Frances Vorne

Frances Vorne
Vorne in her parachute bathing suit, 1944
Born(1920-05-30)May 30, 1920
DiedAugust 8, 1990(1990-08-08) (aged 70)
NationalityAmerican
Other namesThe Shape
OccupationModel

Frances Vorne (May 30, 1920 – August 8, 1990)[1] was an American model and pin-up girl. During World War II, she was known as "the Shape".[2][3]

Early years

Vorne was raised in New York. She spoke and read Russian and Ukrainian fluently.[4] In his book, The Pin-Up Girls of World War II, Brett Kiser wrote that Vorne was a "simple" and "modest" girl with an "awe-inspiring anatomy" who never drank alcohol, never visited night clubs, and avoided staying out late.[5]

Career

Vorne gained fame as a pin-up model during World War II. In 1944, a soldier friend returned home from the war and gave her remnants of a German parachute. There was enough cloth to make an "abbreviated bathing suit".[4][2] A pin-up of Vorne wearing the parachute-turned-swimsuit appeared in Army publications and was then posted "in more than half a million pin-up spaces in barracks and wherever else our fighting men happen to be".[3] Author Brett Kiser described the photograph's impact:

Countless soldiers pinned up Frances's most famous pin-up still ... Not only was the pin-up Frances's personal favorite, but it was one of the most sought after pin-up photographs of the war years.[5]

According to an account published by the Central Press, American pilots in the Pacific planned to drop photographs of Vorne to Japanese soldiers with the inscription: "Eat your hearts out ... Here's what we are fighting for".[2] The photograph became so famous it reportedly won a movie contract for Vorne.[6] After the photograph appeared in the London's Daily Mirror, the British Ministry of Information sought permission to use it in "stimulating the morale of Britain's Army and Navy".[7]

In January 1945, Time magazine wrote that Vorne "wound up 1944 with perhaps the best claim to an honor publicity agents fight desperately over: the crown as Pin-Up Girl of the Year".[7]

In 1945, Vorne appeared in "Water Follies of 1945", a water show at the Flushing Meadow Amphitheatre. According to promotions for the show, she appeared in her "glass bathing suit".[8] Columnist Earl Wilson wrote that Vorne's glass bathing suit was "pliable enough to swim in" and "transparent", requiring the user to wear a bra and small pantie under the glass.[9]

In 1946, Vorne was featured in a mail-order newsreel movie titled Swim Suit Revue, appearing in both her famous parachute bathing suit and a "diaper-style" suit.[10]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Index Record for Frances Vorne". Social Security Administration. Archived from the original on September 12, 2023.
  2. ^ a b c "'The Shape!'". Wisconsin State Journal. Central Press. December 14, 1944. p. 3 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ a b Geraldine Smith (December 31, 1944). "Greeks Called IT Snecdoche". The Philadelphia Inquirer. p. Everybody's Weekly, page 4 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ a b "The Shape". Life. September 4, 1944. p. 116.
  5. ^ a b Brett Kiser (October 2, 2013). The Pin-Up Girls of World War II. Bear Manor Media.
  6. ^ "Shapely". Big Spring Herald. September 27, 1944. p. 4 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ a b "The Shape". Time. January 8, 1945. ISSN 0040-781X. OCLC 1311479. Archived from the original on September 12, 2023.
  8. ^ "Advertisement: 'Water Follies of 1945'". Daily News. New York. August 18, 1945. p. 17B – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ Earl Wilson (June 5, 1945). "It Happened Last Night". The Charlotte News. p. 8B – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ "Advertisement: Movie Newsreels". The Philadelphia Inquirer. March 17, 1946. p. 14A – via Newspapers.com.

Further reading

  • The Pin-Up Girls of Yank, the Army Weekly: 1944, by Amy Pilkington (2017)