Each Saturday I will showcase one of my pieces with a short story behind the inspiration and making of it. This week we start with one of my favorites, my Mae West Pendant and Earring Set (link at bottom).
Mae West was born in 1893 to a prizefighter and a corset and fashion model. Little Mae (or Mary Jane, her real name) was surely influenced by her mother’s occupation to search out a life as a beautiful woman under the spotlight.
She played many roles during her lifetime, not only the famously huge-bosomed starlet she is widely known as (a bosom so famous that a life preserver was named after it due to the preserver’s huge inflationary capabilities). Early on she took advantage of the gender-shifting times of the early twentieth century to become a male impersonator. Later she would say that she modeled her walk not after famous women but after famous female impersonators. West was an early supporter of gay rights and women’s rights, although she would say that she was did not consider herself a feminist (perhaps even back then the name carried a stigma).
While a supporter of gay rights, she was a white women living at the turn of the century, and she took part in the white tradition of blackface on stage. She was once what is called a blackface coon shouter, one of the dark-daubed faces with white eyes and big red mouths that exaggerated every word.
West would spend her lifetime courting the censors. “I believe in censorship,” she said, “I’ve made a fortune out of it.” Many know her as a performer but not many know her as an author of plays. Her first was called, of course, Sex, which was not liked by critics or censors but had good sales.
(A famous film she co-wrote with W.C. Fields was called My Little Chickadee; I also have a necklace of the same name for sale here. The necklace colors are similar to the movie poster.)
West loved the spotlight, perhaps a little too much. One bad movie in the early 40s, and she was gone from the screen for 25 years. She dabbled in making music, as many older stars seem to turn to. She actually made a couple albums in the 60s; one song was titled, ironically, “Am I Too Young?”
West was the queen of the double entendre. Her legendary wit could have the quickest man stammering. Some of her gems:
About spotting Cary Grant, a crew member: “If he can talk, I’ll take him!”
“Between two evils, I always pick the one I never tried before.”
“I used to be Snow White but I drifted.”
“When I’m good I’m very good, but when I’m bad I’m better.”
“Sex is emotion in motion.”
“I’m no model lady. A model’s just an imitation of the real thing.”
More quotes here.
Now, on to my jewelry set. I’ve tried to create something that might have made her smile when she opened its box. The pendant frame is handmade with copper wire swirls and spirals. Acrylic flowers in pink, purple and white are scattered across it; the flowers have Swarovski crystal centers. I’ve echoed this scheme in a pair of earrings that are sold with the pendant. I’m proud of this set.
If you enjoy this set, look forward to next week when I do a write up about the original It Girl, Clara Bow.