I get a giddy little thrill when models display their own SI
photos at launch events.
It’s almost its own subgenre of photo. “Here I am in eveningwear, displaying a photo of me in a bikini.”
This puts me in mind of another subgenre that pops up from
time to time. “Pinups Within Pinups.” Sometimes the girls will pose with images
of other swimsuit girls in the shot.
Sometimes, it’s the same girl. For example, in this photo (I
believe from 2004), we see Elsa Benitez posing in a bikini, showing us a photo
of Elsa Benitez in a bikini.
Isabeli Fontana has somehow been
given a bikini decorated with self portraits in this shot from 2003.
And in this “intimate”
video from 2011, Izabel Goulart snaps
a bunch of selfies and festoons her body with the Polaroids.
Sometimes the secondary pinup is worn by the SI model. We’ve
previously enjoyed Amber Smith’s 1993 bathing beauty tattoo.
Jarah Mariano wears a swimsuit
girl pattern on her top in 2008.
In 2009, Jessica Hart wears a
bikini bottom, and a shirt with a bikini bottom design on it.
And sometimes, the pinup is just part of the scenery. Like
Jessica White and Ariel Meredith on these boats in 2011 and 2012, respectively.
Or Damaris Lewis and Genevieve Morton on these planes in
2010.
In 2002, Chandra North and Josie Maran found themselves in
some kind of shack wallpapered with local pinups.
And in this preview tweet for
2011, Julie Henderson models what I’m sure is my favorite beer, without my even
having to taste it: Bikini Blonde Lager.
I think part of the joy for me is the tacit endorsement. The
models seem to be saying, “Yup, pinups of bikini babes exist. We’re cool with
them. After all, we are them.”
And if Julie, Chandra, Ariel, and company approve of photos
of bikini girls, who am I to feel guilty about enjoying them?
