Born in St. Paul, Minnesota, Gillette A. Elvgren attended University High School. After graduation he began studying art at the Minneapolis Art Institute. He is considered as the most important of the premiere American pin-up artists. His heroines are often caught in humorous but distressing situations. His exquisite pictures of gorgeous girls-next door, their skirts often blowing up to reveal lovely nylon-clad limbs, rival his mentor Haddon Sundblom's "Coca-Cola" Santas for sheer nostalgic pleasure.