Meet our Pinup of the month for January, as voted by you, Miss Jessica Mae! Pinup, businesswoman and vintage lover from New Zealand, Jessica Mae certainly has her finger on the pulse of the NZ Pinup and Rockabilly community.
How did you choose your Pinup name?
My pinup name is quite simple, but it means something to me as my parents always call me Jessica Mae, as my middle name is Mae, I'm born in May also. So was a easy one for me.
Why do you love Pinup?
I love pinup for many reasons. Not only do I love it for dressing up in pretty vintage & pinup dresses on a daily basis. I love the community involved within the pinup scene. I've meet so many cool and interesting people throughout NZ and some in Australia too.
Favourite beauty tip!
My favourite beauty tip would be to look after your skin and hair, by using quality products. They may cost a little more to start with but in the long run it is wroth it. I'm a hairdresser so I'm all about using quality and organic products for my hair and skin. Also wear sunscreen every day winter and summer. I wear a special face 50+ sunscreen every day whether its sunny or not.
What's your favourite aspect of the Pinup and Rockabilly culture?
My favourite aspect of the pinup and rockabilly subculture, again is the people that are involved in this scene. Whether they are hot-rodders, vintage and reproduction store owners, rockabilly musicians, vintage collectors and pinup girls/models. We all have something in common. We all love the yester-year of the 1940's to the 1960's.
I have meet so many awesome people and new friends thru going to events and on social media (some i've yet to meet in real life) but that will happen eventually.
When did you know that Pinup was the right thing for you?
I've loved old cars/hot rods for a long time (my family are petrol heads) but it wasn't until I started going to Beach Hop in 2009, that I took a liking to the vintage fashion. I started dressing in vintage 1950's just for that event every year over five years. I looked forward to it every year, just to dress up.
It wasn't until 2014 when I meet my partner Brett that I really felt comfortable wearing vintage/pin up everyday. Now I wouldn't have it any other way and don't really own any non-pinup or vintage clothes.
What advice would you like to give to new Pinups?
Advice I would give to new pin ups would be to be yourself, don't let other people get to you or worry too much what other people think of you or how you look. At the end of the day you are doing this for yourself and it makes you happy and feel good about yourself. Also practice makes perfect for your hair and make up. it took me a year to get my winged eyeliner right and still have the odd bad day. Follow other pinups on social media and watch youtube videos, they really helped.
Some of the pinups who have influenced me are:
and many other NZ pin ups!
Favourite business shoutout!
My fav NZ business are:
Honey L'Amour all NZ made
Retro Resins NZ made jewellery
These business's are all awesome to deal with and are supportive to our business, Kulture Shock.
