MEMBER OF THE WEEK

My name is Bernadette but nobody calls me that (unless I'm getting carded or pulled over of course). All my friends call me Bernie. I live in Portland Oregon and love the slower pace of life.

My mother is from Oklahoma City and my father is from the Philippine Islands (now I think of it I am convinced this is where I get my curvy shape from). They met in the 1960's at a club where my mom danced when my father was on leave from the U.S. Navy. He fell in love with her at first sight!

My mother became a burlesque dancer at the ripe old age of 17 and as a kid I had no idea really what kind of dancing she did until I was rummaging through an old 1800's trunk she owned and found some old lobby cards that featured her!! I never asked her about it as a teenager as I felt like it was her private, secret world but I was intrigued as I found her so fascinating. Sowing the seed

Even as young as 5 or 6 I had started to stand by my mother's side for hours watching her do her make up & hair. She used false eyelashes & everything! I was always fascinated with her transformation from girl next door to this sexy vixen!! I remember even trying on her high heel shoes when she would leave the room so I guess the seed had been sown all the way back then.

When I was not studying my mom I was in front of the television fascinated with the family film festival on Sunday mornings.I loved watching the black/white and Technicolor films as the dancing was inspiring and the women so glamorous. I always wanted to be a Zigfield girl! As a consequence I begged my mom for tap dance lessons which I started aged just 5 years old. I continued to tap dance for 10 years and also went through acting school. One of the highlights of that time was meeting John Caradine!

At 12 years old my mom sighed me up for my first beauty pageant. The pageants were great for learning poise & smooth walking and I ended up doing the pageant circuit until I was 18. That was the year I won 'Miss Teen San Diego County U.S.A. 1988 From there I went to Miss Teen Calif. U.S.A. where I was placed in the top 15. The transition to pinup model

After the pageant circuit I got into the rockabilly scene and still love it to this day. The music and dancing and of course the fashion style are all so exciting to me.

As far as my career goes I went to cosmetology school and found it was easy for me to pick up hair dressing. The next thing I know I am doing all my friend's hair & makeup before we would go out to rockabilly shows. I really think studying my mom and all those movies paid off.

My first job after the schooling was in a salon on Melrose. i loved it so much. this is where i learned all about hair styling. Soon after i was told about a job with M.A.C. Cosmetics. I was so lucky as I got the best training in the world there! Finally I decided to freelance & that is were all this pin up modeling comes in. I was working on shoots with a few pinup style photographers doing hair, make up, set design and wardrobe.

I have had the privilege with working with some of the most beautiful women in the world. I have worked on Dita Von Teese ( i did not even know who she was), Holly Madison, and tons more! and never in my wildest dreams thought I would get a chance to be in front of the camera. However, one night it happened. Danielle Bedics needed a test model & i volenteered and there was some real magic in the room. I submitted the photos to a pin up contest on the web and got a lot of great feedback. Tons of Job offers came flooding in! I was so afraid they would be disappointed when they met me, but nope they were always thrilled!!

Why Pinup?

Well apart form the obvious connections with the rockabilly scene I simply love to dress up in 1940's/1950's clothing and lingerie whether it's genuine vintage or simply inspired from that era. I have been collecting clothes and accessories for as long as I can recall and I can even remember going to the thrift store with my mom when I was a little girl and sifting through everything to find amazing glamorous cat eye glasses & 1950s prom dresses! I even wore a pink 1950's prom dress & vintage pearled mules to my jr high school sweetheart dance in 1983!!

I have always found myself buying the dresses and shoes even with no real knowledge and then finding out that "Oh that is a great vintage dress!!" I guess I'm lucky enough to just have an eye for it. I have had a lot of fun buying and selling on Ebay since 1999 when i got my first computer. To this day I still have an Ebay store.

On top of all that I have always been inspired by the women from the golden age of glamour so putting all these factors together and it's not hard to see that classic pinup is where my heart lies. From then to now!

Since that first fateful night in front of the camera I have shot with many different photographers and modeled for many different websites, Big thank you to What Katie Did who was one if the first to ask me to model & has helped promote me since the very beginning=) it's been like a whirlwind. I started a Yahoo Group which grew steadily and the majority of the feedback I have received has been really positive.

I love champagne especially with potato chips!! Red is my favorite color! I love lingerie, Corsets, high heels, rockabilly music, film noir, Oh and diamonds of course! Of course there are thrift shops & Ebay (here's a link to my Ebay store).

As for those who inspire me chief among these is my mom. I only wish I had more photos of her and the old lobby cards, sadly our house went up in flames in the early 90's and we lost so many of our photos. I hope you will enjoy a collage of her that I will put together soon from what we do still have.

Other inspirations include John Willie,Levi Dexter,Tempest Storm, Tana Louise, Jean Harlow, Lana Turner, Marilyn Monroe, Mamie Van Doren, Anne Miller, Anne Margaret, Jayne Mansfield and Myna Loy.

XXX Bernie Dexter

www.berniedexter.com