Inspiration: Mae West

Today is Mae West's birthday, so I thought I would put up some of these pictures of her. Mae West was an actress and the quintessential blonde bombshell of the 30s. She got her start in Vaudeville, but began writing and performing in plays early in her career. Her first play,"Sex" got her thrown in jail for 10 days due to indecency. She worked the Broadway / live theater circuit for several years before getting a motion picture contract.

Her movie career as bombshell began the year she turned 38. She wrote / rewrote most of her characters in the movies she made, and I consider her to be queen of the one-liner. Regardless of whether she said them in person, or in a movie, they were her own words. I have listed some of my faves at the end of the post.

The above dress / photo is what I wanted my wedding dress to look like. Did I get close enough? :-)

Above is a photo of her trial in 1927, for her play "Sex". She went on to rattle the cages of morality groups all over New York with her plays that dealt with prostitution, sex and homosexuality. Her movies were also sexy, but that darn Production Code went into effect in 1934, and she was heavily edited. And on another note, I have a hat just like that. I should wear it more often.

Another fabulous outfit. With a hat.

Here are some of those one-liners....

"A hard man is good to find."

"I didn't discover curves, only uncovered them."

"I generally avoid temptation, unless I can't resist it."

"I speak two languages, body and English."

"I'll try anything once, twice if I like it, three times to make sure."

"Marriage is a great institution, but I'm not ready for an institution."

"Personally, I like two types of men - domestic and foreign."

"Say what you want about long dresses, but they cover a multitude of shins."

"When I'm good, I'm very good. But when I'm bad I'm better."

"Is that a pistol in your pocket, or you happy to see me?" (said to a real cop, then written into a film later)

"Too much of a good thing can be wonderful."

The infamous "Come up sometime and see me" clip. (Its always misquoted, even in the Youtube title LOL)

Hope you enjoyed these!!!

Photos: I collect these photos from the internet over time while browsing. They do not belong to me. Many probably come from Google images.