Bettie Page

Well, this one seems pretty obvious, doesn’t it?



There’s a whole generation of guys who think of Bettie Page as the perfect woman—she’s become an icon of the counter-culture, as modern in her appeal as any starlet of the last ten years. In fact, her popularity now dwarves her popularity when she was an active model.






Not that she wasn’t without legions of fans back in the ‘50’s. Bettie Page was a hugely popular pin-up and fetish model, in lingerie, art, and even light bondage photography and short films. As a model for Irving Klaw, and later for Bunny Yeager, Bettie set a standard for sultry but playful sexuality—as beautiful as she was, she always seemed approachable to her fans.



She gave it all up in in ’59, becoming a born-again Christian and retiring to Florida.



But that kind of charm and beauty couldn’t stay hidden forever. In the ‘80’s, artist Dave Stevens modeled the female lead in his comic The Rocketeer on Bettie, and in ’87 publisher Greg Theakston launched The Betty Pages, celebrating Bettie and other pin-up glamor queens of the ‘50’s. The Bettie Page revival was in full swing.
By all accounts, Ms. Page was flattered and a little baffled by the sudden renewal of interest, but despite her Christian faith she took it all in stride. She doesn’t make public appearances, though, so we have only the hundreds of jaw-dropping photos and short films…