A&E

Well-heeled ladies: Jeannette Brugger (top) and Nicole Schanbacher keep their looks tasteful.

The Garter Years

Pinup portraits make sexy Valentine's Day gifts.

by Jessica Lussenhop

“Just when we adjust, he leaves and we have to adjust to him being gone,” she says. “Everyday life is just hard.”

So this past Christmas, Fravel decided to do something different for herself, her husband and the U.S. military. The 33-year-old real estate agent donned flaming red lingerie, garter straps and a sheer navy dress, and immortalized herself as a patriotic pinup.

“It's a sexy afternoon of boating,” says Celeste Giuliano, and with a flash of blinding light she captures her model's amused smile. “Do we want to do the pinup whistle lips? A little bit more of a pucker.” Click. “Do that one more time. Pucker even more.”

The model Nicole Schanbacher, who on a typical day manages research grants for a local university, is holding onto a boatless steering wheel. She plans to surprise her new husband with the nautical-themed prints on Valentine's Day.

“He thinks I'm meeting with my equestrian team,” she says.

Giuliano's Overbrook Farms studio is a flurry of pre-Valentine's Day activity. One corner of the room explodes in flashes of light as the portraits are taken. On the other side two girls are on deck, fussed over by a makeup artist and hair stylist. They're given deep red pouts and high-volume curls before they disappear into the bathroom to pin, hook and clasp themselves into their revealing vintage outfits.

“In today's day and age women show a lot and it's not always tasteful,” says Giuliano. “The pinups don't show everything and I think it's sexier. It's the everyday person in an everyday situation—the girl next door.”

Giuliano has been taking “cheesecake” photos for a year, but just began Pinups for the Troops this past November. She originally offered the photo sessions only to models, but widespread interest encouraged her to open sessions to anyone. Whether size zero or 3X, Giuliano provides costumes and props for all the classic pinup scenarios from carnival to office to boudoir. The inclusion of patriotic poses was natural, as some of the most famous pinups were kept close at hand by GIs fighting in World War II.

In addition to her carefully organized closet filled with every conceivable style and color of corsets, stockings, ruffled bloomers, vintage swimsuits and heels, Giuliano added sexy women's army and sailor uniforms. A portion of the $275 package is donated to the USO care package program.

“It's kind of a thank you,” says the 28-year-old University of the Arts graduate. “I'd love to get the troops out [of Iraq], but I appreciate them a lot. I think what they do is amazing.”

Amanda Strong, another military pinup who lives with her husband on McGuire Air Force Base, found out about Giuliano from an Air Force wives' group she joined on MySpace.

“My husband was deployed at the time and I thought it'd be a great Christmas present,” says Strong. “That was our first deployment. It was hard at first, but I tried to remember that's what our life is like now.” Strong presented her husband Brad with a surprise photo spread of herself ironing his BDU shirt wearing nothing but Victoria's Secret lingerie.

Although the sex appeal of Giuliano's work is clear, she and her clients stress that the photos are tasteful as well as provocative, and the experience is more like a trip to the spa.

“It was definitely a treat for me,” says Jeannette Brugger, a city planner who chose to dress as a sexy painter. “I've always wanted the opportunity to be dressed up in that classical way. It's glamorous.”

For military purposes Giuliano's eye for the provocative as opposed to pornographic is a practical necessity. Fravel chose her photos to adhere to varying contraband rules, which sometimes forbid soldiers from bringing photos or magazines that could be deemed offensive to Middle Eastern countries—like photos of a woman in her swimsuit.

And since she's certain Bush's new Iraq strategy will affect her husband's deployment, she made sure they'd pass inspection. “I took them so he can take them with him. They're very tastefully done.”

Strong, who will celebrate her one-year anniversary this month, wagers she and Brad will have periods of separation ahead of them.

“My husband was putting together stuff just in case he'd ever have to leave—whenever—and [my pinup] was definitely in his pile,” she says. “I just want him to remember me and what he has at home.”