Friday, April 15, 2016

Mae West: Mad Millinery

When you were selecting your Easter bonnet, did you think about MAE WEST?
• • In her memoir, "Goodness Had Nothing to Do With It," Mae revealed that custom millinery had always been her passion and her only real extravagance (aside from diamonds and furs). “I sometimes take my hats out of the closet and amuse myself for an hour or so before a mirror.”  Mae added,  “Then I put them away again. It may have some psychological meaning. I have never bothered to analyze it. Why try a head-shrinking technique on anything so delightful?”
• • Jon Tuska wrote:  "Hats were one of Mae West's obsessions, greater even than her penchant for monkeys as pets." 
• • Gossip columnist Hedda Hopper, an Olympian when it came to hat collecting, said this about Mae's fancy headgear.
• • "Mae West — — there'll be plumes!" • •
• • Syndicated columnist Hedda Hopper wrote:  For a beauty who has almost made a career of incredible lids, there is Carmen Miranda and her Inverted fruit basket. Ditto for Mae West's Diamond Lil chapeaux, large and lavish. Although Mae goes tropical in "Tropicana," you can bet your ol' gray bonnet ostrich feathers will be sticking out of every crevice.
• • Source:  item from "Looking at Hollywood" by Hedda Hopper rpt in Chicago Tribune; published in 1943.
• • On Friday, 15 April 1927 • •
• • Taking advantage of the legal woes of his sister-in-law Mae West and the scene his wife made at the Arcade Hotel, Beverly's Russian husband Sergei Treshatny obtained a divorce on Friday, 15 April 1927.  Well, somebody had a nice weekend, eh?
• • The play "Courting Mae West" dramatizes aspects of Beverly's relationship with Sergei, her divorce, and her hot — cold bond with her older sister Mae.
• • On Tuesday, 15 April 2003 • •
• • On Tuesday, 15 April 2003, a paperback edition was published of this popular biography: "Mae West: An Icon in Black and White" by Jill Watts. This is a must-have title for any Mae maven.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • “Nudity is art, not sex,” Mae said, swirling her floor-length white satin negligee in an arc. “I don’t believe in nudity,” she continued. “It detracts from your face and personality. That’s why I never show my ankles.”
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said:  "Although your conscience depends on what is found out, there is no husband on my conscience."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • An article on Confidential's tactics mentioned Mae West.
• • Peter Harry Brown wrote:    In 1955, the U.S. Post Office made some unsuccessful attempts to have Confidential Magazine barred permanently from the mails on the grounds of obscenity. But at first, the victims themselves proved more effective, as one personality after another took legal action. At one point, in 1956, libel suits filed against Confidential in a single month totaled $18 million. Such actions were routinely settled before they came to trial, but the damages Harrison paid out slowly nudged his publications toward oblivion.
• • Peter Harry Brown wrote:  Errol Flynn, Liberace, and Mae West all settled for sizable amounts, as did 17 other stars.  ...
• • Source:  Article by Peter H. Brown for Chicago Tribune; published on Sunday, 28 February 1982   
• • Note: Mae West sued over this cover story and won
• • The Mae West Blog celebrates its 11th anniversary • •
• • Thank you for reading, sending questions, and posting comments during these past eleven years. The other day we entertained 3,497 visitors. And we reached a milestone recently when we completed 3,400 blog posts. Wow! 
• • By the Numbers • • 
• • The Mae West Blog was started ten years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 3421st blog post. Unlike many blogs, which draw upon reprinted content from a newspaper or a magazine and/ or summaries, links, or photos, the mainstay of this blog is its fresh material focused on the life and career of Mae West, herself an American original.


• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
________

Source:http://maewest.blogspot.com/atom.xmlAdd to Google

• • Photo:
• • Mae West • in 1955

• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest
  Mae West

No comments:

Post a Comment