Hundreds of items owned or worn by Marilyn Monroe are going on sale in Los Angeles. The top ticket item featured in the three-day Julien's Auctions event is undoubtedly the skintight, sheer, flesh-coloured dress that the Hollywood icon wore when she sang "Happy Birthday Mr President" to John F Kennedy at Madison Square Garden on 19 May 1962.
The skintight, sheer, flesh-coloured dress with more than 2,500 hand-stitched crystals that Marilyn Monroe wore when she sang Happy Birthday Mr President to John F Kennedy at Madison Square Garden on 19 May 1962. Estimate: $2,000,000 to $3,000,000Julien's Auctions/Getty Images
The custom Jean Louis creation was so tight fitting that Marilyn wore nothing underneath and had to be sewn into it at the last minute. When the dress was finally revealed, the entire audience gasped. This iconic gown is expected to fetch $2,000,000 to $3,000,000 (£1.6m to £2.4m) when it goes on sale on Thursday 17 November 2016.
The sale continues on 18 and 19 November, and features many of Monroe's personal possessions and costumes worn in some of her most famous films. The sheer black beaded and sequinned dress worn by Monroe as she crooned I'm Through With Love in the award-winning 1959 Billy Wilder film Some Like it Hot is sure to prove popular with fans. It is estimated to fetch $400,000 to $600,000 at auction.
A sheer black beaded and sequinned dress worn by Marilyn Monroe as she crooned I’m Through With Love in the award-winning 1959 film Some Like it Hot. Estimate: $400,000 to $600,000Julien's Auctions/United Artists
A sheer black beaded and sequinned dress worn by Marilyn Monroe as she crooned I’m Through With Love in the award-winning 1959 film Some Like it Hot. Estimate: $400,000 to $600,000Julien's Auctions/United Artists
The sale also includes costumes worn by Monroe in the films Bus Stop, Niagara, The Seven Year Itch and There's No Business Like Show Business.
A green satin one-piece with black sequins and gold fringe worn by Marilyn Monroe as she sang That Old Black Magic in the 1956 film Bus Stop. Estimate: $80,000 to $100,000Julien's AuctionsA pair of custom-made black sequinned opera gloves worn by Marilyn Monroe in the film The Seven Year Itch. Estimate: $4,000 to $6,000Julien's AuctionsA carnation pink halter dress worn by Marilyn Monroe in the 1953 film Niagara (the scene in which she wore this dress did not make the final cut of the film). Estimate: $30,000 to $50,000Julien's AuctionsA figure-hugging embellished gown worn by Marilyn Monroe in the musical There's No Business Like Show Business. Estimate: $100,000 to $200,000Julien's AuctionsA costume worn by Marilyn Monroe as Lilian Russell for a Richard Avedon photoshoot in the 22 December 1958 issue of Life Magazine. Estimate: $20,000 to $40,000Julien's Auctions
Monroe's personal style is represented by a figure-hugging black cocktail dress by Ceil Chapman, a slender fitting bias-cut crêpe evening gown worn by Monroe to the 1955 premiere of The Rose Tattoo, and one of just a few pieces of fine jewellery ever owned by Monroe: a ladies platinum and diamond cocktail watch.
A slender-fitting black evening gown worn by Marilyn Monroe when accompanying Marlon Brando to the New York City premiere of The Rose Tattoo in December 1955. Estimate: $50,000 to $70,000Julien's AuctionsA figure-hugging black cocktail dress worn by Marilyn Monroe on 19 December 1953 when she received the Miss Press Club Award at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles. Estimate: $30,000 to $40,000Julien's AuctionsA platinum and diamond cocktail watch by the Swiss watchmakers Blancpain. Estimate: $80,000 to $120,000. Although Monroe famously sang Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend, she owned few pieces of fine jewelleryJulien's Auctions
Personal items owned by the star include sketches, prescription pill bottles, a used lipstick and an address book containing the details of stars such as Marlon Brando and Monroe's handwritten notes to herself, including: "Must make strong effort to work on current problems and phobias that out of my past has arisen".
A tube of used Revlon lipstick in Bachelor’s Carnation, embellished with rhinestones and dated 1947. Estimate: $3,000 to $5,000Julien's AuctionsPrescription pill bottles supplied to Mrs Arthur MillerJulien's AuctionsA pair of white leather stiletto heels, handmade in Italy by Salvatore FerragamoJulien's AuctionsA chocolate brown 1950s alligator handbag from I Magnin & Co with matching accessories including lipstick and powder compact. Estimate: $15,000 to $20,000Julien's AuctionsA painting by Marilyn Monroe entitled Jumping Into The Frying Pan From The Fire. Estimate: $15,000 to $20,000Julien's AuctionsA Marilyn Monroe sketch of assorted items on a bedside table. Estimate: $10,000 to $15,000Julien's AuctionsA Connecticut drivers' licence dated 24 October 1957, listing MM Miller of Tophet Road, Roxbury. Estimate: $10,000 to $15,000Julien's AuctionsA personalised brown leather Gucci address book belonging to Marilyn Monroe circa 1955. Handwritten contacts include Marlon Brando and Lee Strasberg. Estimate: $40,000 to $60,000Julien's Auctions
