I know I am majorly late on this, but it doesn’t feel to proper to not have wished a certain dead movie star a happy birthday. Marilyn Monroe was born 85 years ago this past June 1st. Later today, June 18th, the infamous white pleated dress from The Seven Year Itch is going up for auction. Considering her JFK Birthday gown went for over a million…and Marilyn’s value has only risen, I have a feeling some records are going to be broken with this gown.
The dress was designed by Travilla, who designed many of Marilyn’s other costumes..including such films as Bus Stop, How to Marry a Millionaire, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and many more. They met in 1950 when Marilyn asked to borrow Travilla’s dressing room to try on a costume. More on Travilla’s Marilyn designs can be found over here.
Upon seeing high quality photos of the dress, I had almost forgotten how beautiful it is. I had actually never noticed the bow in the front. I wish the costume recreations of it held more true to the original. The amazing details of the garment seem to be continuously lost. Look at the airy floooow to it
The dress is from the collection of Debbie Reynolds…whom..by looking at the auction catalog..apparently had her own private museum of gems of Hollywood history. Debbie acquired the bulk of the collection in the early 70′s directly from the studios when they began breaking up their inventory. Little things..like you know, the blue dress Judy Garland wore in the Wizard of Oz, Marilyn’s red Gentleman Prefer Blondes ensemble, Audrey Hepburn’s grand white dress from My Fair Lady, or Joan Crawford’s waitress uniform from Mildred Pierce. More on the Debbie Reynolds auction collection can be found here. It’s epic.
Anyway, Happy Belated Birthday Marilyn! I hope your dress finds a good home.
