Plus-Size Pinup Calendar Offers Retro Style Inspiration

It’s rare to see plus-size women portrayed as sexy, particularly in pop culture. But California-based graphic designer Jen Oaks has taken a cool step forward in the hopes of reversing this trend with her new plus-size pinup calendar for 2016, MINX!

Oaks started drawing plus-size pinup art while she attended grad school at San Francisco's Academy of Art University in 2009. Oaks told Cosmopolitan that she realized she’d never seen “any fat pin-up art out there that I liked, so I drew what I thought was hot.” Her drawings are refreshing and, frankly, sizzling hot. It’s a diverse group of plus-size women, wearing everything from funky Afros to daring monokinis. All of Oaks' drawings are inspired by the 1970s, and you'll likely recognize style icons like Cher, Pam Grier, and Jane Fonda as some of her muses.

“I've been feeling the '70s this year and getting nostalgic for a decade I only saw the tail end of,” Oaks told People. “I've obsessed over '70s Playboys, movies, TV, clothing, and hair. I wanted to take all my retro crushes and nostalgia and form them into hot lady characters, so I started sketching.” Oaks' motto? Plus-size women are “hot and deserve to be admired and displayed on paper products all year round. Yeah!” The pinup calendar is available on Etsy for $25.