Queen Bettie

Today, Queen Elizabeth II was laid to rest at Windsor Castle as the world watched.

This post will not be about that.*

Instead, here at the Starfire Lounge we’re going to focus on the Queen of an entirely different realm. After writing somewhere in the neighborhood of 1,200-1,300 words—a very respectable neighborhood**—on the lovely and talented Bettie Page (1923–2008) recently, I’m realizing I’m not done with the Queen of Pinups just yet. No, my admiration for the Queen of Bondage is infinite, so why not bring her back now and then? After all, if anyone deserves a standing invite to grace the stage here any time she pleases, it’s the Queen of Curves. She holds at least three regal titles, for goodness sake, and today is all about queens, after all.

April 22nd of next year will mark 100 years since Bettie’s birth—her birthday is the day before mine—so in the lead up to that milestone, look out for more semi-regular Bettie posts. Beyond the amazing photos (Bettie never took a bad one), these posts will be fun and cheeky, like Bettie, not dour and stiff, like England’s royalty. Hopefully you’ll learn a thing or two about her along the way. I plan to keep the focus on her brief but enormously impactful 1950s pinup career.

If I have something witty or relevant to say about the photos, I’ll insert a little commentary in these posts as well. But, ultimately, Bettie’s work speaks for itself. Without further delay, here’s some hard evidence to back up that statement.

The photos in this post are from Bettie’s heyday as a pinup and fetish model for brother and sister Irving and Paula Klaw’s Movie Star News at their E. 14th St. Manhattan storefront, a very important stretch of her career that I’d like to write more about in another post.

Fuzzy heels? Yes, please.

I’ll take “Bettie Page adjusting her stockings for $2,000,” Alex.

So long and thanks for all the f(et)ish!***

*Sorry, but you have to go to a Royals blog for that sort of coverage, my friends.

**I will shamelessly quote the movie Midnight Run any chance I get, even if it’s a stretch, like here. *shrugs*

***I will shamelessly quote the book The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy any chance I get, even if it’s a stretch, like here. *shrugs again*