HOW TO THROW A SOCIALLY DISTANT MAE WEST PARTY!
In the “new normal” of a world affected by COVID-19, most of us have unfortunately put our major travel plans on hold. But long before “life in lockdown”, I always had a hard time getting out of my native New York City. Whether we hardened city folk realize it or not, The Big Apple has a funny way of keeping you within its borders. Up until recently, there was never a shortage of things to do seven days a week and (almost) 24 hours a day. When you’ve lived in New York all your life, it becomes easy to believe that you never have to leave the five boroughs for any reason; We forget that there is an entire country out there! But occasionally, something comes along to make you get off the subway and buy those plane tickets right away. For my husband Joe and I, the calling came when Julien’s Auctions of Beverly Hills announced their public exhibition and live auction of property from the lives and careers of two legendary blonde sex symbols with appeal that has survived for decades: Mae West and Marilyn Monroe. The event was to be held on Friday, November 1st, 2019. Who could resist? Not us. California, here we come! Like an infinite number of people worldwide, I love Marilyn Monroe. But Mae West was always one of my favorite icons, even though I was only nine years old when she passed away in 1980. I was fascinated by how she was a woman so ahead of her time, both in her own personal life as well as via her creative endeavors. As a hardcore cinephile, I was intrigued by the way that Mae practically invented sex on the big screen, even though her movies nowadays would be considered quite tame. I found out later that the Mae West auction items, ranging from clothing to fan letters and everything in between, came from the collection of one of West’s former personal assistants, Tim Malachosky. Malachosky had the intention of establishing a Mae West museum, which unfortunately never happened. In his own words, it was “time to pass on these treasures to her fans”.
The Mae-morabilia ranged from West’s dresses, shoes, jewelry, hats, and wigs; to scrapbooks, rare photographs, and the star’s personal collection of books; to such vintage vice as Mae’s beige rotary telephone, her custom-made false eyelash collection, and the kitschy “Mae West Life Preserver”. Auction attendees, which ranged in age from people in their 20’s and up, were no less than delighted. Burlesque performer Dita von Teese, a huge fan of Miss West’s, was present; and visitors from as far away as Scotland had made the trip to view and/or go home with a piece of Mae. Interestingly, it was West’s movie and theater scripts that demanded the highest prices — even more so than the actress’ elaborate costume pieces. My husband and I were open to the idea of bidding, but never thought we’d win anything. Needless to say, it was a big thrill when we actually did score one of her personal items: a 1940’s custom-made silk satin pale pink “lounging gown”, worn by Mae for a press image shot in her apartment.
We headed back to New York City, and the gown did finally arrive via mail in early 2020, along with a certificate of authenticity and an original photo of Mae wearing it. We wanted to celebrate this rare acquisition in a big way, so we started playing with the idea of a “Mae West Gown unveiling party” at our two-bedroom apartment — complete with Mae West music and videos playing in the background, Mae-inspired food and drinks, and a guest list of people who are bona fide fans of the legendary sex symbol — of which, to our delight, there are a good number. We even thought of a name for the party: “Come Up and See Us Sometime!” (Thankfully, we live on the second floor of our building.)
We planned on having the party in early spring. Then, of course, a certain thing called the “coronavirus” happened, and the world as we knew it changed faster than you can say, “When I’m good, I’m really good. But when I’m bad, I’m better!” To restate the obvious, all of a sudden it didn’t seem like the best time for any gathering, whether big or small. So, we waited. And waited. And waited…
Finally, we realized that we simply just couldn’t wait anymore. Re-inspired by the June 15th premiere of the new PBS documentary Mae West: Dirty Blonde and pop culture’s resurrected interest in the star, we finally decided that August was the right time for our newly renamed “Socially Distant Mae West Party”. We chose the weekend of August 15–16 for two reasons: For one, Mae West’s birthday is in August (August 17, 1893 to be exact.). Secondly, I thought it was high time to shake up the lazy summer vibe of that month. When I was a kid, one of my teachers had told our class that “August was the saddest month of the year.” — because the month had no major holiday to call its own. I remember feeling so sad for “poor little August”. (Insert sad-faced emoticon here…) Later on in life, it dawned upon me that Mae West’s birthday would be a great chance to break that tradition. Why not take an ordinary day in August to celebrate the life and contributions of a major actress, singer, playwright, screenwriter, comedian, and sex symbol whose entertainment career spanned seven decades? Imagine the announcements: “Attention, people: August 17th is now officially ‘Mae Day’!”
But what if we gave a “Socially Distant Mae West Party” and nobody came? We assured all our fellow fans of Hollywood’s Golden Age that masks would be required except when eating, drinking, or for fast “hold in your breath” photo opps. Also, social distance would be maintained . To make sure that there would be enough of that “social distance” in our typical (In other words, small…) New York City apartment, why not split the party over two days, with half the invitees on Saturday evening and the other half on Sunday afternoon? Guests could choose which day they wanted to attend. Of course, hand sanitizer would be available at the door, and we would trade our prized partyware for disposable cups, plates, and plastic utensils. Some of our invitees understandably declined the invitation, as they had reservations about going to any indoor gathering at all, regardless of how small or safe. But those who confirmed were thrilled about the chance to see a genuine piece of Mae’s legacy up close.
The next step would be figuring out a distinctly Mae West-ian menu. This was more difficult than we thought it would be. Even with all the countless books, articles, and documentaries about Mae West, we couldn’t pinpoint any of her favorite foods. Instead, we researched about quintessential party cuisine of the 1930’s, when Mae was in her heyday. The eternally popular deviled eggs popped up immediately. Food items in gelatin were apparently also big at the time, but we K.O.’d that idea. (Some food fads deserve to be forgotten!) Eventually, we incorporated some more distinctly modern munchies into the menu, such as mini quiches and veggie Tikka Masala “meatballs” — a unique take on the classic Swedish soiree staple. To round it off, there was the transgenerational party fare such as crudité and cheese and crackers. By her own admission, Mae West was never a big drinker (She was a proud “teetotaler”.), so trying to find the perfect party cocktail that Mae herself would have appreciated wasn’t easy either. Thankfully, my friend Alexis Flame found a drink recipe off the web named, appropriately enough, “The Mae West Cocktail”. The ingredients were vodka, amaretto, melon liqueur, and cranberry juice — served in a martini glass! We hope Mae would have approved. To “top” it off, our friend Claire Davidson of Claire’s Confections created custom-made cake pops just for this event, designed to pay tribute — albeit tastefully! — of one of Mae West’s proudest pair of assets. We think the woman who declared, “I used to be Snow White, but I drifted!” would have been honored.
Alexa (Don’t you just love technology?) played Mae West songs all night. You’ll never hear anything campier than Mae singing her version of The Doors’ Light My Fire! I created a custom-made “Mae West mix” — composed of assorted fan-created video tributes pulled from YouTube — for visual effects. All guests were required to write their favorite Mae West quote — and there were many to choose from — on our chalkboard wall throughout the festivities. The climax of both days was the long-awaited unveiling of the gown, now on a custom-made stand. Prior to that weekend, I had never shared any photos of the gown on social media. Most of the guests were amazed at just how small Mae was. Despite her larger-than-life persona, aided by comically high heels and big wigs, Mae herself was only five feet tall. Seeing an item of clothing in real life which was actually worn by a bona fide legend makes for a truly surreal experience. Of course, everyone took all the photos they wanted — but trying on the gown was definitely NOT allowed, despite the many requests. Being a gracious host of a two-day, long-belated “Socially Distant Mae West Party” only goes so far!
