Marilyn Monroe ‘Subway’ dress auctioned for more than $5.6M
Ivory pleated "Subway" dress by Travilla, worn by Marilyn Monroe in the 1955 film The Seven Year Itch, sold by Profiles in History on June 18, 2011 for $5,658,000, inclusive of 23% buyer’s premium. Image courtesy of LiveAuctioneers.com Archive and Profiles in History.
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (ACNI) – Deemed the most recognizable costume in film history, the ivory pleated halter dress worn by Marilyn Monroe in the film The Seven Year Itch, was auctioned for $5,658,000 (inclusive of 23% buyer’s premium) on June 18, 2011. Profiles in History of Calabasas, Calif., conducted the auction of the dress, which was the most celebrated item in the 600-lot Debbie Reynolds Hollywood costume collection. The sale, which grossed $22.8 million, was held at the Paley Center for Media in Beverly Hills, with Internet live bidding through LiveAuctioneers.com.
Monroe wore the iconic dress in her role as “The Girl” in 20th Century Fox’s 1955 production co-starring Tom Ewell. In the film’s most famous sequence, Monroe’s character stands over a New York subway grate, wearing the white dress. As a train passes by, her dress billows outward and reveals Monroe’s thighs. The character exclaims, “Oooh – isn’t it delicious?”
The dress was entered in the auction with hopes of achieving $1 million to $2 million, and opened on the floor with a bid equaling the low estimate.
The Seven Year Itch was not a period piece and had no dance routines. Yet it became the vehicle for Travilla’s most famous dress design. Travilla, who dressed Monroe for eight of her films, found the Seven Year Itch project challenging. “I wondered, what could I do with this most beautiful girl that Marilyn was to play to make her look clean, talcum-powdered, and adorable,” Travilla mused. “What would I give her to wear that would blow in the breeze and be fun and pretty? I knew there would be a wind blowing so that would require a skirt.” Travilla chose a rayon/acetate crepe fabric, which was cut on the bias, with a halter top and sunburst pleats.
Travilla did not ordinarily use man-made fabrics, but the Seven Year Itch dress posed a special challenge. A 100% natural fabric would not hold stiff pleats, so Travilla had a special fabric made that contained man-made fiber to maintain the dress’s structure.
Debbie Reynolds acquired the dress directly from 20th Century-Fox via private treaty prior to the studio’s 1971 costume auction.
Reynolds, 79, began collecting Hollywood film memorabilia while a young actress under contract to MGM. It became a consuming passion for Reynolds, who went on to open a museum in Las Vegas for the display of her unique collection.
Reynolds had hopes of keeping her collection on permanent view in a Pigeon Forge, Tenn., museum, but the project went bankrupt in 2006. Reynolds auctioned her famous costume collection to satisfy creditors.
“Now everyone has the opportunity to own them,” Reynolds said prior to the sale. A second installment of costumes from the famed collection is scheduled for December.
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ADDITIONAL IMAGE OF NOTE
Ivory pleated "Subway" dress by Travilla, worn by Marilyn Monroe in the 1955 film The Seven Year Itch, sold by Profiles in History on June 18, 2011 for $5,658,000, inclusive of 23% buyer’s premium. Image courtesy of LiveAuctioneers.com Archive and Profiles in History.
