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Mariln Monroe was not only the ideal of beauty, she was also recognized as a fashion icon. The dresses she wore are made by the best fashion designers of Hollywood and still trends among a lot of women in fashion experiments. And all these dresses have an interesting story behind them.
Therefore we at Anomalous decided to bring you a collection of interesting facts about the creation of these dresses and the fate of them. We will also tell you the trick Marilyn used to wear the legendary semi transparent dress she sang “Happy Birthday” in.
The Seven Year Itch, 1955
Even if you are someone who hasn’t seen the movie, you should have probably heard the scene from it. The episode was first shot at a subway. However they had to finalise the version in astudio due to the noise of bystanders.
Joe DiMaggio, Monroe’s husband was also present in the crowd and there are rumours saying he really disliked what he saw and broke up because of the dress. Monroe has also worn 2 underwear to infuriate her husband.
William travllia, a famous designer, also worked on the film. However, he didn’t like this dress. After his death, the sketch of the dress was sold for $50,000 and the dress was sold for $5.52 million. It’s also the most money ever paid for a movie costume.
Some Like it Hot, 1959
Monroe was pregnant during this scene. But that didn’t stop her from wearing some pretty revealing costumes on the scene. The costumes were designed by Orry-Kelly and they were even banned in some regions. Kelly also won the Academy Award for it.
The first dress looks a lot like a skin, and if it wasn’t for the sequins, the dress would have probably not been allowed in the movie. The costume designer even has achieved the sensual fit by sewing Monroe into the costumes.
The above semi-transparent balck dress was another creation of him. Even though the actress does not seem to be wearing underwear, the dress has a built-in bra. They say that Monroe had to be lifted to the piano as the dress was very form-fitting.
The Prince and The Showgirl, 1957
These costumes for the Prince and The Showgirl were made by the British Designer Beatrice Dawson. It has been a lot challenging to work on this project as Monroe’s weight has fluctuated constantly during the design process.
Other than that, Monroe would often stain these costumes with food, therefore the outfits would have to be replaced. After a lot of testing, Beatrice found a solution for that by remaking that dress by allowing it to replace the top layer when needed.
Something’s Got to Give, 1962
This dress was developed by the British costume designer Jean Louis and it was special because it was designed for the last film of Marilyn. The film was never released: at first Monroe was fired from the film, and she passed away when the studio hired her again.
The dress was later sold for $358,000 at the auction.
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, 1953
This dress was one of the highlights of the movie Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. The beaded orange dress with a zip in front had an unusual look.
The fiery colour was produced in a bombshell. Monroe loved the dress alot that she even asked her friend Willliam Traville to make a copy of it for her in a salmon colour. Three years later the original dress was worn by Abbey Look in the musical The Girl Can’t Help it.
A designer named Billy who was called William by his friends developed a red squirm gown with slits up to deep cleavage for the performance of Jane Russel and Marilyn Monroe. The designer has used a nude colour lining in the cleavage area to make the actress feel confident.
Moreover a lot of decorative elements were also sewn to the costumes to make the actress feel confident while dancing.
This gold gown was designed for Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and it was based on Ginger Rogers dress from Dreamboat.
Marlyn saw this dress hanging in Billy’s office and she wanted one. The designer couldn’t refuse and he started designing it. However it wasn’t completed by the time of filming and therefore Mayilyn had to be sewn into it.
It was created by a complete circle of gold lame and there was an iron V-build in the centre of the dress. However the dress ended up being so bold and all the scenes with it were deleted.
Monroe loved the dress so much that she wore it to 1953 Photoplay Awards even making Joan Crawford exclaim “She looks vulgar”
Bonus: The famous sparking dress
The dress that Marylin sang “Happy birthday” to is one of the most famous pieces of clothes in the 20th century. Monroe has asked the designer Jean Loius to make this dress by saying “I want you to design a truly historical dress, a dazzling dress that’s one-of-a-kind, a dress that only Marilyn Monroe could wear.”
The actress even didn’t wear anything under it to make it fit her perfectly. She had told the designers that she would wear a simple dress without a tall collar, but she went on stage and took her white fur coat off and everyone was stunned.
What’s your favourite Marilyn Monroe dress? Which of these facts did you find the most surprising?
