Jayne Mansfield 1963 she studied Italian. Reputed to be Hollywood's "smartest dumb blonde", she later complained that the public did not care about her brains saying: "They're more interested in 40–21–35." A natural brunette, Mansfield had her hair bleached, and colored platinum blonde when she moved to Los Angeles, and became one of the early "blonde bombshells", along with Marilyn Monroe, Betty Grable and Mamie Van Doren. In 1958, she also had her eyebrows dyed platinum. Following Jean Harlow (who started the trend with her film "Bombshell"), Monroe, Mansfield, Van Doren and Diana Dors helped establish the stereotype typified by a combination
Bombshell (sex symbol) Taylor, Ann-Margret, Veronica Lake, Raquel Welch, Ursula Andress, and Gina Lollobrigida The epithet rose sharply in popularity after the death of Marilyn Monroe in 1962, and declined in popularity in the late 1960s due to emerging ideological conflicts. Bombshells are identified with hypersexuality, their curves, including hourglass figures and large breasts, sex appeal, larger than life personas, as well as stereotypes associated with blonde women and supermodels. Bombshell (sex symbol) The term bombshell is a forerunner to the term "sex symbol" and originally used to describe popular female sex icons. In modern usage, bombshell refers to a very attractive woman.