Mae West: Tinseltown Torso

“In real life, I’m very boring, so I made up the walk and the talk,” said MAE WEST.
• • British freelancer Dr. Sabina Stent, whose area of study included “Women artists, Surrealism, and unconventional females,” penned a fascinating essay on Mae’s customized double-decker footwear. This is Part 16 of 27 parts.
• • “Get the Idea, Boys? Mae West’s Shoes” • •
• • Hollywood’s influence on fashion • •
• • Sabina Stent wrote: Hollywood has always influenced fashion both on and off stage, and Banton’s outfit obliquely inspired Madonna’s conical bra. Designed by Jean-Paul Gauthier, the design gained infamy during her 1990s Blonde Ambition tour.
• • Tinseltown Torso • •
• • Sabina Stent wrote: The on-stage costumes were considered some of the most daring of Madonna’s career, with Gauthier hailed for redesigning the female silhouette. The designer even marketed his new fragrance in a three-dimensional torso bottle.

Mae West's gold T-straps

• • Sabina Stent wrote: Was this a daring design? No, not really, because it another designer got there first, thanks in no small part to West.
• • Schiap, Fini and West — — they did it first • • …
• • This long essay by Sabina Stent will be continued on the next post.
• • Source: Majuscule, Issue 2; posted in December 2019.
• • On Wednesday, 9 January 1889 in Brooklyn, NY • •
• • On this date, John West took his best girlfriend Tillie Decker to Brooklyn's Borough Hall to apply for a marriage license. Mae's mother's name appears as "Tillie Decker" on the form, not as "Matilda."
• • On Thursday, 9 January 1936 • •
• • On Thursday, 9 January 1936, an Australian newspaper mentioned the high salary of Mae West.
• • "Big Incomes in the USA" • •
• • Brisbane’s Courier-Mail wrote: ”Among motion picture people, Mae West led the list with 339,000 dollars (£67,800).”
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • Impressionable young people see the delightfully wicked Mae West grandly rewarded for her naughtiness in "She Done Him Wrong."  What will be their reaction? 
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: “When I’m good, I’m very good. When I’m bad, I’m better.”
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • Town and Country mentioned pinky rings and Mae West.
• • Stellene Volandes wrote: Hollywood stars wore pinky rings on screen and off screen. Selva rattles off names like Louise Brooks, Bette Davis, Ingrid Bergman, Mae West and Merle Oberon, Diana Vreeland, Slim Keith, Jacqueline de Ribes. All, she tells me, enjoyed wearing a pinky ring. “The allure of the pinky ring continued through the ’60s and ’70s.  …
• • Source: Town and Country; published on Tuesday, 26 November 2019
• • The evolution of 2 Mae West plays that keep her memory alive • •
• • A discussion with Mae West playwright LindaAnn LoSchiavo — —
• • http://lideamagazine.com/renaissance-woman-new-york-city-interview-lindaann-loschiavo/
• • The Mae West Blog celebrates its 15th anniversary • • 
• • Thank you for reading, sending questions, and posting comments during these past fifteen years. Not long ago, we entertained 3,497 visitors. And we reached a milestone recently when we completed 4,300 blog posts. Wow! 
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started fifteen years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 4,384th 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/
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• • Photo: • • Mae West • • high heels worn by Mae West • •
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