Pin-up Tattoo Designs

A pin-up girl is a woman whose beauty and physical attractiveness entice people to place a picture of her up on a wall. The term first got introduced in the English language in 1941, but it has been in practice since the 1890's. The term stands for a girl who is so beautiful that one would want to pin-up or post her image on the wall.

Pin up girl designs share a long history with the art of inking, which dates back to the previous century. Pin-up girl designs have been seen as an expression of beauty, sensuality and, sometimes, female empowerment.

The classic pin-up body art designs were often associated with ideal feminine beauty. These designs are always perfectly put together and are depicted with oodles of sex appeal.

Historically, body art depicting pin-up girls showed images of sensuous girls. However, what was looked up as hot in those days may not be considered hot today.

Traditional pin-up girls did not wear thongs and low-rise jeans with bucket cap, or anything similar on those lines. Very typically, an old school pin-up girl design would be of a very beautiful girl incorporated into a tattoo.

Normally, the body of the women would be artistically depicted, and the girls themselves would be shown assuming various provocative poses. Whichever the pose they were shown in, it was always a sexy, come-hither type of pose, where the woman's face was looking directly at the viewer.

Numerous pin-up girl tattoos feature a realistic depiction of some of the famous models. Depending on personal choices, some people also go way back to the 1920s' era to choose designs for themselves, which are done in black-and-white or sepia tones.

The girls are shown with wavy hair, in a number of poses, often sheathed in lace, exotic costumes, or also entirely nude. There are prop designs that can also be included along with the girls themselves. The most common props include bubbles, parasols, feather boas, etc.

If you want to have a colorful body art, then you will have to hunt for designs in the 1950s' ear and later. The most well-known of the pin-up models is, undoubtedly, Bettie Page. Normally bold animal prints, dark leather, etc., were used on her and the poses included lounging on a beach, posing in a theme park, etc.

For more erotic designs, the most commonly used theme was a female model tied up by another scantily clad model.

It is important to understand that charged or free designs are actually illustrations. They are often recreation work of some of the better known pin-up artists or can also be exaggerated cartoons. One of the most recognizable example is the Vargas Girl.

Pin-up tattoo artist Alberto Vargas dedicated himself to the task of glorifying the sensual image of womanhood. If you come across a pin-up girl tattoo which features a long-limbed, heavy-hipped and bosomed woman in a variety of flouncy lingerie or costumes, etc., it is a typical Vargas Girl.

The other used designs include women simply posing with a hand on one bent knee with the other hand stretched out, or lounging with her arms behind her head, or lying down on her side with a smoldering look in her eyes with her hands framing her face.

Cartoon pin-up tattoo designs tend to be with more outrageous bodily proportions, and can be shown in a multitude of styles. The others can be angels and devils, robots, fairies and gunslingers, pin-up nurses, etc. These tattoos can also be combined with flowers, koi fish, etc.

Pin up girls make for great lower back, sleeve, or ankle tattoos. These designs often have multi-fold nature. They can be sweet and unassuming, sassy, smart, etc. However, they will always be an enduring symbol of beauty, vivacity, promiscuity, and grace.