How did one Marilyn Monroe movie change the way we view blue jeans forever?
Let's find out as we take a look back at some of the legendary star's most meaningful looks.
A dress leading to divorce
In the 1954 film "The Seven Year Itch," Marilyn Monroe famously appears in a scene where her
white dress is accidentally blown up around her legs when she walks over a subway grate
in New York City.
"Sort of cools the ankles, doesn't it?"
The image of Monroe laughing and holding down her billowing skirt became a cultural phenomenon
that is still widely recognized to this day.
While we all know the dress, you may not know the story behind it.
The famous scene was shot at 1 a.m. in New York City over a real subway grate.
Apparently, it took around three hours to get the final shot.
Over the course of the evening, up to 5,000 fans gathered to watch as filming took place.
At the time, Monroe was married to baseball star Joe DiMaggio.
As the photographer George S. Zimbel once said, DiMaggio was apparently very upset by
the scene, which he felt was a little too exhibitionist for his wife.
He even stormed off the set.
Rumor has it that the couple had a huge fight after the scene was shot, and he ended up
filing for divorce soon after — all because of that dress.
The legendary pink gown
If Marilyn Monroe's white dress is her most famous look, then her second most famous outfit
is probably the elegant pink gown she wears in the film "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" — namely,
in the scene where she sings "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend."
The dress ended up in a massive Profiles in History auction in 2010.
As the auction house CEO Joe Maddalena explained in an interview, the gown has an incredible
legacy, which grew more and more meaningful as the years went on.
The dress itself had been owned by a private collector since the 1960s, but its impact
was seen everywhere, including Madonna's famous music video for "Material Girl" and the film
"Birds of Prey."
According to Vogue, the dress eventually sold for almost $300,000.
Marilyn's favorite casual wear
Marilyn Monroe didn't always dress like a glamorous bombshell.
In fact, her favorite clothes to wear at home were incredibly laid-back.
Some people who worked with the legendary star even saw her natural sense of style as
a little sloppy.
Eventually, this way of dressing began to trouble those who worked with her.
Photographer Milton Greene was a close friend of Monroe who decided she needed a wardrobe
makeover.
According to the book "Marilyn in Manhattan: Her Year of Joy," Greene and his wife Amy
were displeased with the clothes Monroe brought with her when she visited them in Connecticut
in 1954.
The actress, according to the Greenes, had no sense of personal style, and she didn't
seem to bother updating her attire.
They helped her revamp her casual wardrobe, eventually working with designers to craft
a sense of glamor even around the everyday clothes she wore.
So, next time you see a picture of Monroe in a laid-back outfit, remember there's more
to the story.
It's either a lazy look that her friends hated, or a carefully curated piece of wardrobe that
came from the people in her life finally intervening.
The Niagara dress
In 1953, Marilyn Monroe starred in the film "Niagara."
During one scene, she wears a bold, hot pink dress with a small cutout in the stomach area.
While this garment may not be quite as iconic or memorable as some of Monroe's other looks,
it does have a fascinating story.
"Would you mind playing this?"
According to Vogue, the dress was carefully designed by costumers Dorothy Jeakins and
Charles Le Maire.
They wanted to create a dress that would show Monroe's character's fiery, flamboyant personality.
They first considered dressing her in red but realized that hot pink was the best option.
In fact, Monroe wore this pink dress just a few months before wearing her other famous
pink dress in "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes," so pink became her signature color.
The decision to dress Monroe in pink started a huge movement in fashion that has lasted
to this day, with girls and women everywhere wearing the color — even Queen Elizabeth.
In fact, many believe that the decision to dress the blonde bombshell in pink eventually
turned the color into the feminist statement in fashion it is today.
The mermaid dress
Designer Norman Norell created many of Monroe's outfits, but one of his most interesting and
meaningful creations is the gorgeous emerald green mermaid dress covered in sequins that
she wore to the 1962 Golden Globe Awards.
Rumor has it that Monroe also wore earrings that night given to her by Frank Sinatra.
As Vogue explained, Norell never received the recognition or acclaim he deserved in
the fashion world.
So, this dress remains one of his best-known creations.
Monroe's look was a huge success, and her dress is still considered one of the best
red carpet looks in Golden Globes history.
Marilyn Monroe's misfit jeans
Jeans have always been a staple of women's fashion — right?
Well, not exactly.
In fact, the acceptance of jeans in women's fashion arguably started around 1961 when
Marilyn Monroe famously wore a pair of jeans in the film "The Misfits."
"The Misfits" was Monroe's final film role, so she was already established as a fashion
icon in Hollywood.
Of course, jeans weren't exactly the look that her fans had come to expect — but she
made the simple look work perfectly.
Though jeans were more commonly associated with farmers and cowboys, Levi Strauss & Company
later reported that a scene of Monroe wearing their jeans led to a huge increase in sales
to women.
In just a few years, they became a common look for girls — and jeans have remained
popular ever since.
The Bus Stop bodysuit
In one of her most revealing outfits, Marilyn Monroe donned a tiny green bodysuit covered
in a fish scale pattern and trimmed with gold tassels and a black tulle train.
It was a sexy, seductive look perfect for her saloon performance of "That Old Black
Magic" in the 1956 film "Bus Stop."
Fans of Monroe probably assume this was just another outfit created for her by the film's
costume designers.
However, as it turns out, there's a little more to the story.
In a 2016 interview on the talk show "Lorraine," Martin Nolan, the executive director of Julian's
Auctions, explained the significance of the outfit.
Apparently Monroe didn't actually want the costume to feel like a new look, desiring
something vintage instead.
So, she went into the Twentieth Century Fox costume archives and dug around until she
found the outfit she thought best fit the character.
Talk about being dedicated to your role!
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