Love Pink: Passion for Pin-Ups

I think that when you go on holiday to Italy you are supposed to buy wine, olive oil and handbags as souvenirs.

I didn't buy any leather, or any oil, or wine. I did buy drinks though but they were soft drinks. And I only bought them for the bottles.

I have a passion for pin-ups.

The most expensive item of clothing I have ever bought was the dress I wore to my book launch: a hot pink chiffon number covered in pin-up girls. It turns out that I have more than got my money's worth - not only do I love it just as much now as I did when I bought it, but it is really the only posh frock I own so I have worn it many times. It often takes people quite a while to realise that what they thought from a distance was a nice floral print is, on closer inspection, a pattern of naked ladies.

I even wore the dress to the London College of Fashion when I was spending my week dressed head to toe in pink.

In truth, one of the reasons I love pin-up girls is because I secretly want to be one.

When I came to uni one day wearing a high-waisted, flared skirt, a shirt tied at the waist and red lipstick one of my friends and coursemates said to me that I was dressed like a pin-up. It made my day.

I find it exhausting flicking through magazines and seeing fashion models who look like skinny breadsticks you could snap in half. Give me a good plump baguette instead. I don't want to look like a Twiglet. I know it might sound shocking, but I want the bum and the boobs that we are given the diets and exercise regimes to shrink. Heck, I even want the thighs that meet in the middle.

I also just love the style of the pin-up: red lips, coy smiles and sexy knickers. Sounds like a winning combination to me.

The rise of all things vintage may have seen the phenomenon of last season Primark being sold as 'retro', but it has also created a pin-up renaissance that I for one am very happy about.

Not only can you dress like a pin-up, but you can also get pretty pin-ups on your crockery and walls now too. Here is a shopping list of my favourites...