The Original Pink Diva

It's simply divoon!

First of all, I want to thank everyone who has subscribed to Overdressed. It means so much to me. And if you haven’t, smash that button! I hope I can entertain you.

For Galentine’s Day, my friend Lenora and I decided to do something we had wanted to do for years — celebrate “Jayne Day” by decorating Jayne Mansfield’s cenotaph at Hollywood Forever Cemetery. We got the idea around Halloween one year when we saw how goths left roses and plastic vampire teeth on OG spooky queen Vampira’s grave. Jayne deserved some love, too! (Though she’s actually buried in Pen Argyl, Pennsylvania, I’m glad we can still pay our respects to the queen of pink.)

We planned to have lunch at La Scala, the last remaining restaurant of her favorite places to dine (that we know of), but we were pressed for time, so we thought going “somewhere pink” would be the next best thing. It was a good opportunity to check off another thing on our to-do list: Pink and Boujee, a taqueria in Boyle Heights with pink tacos, chilaquiles, pancakes..the whole shebang. I got pink mulitas that were scrumdiddlyumptious. (The fact that I can write that word freely is why I started this newsletter.) It’s not a gimmick; everything we ate was really good!

And for my outfit? I naturally had to dress pink from head to toe, bay-bee! Missus Blush n’ Bashful has arrived. Listen, not only is there Barbiecore, there’s also Jaynecore. Big difference. Huge.

The leather moto jacket and pencil skirt are from Vixen by Micheline Pitt, who always has the cutest pieces. This, my friends, is my favorite shade of pink. It’s a little bit bubblegum, a little bit Pepto-Bismol. Does this particular pink have a government name? Please let me know. The top is an aughts-era Betsey Johnson sweater that I snagged right before all of her stores closed, and I have on a neon pink SKIMS corset underneath. Yes, I know there’s a $20 bill sticking out of my bosoms. No, I did not know at the time because my ADHD ass likes to use my cleavage as a wallet, and I forgot I put it there. Somebody out there had a lucky day.

This Betsey Johnson purse is a dream addition to my bag collection. Every year, I say I will do a TikTok or Insta post and show off all of my heart-shaped purses for Valentine’s Day, but I don’t get to make it in time. But the truth is, I use them all year long! So, perhaps I shall do a ‘lil show n’ tell in a future newsletter. For accessories, I wore Petey Hana earrings and a necklace from Ian Charms with black teeth beads! My beret is from Elleni the Label. If you’re a beret girl, you will DIE at her creations.

As for my shoes, well, these LOAFERS weren’t my first choice for Valentine’s week. I had bought a pair of gorgeous Larroude gold heart heels (a gift from me 2 me), but I spilled boiling water on my foot while cooking! Thank Goddess, I was wearing a thick Halloween sock as a layer of protection, otherwise my hoof would have been a lot worse. But it is gnarly. It looked like that guy’s face in True Detective Season 1 (I just watched it for the first time)! This was a lesson learned. I WILL be wearing some protective gear (Crocs) while cooking. Being barefoot in the kitchen is so unlike me since I usually wear a chancla or house slipper like any good Asian (my mom still gets super pissed if she sees my naked foot gallivanting around.) But on a loafer note, is it too late to get those Prada ones everyone had a few years ago? I still think about them a lot, and they’re more classic footwear than trend.

Lenora wore her signature black for the festivities, so we looked like those two houses side-by-side in Santa Monica. Nothing new for us. After Pink and Boujee, we made a quick run to Daiso, the Japanese dollar store that used to be the place to get cute knockoff Anna Sui containers and other assorted kawaii knick-knacks, but it kind of sucks ass now. All that good stuff is gone! No matter what, we were out of luck, as all Valentine-themed items were out of stores by the 13th, so we were limited in our pink choices. But we’ll be back for you, Jayne.

You’re either a Marilyn Monroe girl or a Jayne Mansfield girl. The two are often compared to each other, both beautiful blondes with tragic lives who died young and allegedly hooked up with JFK. But Jayne was frequently deemed a copycat and a poor imitation, even by Marilyn herself. "I know it's supposed to be flattering to be imitated, but she does it so grossly, so vulgarly--I wish I had some legal means to sue her,” she once told the reporter Laurence Quirk. Jayne is usually described as fame-hungry and tacky, which is probably why we love her so much. But she was also pretty funny. Those brilliant photo opps, hello? Befriending Anton LaVey and posing with that chalice? Knowing full well her boob was gonna pop out in those Sofia Loren pics? And Marilyn was just too classy to have a literal Pink Palace for a home, with bathrooms that were covered in pink shag carpeting, a red office, and a heart-shaped pool, which was all built by Jayne’s then-husband Mickey Hargitay (Mariska’s daddy) who famously carved the words "I love you Jaynie” on the bottom. Apparently, he also added, “Jaynie, my love will flame for you always. Love, Mickey” on the firepit. Truly an example of, if he wanted to, he would!

These days, there are a number of artists and content creators with Pink Palace-inspired homes — Jamie Nelson, House of Adora, and Ragdoll Pink Palace, to name a few. (Bitch, you know I’d be, too, if I had the means! At least I have a pink kitchen!) But Jayne was truly the original pink diva. I remember blogging about her house after coming across the photos in 2008. Those images still take my breath away, and I still get so pissed off when I think about how it was demolished. LA is so bad at preserving historic structures. It’s a shame. The beige overlords need to slow their roll.

I have a couple of my own Jayne Mansfield trinkets. Lenora always told me about the pink gravel from Jayne’s house that she got from her friend Scott (who owned and operated the original Dearly Departed tour), and I got some of it, too. If you’re into weird shit like that, you can still buy it, as well as glass and oil from her death car, but that’s too morbid for me. However, owning one of her nightgowns isn’t! Yes, I have one. Listen, it was during the first year of the pandemic when I was deep in my apocalyptic comfort shopping…

Please enjoy this photo of the heart-shaped meatloaf I made from Jayne’s own recipe (I have an old weird book of celebrity dishes). So stylish, down to the meat!

I leave you with me dressed as “Satanic Jayne Mansfield” for Halloween about 10 years ago, and visiting the cenotaph around that time…wearing the Marilyn Monroe x Macy’s collection. The irony!

Until next time, kiss them for me…