Photography by Alan Jones Photography, Highbridge, Somerset

 I loved wearing this stunning original 1950's vintage dress on my shoot with Alan a couple of months back. The waist was tiny and a little bit of a squeeze! I am a 26" waist naturally, so I am guessing this may have been a 24". The bust had boning to give that lovely triangular curve to it, and it was a label-less garment indicating it was entirely hand-sewn!

We are SO super excited that Juliette has invited us to take party in her launch party. Facebook event details HERE. It's free entry so anyone in London, you'd better make the effort to come see us! *Flutters eyelashes*

Tonight reminded me of how many comments I collect when I go out in small towns away from cities. Pin Up, or alternative styles, are very much seen as alien here as there are a lot less people and subcultures rarely exist here apart from a mix of long time hippies and punks.

To let you know a background story to why I am in little towns at the moment - In the summer I stay at the seaside, and then I go back to the big smoke later this month to study and plan world domination with my co-partners of The UK Bombshells, Dolly & Dakota.

In London, no one bats an eyelid if you dress with a distinctive style as it's a hub of alternate scenes, however, place yourself as a pin up in a very small area away from alternative dress styles and you find yourself being either asked, admired or scorned for being a little bit different.
I personally think it's a great thing to be set apart from everyone else, however on the odd occasion  I have been approached by women in particular and told scornfully I'm very much 'overdressed' for the night.
 Just like every other style, pin up can be a little over the top sometimes, however dressing with a retro twist is how I dress everyday and I have slowly built the style into my wardrobe and accessories. To dress 'normally', whatever 'normal' is - would be like acting like another person for the night as I wouldn't be dressing like myself at all. I would probably feel like I dulled myself down to seem normal to others, and who wants to feel dull when they go out to watch music with friends or for dinner.

Now, with that out of the way..I do think it's awesome that everyone in the world is different and we all have our preferences and quirks which make us interesting! If we all were the same, I think the world would be a very boring place! I guess for some people I wish they could see outside the box a little sometimes, and instead of criticising being different in a bad light, embrace individuality!

So a few of my die hard followers will have already moved onto my new page, but if you haven't done already - here is the link!

I decided my look has really developed since I started pin up and I wanted a name that I felt represented me as a classic cheesecake pin up lover. Ava Winters I felt suited my new short bouncy blonde hair and my photos which are mostly inspired by American pin up artwork by Elvgren, Ekman, Driben and Vargas to name a few.

Illustration by Peter Driben



Illustration by Harry Ekman  

My favourite pin ups of all time also came into consideration, such as our British beauty Diana Dors in particular convincing me to finally take the step to go platinum!

Diana Dors

Even Debbie Harry or 'Blondie' as she is commonly referred to influenced this decision, being one of my all time favourite icons.

Golden/Yellow

Golden / Yellow Blonde

Light, ice blonde

I have left this blog very much redundant (which I regret) and will try to post more things.
Quite frankly I lost time to model when I got back to University, we had so many projects on at once I've been in the library until 4am in the morning and got up at 7am the next day for hand ins at 9am.
I have had enough of uni already, part of me wants to sack it off as it seems like it's more bother than it is worth!
But then I think I need a day job and as much as I love pin up, I can't devote myself full time as it wouldn't pay the bills. I have to think literally about life and if it does begin to become more of a career then I will take it up completely.
I would love burlesque to be my full time career, but something was stopping me for so long: the worry of what others will think. Mainly my family, I can't bear to imagine what they would go through to know their daughter stripped on stage. But to me burlesque isn't a dirty act at all! It's a tease, but it's all about dancing and the beauty of the female form. When I watch burlesque stars I have so much admiration! Burlesque ties in all my dreams of pin-up and glamour into one beautiful act, and I think I am almost ready to put together my own act.
As well as thinking literally about picking up burlesque as another hobby, some of you may already know I have been working really hard on my fitness! I bang on about it on my facebook but I have been way too chicken to post any photos of my stomach and legs just incase I don't lose any weight at all and then i'll have some raw photos on the internet or something.. but I have lost weight. Almost half a stone, so far, without really trying that much.

During deadlines I lost pounds very easilly, with walking around a lot and barely going home to eat, I had to rely  on what I bought and I tried not to spend too much out which resulted in losing weight.

Before deadlines I was hitting the gym and I found out I really love doing Yoga.

I have tried Pilates a couple of times before, but Yoga makes me feel very connected to my soul and I feel stronger as a woman after the sessions. I have been going through a tough time with friendships crumbling at my feet and feeling very alone for a few months, so taking up Yoga gave me a real focus and the relaxation sessions at the end made me feel much more relaxed!

If there is one thing I have learnt this year, it is to try not to rely on other people so much and to be strong and independant! Love yourself and look after yourself and your health, be it fitness or mental health.

Sometimes you have to do something for yourself and make a change in order to be a happier person, and that is what i'm doing now!

Last week on Sunday 12th Nov, I did the star wars set with Pinupzania and Ian Mears and then headed off to Kent with Dakota and Tally where Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Families Association (SSAFA) Forces Help were waiting for us.
They took us out for dinner which was lovely and then we headed off to the hotel to sleep for a few hours. Then at 5am I was back out of bed again, compete with pincurls I had slept on to my head!
At 6:45 am we headed off to the petrol pumps of Clacket Lane Services where we spread the word about SSAFA and how much the charity can help ex-forces members!
We did loads of photos that day. The army troops stopping off for a coffee had photos with us which was great fun.
I woke in the morning to find a lot of things already online from the shoot:

Yesterday I headed into Camden for a product shoot with Berty & Gerty.
I modelled about 35 dresses in total, some silk scarves, bags and hats!
The shoot was lots of fun and Emma needed quick shots to upload onto the ASOS Marketplace page.
Only a few are up so far but it's nice to be featured on a clothing website.
I'm really upping the promo work I am doing now, a lot have been professional shoots but I think it is time to get involved with the talent around London.