Mae West in Nightclub act Designed by Edith Head

White full-length gown, bodice and full-length sleeves are of nude souffle and embroidered with white sequins, beads and rhinestones in a floral motif; full skirt is solidly embroidered with pearlescent white sequins in a fish scale pattern; two-foot headdress of nude silk, ornamented with matching embroidery of white sequins and rhinestones and trimmed with white ostrich feathers.

Mae West was a powerful player in Hollywood, especially in the 1940's when she was one of the only women who had complete control of the scripts, actors and directors. The fact that the actress stayed in the business for so long as she did and refused to change her overtly sexual image as she aged, might have been the reason she was perceived as somewhat of a joke at the end of her career.

But, she knew exactly what worked (or had worked) for in the past and costumes were a big part of that images. She often paid for costumes herself and retained after the films were shot.