CALLING all local ladies who have a passion for vintage glamour – Denisse Valenzuela wants to know where you’re hiding. 

Ms Valenzuela, who has just returned from competing in the Miss Pin-up Australia live heats in Sydney,  says more girls are needed to enter the ACT heats for next year’s Miss Pin-up Australia.

“So far we only have about four girls and we need twenty five to hold the heat before registration closes on 1 September, so we’re on the look out as we know there’s a huge pin-up and burlesque society out there,” Ms Valenzuela said.

“It’s a refreshing competition compared to others because it’s not about being the prettiest girl out there, it’s about being confident in your own skin and really working that pin-up, vintage look from top to toe.”

Ms Valenzuela says the competition revolves around modelling and posing in the strictest 1950s fashion, and contestants are judged on not just looks but character, interaction and speech.

Categories contestants will be critiqued on include day wear, swimwear, lingerie, evening wear and ‘a talent’. The two finalists of the ACT heat will go through to the grand final.

Ms Valenzuela, who when in ‘pin-up mode’ likes to be called Gloria Sass, works at a vintage store in Gold Creek on weekends and says the pin-up scene has become much more popular thanks to shows like ‘Mad Men’.

“It’s time consuming and expensive to always have the hair done, the full face of make-up and the vintage outfits, but for people like me its a lifestyle choice. From nine to five I’m Denisse but after that I’m Gloria Sass.”

Although the prize changes each year, previous winners of Miss Pin-up Australia have won a trip to the United States and a pin-up magazine spread.

Anyone interested in entering the competition is encouraged to visit www.misspinupaustralia.com.au.