Born Mary Jane
West she was an actress, playwright, singer and screenwriter known for her
bawdy double entendres and long career in Vaudeville. Mae was an open supporter of gay rights and
was once sentenced to 10 days in prison for ‘corrupting the morals of the
youth’. A true Diva, she refused to wear
the prison issue knickers and wore her own silk panties while serving
time. Mae dined with the warden and his
wife and was given 2 days off her sentence for good behaviour. Ms West thrived on giving the censors hives
and a lot of her work was banned, most notably her play entitled ‘The Drag’
which dealt with homosexuality and which she called one of her comedy-drama’s
of life. Although Mae was an early
supporter of the women’s liberation movement, she was not a feminist and was
dubbed the ‘queen of camp’. Unapologetically
outrageous, Mae loved men and had many boyfriends in her lifetime. Although Mae was married a couple of times
she once remarked that ‘marriage is a great institution, I’m just not ready for
an institution yet’. A tiny woman at
only 5ft tall she was a real spitfire who lived by her own rules and when the
management of her apartment building objected to her African-American lover -
boxer Gorilla Jones - visiting her, she solved the problem by buying the
building. She lived in the penthouse
apartment with her last lover who was 30 years her junior and cared for her
until her death at the age of 87.
Mae
had a couple of interesting effects on pop culture. Her lips were immortalised in one of the most
popular objects of the surrealist movement – The Mae West Lips Sofa created by
Salvador Dali in 1938 and during World War II life vests were dubbed ‘Mae
Wests’, partly as rhyming slang and partly because they resembled her torso
when inflated.
Although Mae was
often labelled a good time girl and a brazen hussy she was not much of a
drinker and her home bar was stocked with her favourite ice cream sodas. When she did have a drink she insisted it was
Champagne – as befits any sex symbol worth her salt... I'm using my top 3 Champagne cocktails – my personal preference is either Bollinger or Veuve Clicquot but sparkling
wine will do in a pinch. Please don’t
call it Champagne though, that’s sacrilege!
As with any Champagne cocktail, pour the other ingredients into the
glass first then top with Champagne.
Don’t stir as it will cause a mess, besides – the bubbles do it for you.
Blushing Bride
This beautiful
blush coloured cocktail is perfect for toasting a newlywed couple. It’s also very easy to make and serve to a
large party.
1 tot peach schnapps
1 tot grenadine
Pour into a flute
and top up with Champagne
Mimosa
The Mimosa is a
delightful and simple cocktail that is perfect for a lazy brunch. You can vary the recipe a little by adding a
splash of grenadine or a little cognac.
½ tot triple sec
1 ½ tots fresh
orange juice
Pour into a
flute, top with Champagne and garnish with an orange slice.
Fruity Champagne Punch
Few things are
more festive than a nice Champagne punch.
It would be fine to substitute a good Cava or Prosecco in this
case. You can also be less rigid on the
amounts used here and just go by your own personal taste.
1 ½ cups chilled
Champagne
1 ½ cups chilled
lemonade
3 tots chilled
vodka
3 tots Malibu
coconut liqueur
1 lime, thinly
sliced
100 g frozen
raspberries
½ cup fresh
granadilla pulp
Combine all the ingredients
in a large jug, add ice cubes and serve.
‘When I’m good I’m very good but when I’m bad, I’m
better’
~ Mae West
(August 17, 1893 - November 22, 1980)
Cheers Bitches!
GeeGee Curtained x
