Mae West was one of the most instantly recognisable stars of 1930s Hollywood: a tightly corseted hourglass figure, floor-length gowns, furs and plenty of sparkle. What audiences rarely noticed was the clever trick hidden beneath all that satin. The actor and writer stood only about five feet tall, roughly 152cm, and she spent much of her career quietly adding inches with towering custom-made shoes.
A shoe within a shoe
The most extraordinary surviving example belongs to the ASU FIDM Museum in Los Angeles. The museum describes a pair of 1950s performance shoes whose heel and platform together measure nine and a half inches, about 24cm. Curators have not pinned down exactly when she wore them, though they suggest it may have been during her Las Vegas shows of that decade. The shoes came to the museum as part of a larger gift of her footwear and undergarments, donated in memory of Dolly Dempsey, the president of her fan club.
Footwear News, which was given a look inside the museum’s collection, reports that the design is nicknamed the “Double Decker”. A strapped shoe sits on top of a raised, silvered base, so the foot rests far higher than anyone watching would guess. Only the tip of the lower section peeped out from under her hem. The museum’s staff also told the magazine that the shoes were so heavy they shaped her famous walk: she glided rather than lifting her feet.
Dressing for the illusion
The shoes only worked because of the clothes. West had adopted 1890s-style gowns for her 1928 play Diamond Lil, fitted through the body with skirts long and full enough to hide whatever stood beneath. She kept that silhouette on and off screen for the rest of her life. Vanity Fair Italia points out that in stills from She Done Him Wrong (1933) she appears almost as tall as her co-star Cary Grant, who was in fact around 35cm taller. Her curves became such a trademark that Elsa Schiaparelli is said to have modelled the bottle of her Shocking perfume, launched in 1937, on West’s figure.
Borrowing a little Mae West glamour
West never hid her love of dazzling jewels, and her look is a reminder that drama comes from proportion as much as height. A long gown or wide trousers pair beautifully with eye-catching earrings that draw attention upwards, while a sparkling piece from our pendant necklaces frames a low neckline. For an evening that calls for old Hollywood polish, layered bracelets or a coordinated choice from our jewellery sets completes the effect, no 24cm platforms required.
Sources: Vanity Fair Italia (15 October 2026); ASU FIDM Museum, “Mae West”; Footwear News, “Mae West’s Wild 9.5-Inch Double Decker Heels”.
