Vintage Boudoir Portraits: The "Marilyn Monroe" Shoot

   This shoot was a special project of mine. Marilyn Monroe's portraits are some of my favorite photographs; they're so full of life. When Marilyn stepped in front of the camera, she was able to model so much more than just beauty and sex appeal; she allowed the photographs to capture her personality, her emotion and her energy. In my first ever boudoir shoot, I wanted to recreate that same energy that Marilyn Monroe brought to the camera. 

   The hairstyling and makeup was provided by Mackenzie Lane, an educator at the Douglas J. Aveda Institute; Currently, she teaches Cosmetology Intro for students in Knoxville, but she will be transferring to the Aveda Institute in Cool Springs in March. Mackenzie has a lot of experience in wedding hair and makeup, and that is also her favorite style to focus on. The Marilyn Monroe Photo Shoot was Mackenzie's first time styling for an actual photo shoot. "I get to do a lot of transformation makeup work and editorial styling with my students," says Mackenzie, "so getting to actually be a part of something like this photo shoot was an awesome experience."

   We chose Emily Lowe to be our model and our very own Marilyn. From the start, we knew that Emily was the perfect match to the beautiful movie star, with her gorgeous features and her beautiful hair. "I'm absolutely a Marilyn fan," says Emily, "because she is a true example of beauty being more than skin deep." 

   To create our Marilyn Monroe, Mackenzie focused on creating a flawless complexion and those crowd-stopping red lips. The only thing missing on Emily's face was the beauty mark, but that was easily remedied with a quick mark from Mackenzie's eyeliner pencil. The hair was simple to create, as well. Emily's hair was a little longer than the original look that we wanted, so after about 50 minutes of curling and pinning up the curls, Mackenzie was able to create the perfect vintage curls that made Marilyn Monroe famous.

   The final touch was a playlist of songs from Marilyn's most famous movies, as well as a few more recent songs written about the star. During the shoot, Emily was completely in character, complete with smiles, giggles and kisses blown to the camera.

   After nearly five hours of styling and shooting, our Marilyn Monroe: Vintage Boudoir Shoot was a huge success. Take a look for yourself at the photos we created...