Interestingly, stains and a slight
discoloration are present under the arms on this dress, perhaps a
result of being worn on hot New York summer days.
Marilyn's Daywear:
Marilyn being a native West Coast girl loved bright colors and easy
sporty shapes when she wasn’t being “Marilyn Monroe” the film star.
From the brilliantly-colored Capri pants, tight as a second skin,
with matching easy shirts Marilyn bought in multiples, to her sporty
little dresses, white shirts and chino pants from sportswear label
Walter Bass, her daywear was a microcosm of East and West Coast
American fashion from the mid-fifties to the early sixties.
This casual daywear dress represents Marilyn relaxed; she’d left the
film star image at home and she was at play far from the fans,
reading her books, studying her scripts or just hanging out. The
design of this dress is so timeless it looks perfectly up to date
today. Increasingly, as time went by, Marilyn
wore brighter colors, cut into easier shapes than the hourglass
dresses of her early years as an emerging film star. She could
afford to look, and be, relaxed in fine cotton drill and gabardine
and lightweight wools. The very ordinariness of this dress meant
that she could walk the streets of New York or L.A. without being
recognized.
This dress was to have been sold originally at
the 1999 Christie's Auction:
The Personal Property of Marilyn Monroe, and is prominently
displayed on page 105 of the auction catalog as part of lot #132.
Two Christie's tags are still pinned to the garment. Ultimately, this Marilyn Monroe dress sold at the
2005 Julien's Auction: Property from The Estate of Marilyn
Monroe.
Related Collection Pieces / Links:
-Marilyn
Monroe's Personal Black Silk Cocktail Dress
Provenance:
Initial: Christie's New York: The Personal
Property of Marilyn Monroe, October 27-28, 1999.
Click here to buy your copy of the Christie's auction catalog for
the sale of Marilyn Monroe's personal items.
Secondary: Julien's Auctions: Property from the
Estate of Marilyn Monroe, June 4, 2005
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