The second costume I ever made was of Mae West because my sister thought it would be hilarious if we were blonde bombshells for Halloween (we’re both very dark haired, half-Asian women).

If you are not familiar with the fabulous Mae, she was the originator of "Is that a gun in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?"  She has a ton of fabulously suggestive and irreverent quotes ("Marriage is a fine institution, but I'm not ready for the institution"), you should google her sometime.

Full of sass and sexiness, she managed to adroitly circumvent the massive censorship at the time by becoming an expert in the art of double-talk.  Her characters in movies were sassy, smart women, who made it by their own wits and were much pursued by men.

Oddly, I look really good as a blonde. o_O  Not that I'd ever bleach my hair, but it's useful for costume wigs.

A link to what I look like out of costume, in case you're curious. ^_^