had nothing to do with a clothing style or subculture instead it referred
strictly to a style of photography and the models that posed for them. Some of
the more famous Pinup models include Josephine Baker, Joi Lansing and of course
the fabulous Bettie Page. Over the years Pinup has always been controversial,
it consistently challenged societies views on the role of the women, and challenged
women themselves as they argued over what effect these images had on not only
society but on themselves.
Whew
*wipes forearm across brow* well we’ve got the history lesson out of the way,
and the truth is being a history major I just couldn’t help myselfJ. Okay moving on… the Essence
of Rockabilly and Pinup are still alive but now-a-days it’s safe to say that
they do have double meanings.
Today
Rockabilly no longer simply refers to music but an entire subculture is the
easiest way to explain it. Now-a-days music and style seems to run so closely
together and if you pay attention you notice (of course this doesn’t go for everyone) that
people that listen to the same music i.e. hip hop, rock, tend to dress alike
and also like similar things. The same thing goes for people that enjoy
Rockabilly music. Because the genre came about in the ‘50’s it makes sense that
the people that enjoy the music would enjoy not only the culture of that era
but the fashions as well.
Pinup it tends to have a double meaning now. The original meaning
still stands there some great traditional modern pinups today such as Angelique
Noire, Cherry Dollface, and Doris Mayday. In addition to the traditional meaning
a Pinup is also known as a woman that dresses strictly vintage usually the 40
-60’s eras but a Pinup goes for a more glam look.
In reference to whether there’s a difference between
Rockabilly and Pinup…well in the end there’s not. The lines between Pinup and
Rockabilly cross and blur so much until they are nearly indistinguishable. I
think the stereotypical misconception is that when you think Rockabilly you
think Leather jacket, white-tee, and cuffed jeans. Whereas the stereotype for
Pinup tends to be the black wiggle dress, red lips and Maryjanes. But all us
Dolls know these are just what they are, Stereotypes. They are the rare days
when I want to be casual and wear my button down shirt and high-waisted pants,
then the days I want to bust out that wiggle dress, or off the shoulder top to
show off the tattoos. The point is in
the end Pinup is Rockabilly and Rockabilly is Pinup, yes they are actual terms with
meanings but style wise…they go hand in hand. And more importantly it’s what you want it to
be.
.JPG)
