Beyoncé transforms into pin-up amid retro glamour trend

Singer Beyoncé has released her new music video to "Why don't you love me," which shows her as a stylized, 1950s-inspired pin-up girl.

Her look - complete with large sunglasses, halterneck bodysuits, and hair curlers - comes as part of a trend towards more feminine shapes and Old Hollywood glamour.

The era's big waves could be spotted on many a runway model's and Met Ball attendee's head this year, just like the red lip and cat eyeliner that go with it. Also, curves are currently perceived more positively again, with Victoria's Secret lingerie models walking high fashion catwalks, plus-size models posing in underwear ads, and a general weariness of androgynous or 1990s-inspired 'power' silhouettes.

Feminity seems to be en vogue again, and interestingly, it is now being interpreted in mainly 'over-the-top' settings that largely draw on pin-ups or burlesque dancers for inspiration.

The burlesque trend previously resulted in beauty ranges including one by Parisian cabaret, the Crazy Horse, and a collaboration between Nivea and lingerie designer Chantal Thomass, while Chanel named one of its lipglosses Pin-up.

Stars including the dancer Dita van Teese contributed to this aesthetic, slowly capturing the fashion world, and French Vogue reacted by setting a burlesque tone for the year, staging their 2010 calendar at the Lido, another one of Paris's most famous cabarets.

Lingerie brands such as Bravissimo, Ultimo, and Passionata - which hired Israeli topmodel Bar Refaeli for their campaigns - followed suit, presenting their models as retro-inspired pin-ups, dancing before mirrors or posing on swings, and Chanel designer Karl Lagerfeld just shot an interactive lookbook for French underwear brand Eres (online mid-May), featuring a pin-up that can be undressed at a mouse click.

Now, with musicians such as Beyoncé or VV Brown before her, the trend seems to have entered music video mainstream. One way to take part? Get Marilyn Monroe's Gentlemen Prefer Blondes dress at this auction.