Since nobody else has, I will address relationship between Mae West and bouyancy. In WWII, everybody on a troopship wore a bulky kapok filled vest for flotation if boat sank. They were so unglamourous that it was no compliment to Mae West that they were popularly named after her. Aviators had an inflatable type
The only thing about them that might have given rise to the name was that in the pectoral region they were much bulkier, and made unconscious person float on back, with chin up.