Marilyn Monroe Costumes Continue to Bring Top Dollar at Auction

Yesterday, Profiles In History auctioned an additional 415 lots from the Debbie Reynolds collection of Hollywood memorabilia.  As expected, the four Marilyn Monroe film outfits were the top selling costumes in the sale, with a combined take of $1,156,200.00.  The most money, $319,800.00, was paid for Marilyn's gown from Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.

See full Marilyn Monroe film costume details from the Profiles In History auction below:

Travilla designed costume from Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.

Hammer Price:  $260,000.00
Premium:  $59,800.00
Total:  $319,800.00

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Dorothy Jenkins designed costume from Let's Make Love.
Hammer Price:  $240,000.00
Premium:  $55,200.00
Total:  $295,200.00

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Travilla designed costume from Bus Stop.
Hammer Price:  $230,000.00
Premium:  $52,900.00
Total:  $282,900.00

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Dorothy Jeakins modified off-the-rack couture ensemble from Niagara.
Hammer Price:  $210,000.00
Premium:  $48,300.00
Total:  $258,300.00

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Update to Monroe Frock Fetches Millions: "Say Yes To The Dress(es)"

In my recent story, “Monroe Frock Fetches Millions, But Was It THE Dress?” I touched on some inconsistencies between the Billy Travilla designed halter dress that Marilyn Monroe wore in the 1955 classic, The Seven Year Itch, and the Debbie Reynolds owned Monroe costume that recently sold at the Profiles in History auction. The issues I referenced included variances in the belt and bow, the hem, the length and fullness of the skirt, and most notably the pleating variances between the Reynolds dress and the dress worn by Monroe.

I noted also in my recent story that an original Travilla subway scene dress was worn by actress Roxanne Arlen in the in the 1962 film Bachelor Flat. In this film, while the dress is clearly a Travilla design from “Itch,” there are notable differences between Marilyn’s dress and Arlen’s dress, specifically, there is a bow attached to the back of the dress, Arlen wears a brooch on the left side of her waist, and Arlen’s dress is shorter in length than Marilyn’s costume.

With the help of Andrew Hansford of the Travilla Estate and other industry experts, in this post I provide my opinion, along with photo evidence, as to the origins of the Debbie Reynolds dress. I also present a bit of intriguing information as to the possibility of there actually being TWO DIFFERENT Travilla costumes worn in the now famous skirt blowing scene from The Seven Year Itch.

About the Debbie Reynolds Marilyn Monroe Costume and the 1962 film Bachelor Flat:

The Back Bow

In Bachelor Flat, Arlen’s costume has a bow in the lower back area, shown in the screen capture above. The photo below shows evidence of stitching on the rear of the dress sold by Reynolds in the same location as the placement of the bow on Arlen’s costume. These stitches would be the same threads used to affix the belt to Arlen’s costume. This photo of the back of the Reynolds dress was provided directly by Profiles in History for this story. Thanks to Greg Schreiner for his expertise on this aspect of the Reynolds costume.

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The Front Brooch


Arlen wears a brooch on the left side of her waist in the film. The three photos below show a hole in the fabric of the dress sold by Reynolds, which is in the same location as the brooch worn by Arlen in the film. This hole in the fabric of the Reynolds dress would be the same hole made by the pin of the brooch on Arlen’s costume. The first photo of the dress was taken by Profiles In History for the auction catalog. The second photo of the dress was provided directly by Profiles in History for this story, and the third photo of the dress was taken while the dress was on exhibit at the Paley Center prior to the auction on June 18. All three photos, as indicated by the red arrow, show the pinhole. Thanks to Greg Schreiner for providing input on this aspect of the film costume.

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The Skirt Pleats and Length

To begin with, it’s important to note that it was quite common for costumes to be altered and then reused in subsequent film productions. Two examples below show that Lauren Bacall’s wedding dress from How To Marry A Millionaire was altered, and even Marilyn’s slip from Niagara was modified for use in another film.

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In the photo comparison below, it’s clear that the dress worn by Arlen and the dress worn by Monroe were different lengths.

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Arlen’s dress comes to just below the knee (note her knees are actually bent slightly in this image), while Monroe’s is clearly well below the knee. As a point of reference, Roxanne’s height is reported as 5’ 7” and Marilyn’s height was 5’5 ½”, a mere 1 ½” variance.

Seeing as how Bachelor Flat was considered a "B" movie, with Arlen playing a secondary character, it's very likely that a costume was pulled from the studio closets and then altered for her to wear in the film (as compared to creating an exact replica of Marilyn's "Itch" costume).

With Andrew Hansford's insight into Travilla's costumes, a detailed review of the Reynolds dress indicates that it was in fact altered. It's been determined that the skirt was shortened, and it was shortened from the top. It appears as if at some point the skirt was separated from the dress, cut from the top and then reattached to the bodice, which would result in a change to the pleating of the dress. When the skirt was shortened the narrow sunburst pleating (at the top of the skirt) was cut away, and the dress was then reattached to the bodice, resulting in a wider pleat in the skirt, hence the variance in pleats between photos of Marilyn wearing a Seven Year Itch costume and the costume sold by Ms. Reynolds. Also, the shortening of the skirt likely explains the lack of fullness when compared to the dress worn by Marilyn. As the costume Arlen wears in the film is clearly shorter than the costume Marilyn wears, it’s apparent that the dress Arlen wears was altered for her for the film, and not after it was acquired by Reynolds, as previously proposed. Note that this may have been the time when the skirt was re-hemmed. Thank you to Andrew for providing valuable expertise on this aspect of the dress. (Unfortunately, screen captures of Arlen in the dress aren't clear enough to compare the pleating of her costume and the Reynolds costume.)

The photo below shows the inside of the Reynolds costume, specifically the fabrics of the skirt, which are irregular and unfinished, likely a result of the alterations made to shorten the skirt. This photo of the inside of the Reynolds dress was provided directly by Profiles in History for this story.

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In summary, there are stitching remnants on the back of the Reynolds dress in the same location as the bow on the dress worn by Arlen, there is a hole in the Reynolds dress in the same location as the brooch worn by Arlen in the film (and the hole is evident in many different photos of the dress taken before and after the auction), and there is solid evidence that the skirt of the Reynolds dress was altered, likely for Arlen to wear in Bachelor Flat, which would explain the variances in pleats and the length of the skirt when compared to photos of Monroe's costume in The Seven Year Itch. Accordingly, it can plausibly be concluded that the Debbie Reynolds Seven Year Itch dress sold at the Profiles In History auction on Saturday, June 18, was without question acquired by Ms. Reynolds directly from Fox studios, seeing as it’s the same dress worn by Arlen in Bachelor Flat.

While it’s my opinion that the dress sold at auction came from Twentieth-Century Fox, we must rely on the taped audio recordings of Oscar winning costume designer William "Billy" Travilla himself as to whether or not the Reynolds owned Marilyn Monroe costume was actually the dress worn in The Seven Year Itch.

In Travilla’s own words: “Debbie Reynolds has the original dress from The Seven Year Itch and after all these years it has changed colour slightly and some of the threads have all but gone. Debbie is a woman that trusts me with everything but even when I borrowed the dress to make an exact copy she had someone watching while we opened some seams and carefully put them all back.”

TWO Subway Scene Dresses?

As reported in my recent story, the now famous subway skirt blowing scene from The Seven Year Itch was originally shot on location in New York City. Unfortunately, there were so many people in attendance at the filming (media and general public) that the footage couldn’t be used due to all of the noise from the crowd. It’s not a well known fact that the subway skirt blowing scene was actually re-shot on the Fox lot back in Los Angeles (Hollywood).

Why is this information important? Because it’s led to my personal realization that there may have been TWO different dresses used to film this famous and iconic scene. How is that possible? Read on…

First, it’s important to establish the New York City location and the Hollywood Location. Note the differences in the scenes below. On the left is the New York City location, and the Los Angeles set is on the right. Note the differences between the “Jewelry – Hats” signs, the mirrors on the wall, and the items for sale in the jewelry store window.

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Second, in the photo below, note the differences in the pavement around the subway grates. There are subtle differences between the two locations, with New York being on the left, and Los Angeles on the right.

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Third, notice the differences in Marilyn's hair, and the belt on her costumes in the images below.

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Finally, as stated previously, it’s been reported that the footage shot in New York City couldn’t be used due to the large number of people (media and general public) in attendance at the taping. The crowd roared each time Marilyn’s dress blew above her head, hence rendering the footage unusable, or at least that’s what has always been reported and believed.

As part of my research into the Reynolds costume, I discovered that the full subway skirt blowing scene actually includes footage shot in New York City and on the Fox lot at the studio in Los Angeles. Incredibly, I’d never picked up on the differences previously. The images below, taken directly from the film, verify that indeed footage from both locations was used in the final production. Marilyn's skirt blows up twice. The location splice occurs between the "skirt blowings," once in New York and once in Los Angels, implying that technically, there are TWO skirt blowing costumes.

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View the subway scene from the movie on YouTube.com here. The subway scene is the first two minutes of the clip.

Research I’ve conducted indicates the New York City location filming occurred on September 15, 1954, and the Los Angeles location filming occurred on January 9, 1955. This is an important fact because it signifies that there were very possibly TWO separate dresses used in the filming of this one scene. The New York location filming occurred from approximately 12:00 to 3:00 AM. Considering the hours of filming, it’s very likely that Marilyn departed (and possibly arrived) wearing the costume for this scene. The image below shows Marilyn wearing the subway scene dress, along with her mink fur coat. Was she arriving for or departing from shooting the subway scene?

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"Stolen Marilyn Monroe Items Recovered, Mostly"

With the information presented in the previous paragraph, it’s critical to note that the storage facility containing the personal effects of Marilyn Monroe (after having been bequeathed to Lee and Paula Strasberg) was burglarized in 1993, and a number of Marilyn Monroe’s personal effects were stolen, including a white subway scene dress worn by Marilyn Monroe in The Seven Year Itch. The burglar was apprehended in 1994 and all of the items were returned...except for the white dress. For a news post from 1994 about the recovery of the stolen items, click here.

It's clear that subway scene footage from New York and Los Angeles was used in the final cut of The Seven Year Itch. Also, there is documented evidence that Marilyn actually had a subway scene dress in her possession at the time of her death. If the New York taping occurred on September 15, 1954, and the Los Angeles taping occurred on January 9, 1955, nearly four months later, and on different coasts of the United States, what are the chances that the same dress was used for both tapings, especially considering the extreme possibility that Marilyn may have worn the dress off of the New York film set?

Were there TWO subway scene dresses?

Also, if four duplicate dresses were created for "Itch," (as detailed in Travilla's notes) where are the other two costumes?

Update: Was it THE dress?

It's been a whirlwind 24 hours since posting my recent blog entry, "Monroe Frock Fetches Millions, But Was It THE Dress." After many telephone conversations, email exchanges, and Skype video calls with industry experts, the Travilla Estate and my contacts at Profiles In History, I've come to the definitive conclusion that the Debbie Reynolds Seven Year Itch dress sold at the Profiles In History auction on Saturday, June 18, was without question acquired by Ms. Reynolds directly from Fox studios, and I will soon post photographic evidence verifying this fact, along with additional information that is very specific to this issue, which as you can tell is quite complicated.

Stay tuned, story and photos to come soon.

Monroe Frock Fetches Millions, But Was It THE Dress?

I personally watched history in the making on Saturday, June 18, 2011, as the most memorable and iconic film costumes of all time from the Debbie Reynolds collection were auctioned by Profiles In History at the Paley Center for Media in downtown Beverly Hills. Items in Ms. Reynolds’ collection number in the thousands, and include costumes, props, film posters, furniture and an array of other important and classic film pieces. She’s collected movie memorabilia for over 45 years, and has saved thousands of irreplaceable items from the most classic films of all time, many of them Oscar winners.

Of course, the item highlighting the auction was what is now considered to be the most iconic film costume of all time: The William “Billy” Travilla designed ivory halter dress worn by Marilyn Monroe in the subway scene of the 1955 film The Seven Year Itch. (Photo Below: Me taking a photo with the dress.)

Three other Marilyn Monroe costumes were also featured at the auction, all of which were Travilla pieces.

The first Marilyn gown was lot 282, a red sequined gown from the 1953 classic Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. The gown was worn by Marilyn as she sang “We’re Just Two Little Girls From Little Rock,” with Jane Russell in the film’s opening number. Incredibly, the gown sold for $1,476,000.00 ($1,200,000.00 and $276,000.00 buyer’s premium), shattering the previous auction record for a film costume, which was a black Givenchy gown worn by Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast At Tiffany’s. The costume was sold by Christie’s in 2006 for $923,187.00.

The second Monroe costume was lot 313, a gown worn by Marilyn in River of No Return, selling for $627,200.00 ($510,000.00 and $117,200.00 buyer’s premium).

The third Monroe costume was lot 314, the famous and sultry outfit worn by Marilyn in the “Heat Wave” number from There’s No Business Like Show Business. This costume sold for $615,000.00 ($500,000.00 and $115,000.00 buyer’s premium). I was actually surprised this costume didn’t sell for more.

Finally, lot 354, the “Subway Dress” from the Seven Year Itch was up. When the photo of the dress was presented on the overhead display, the audience broke out into resounding applause. It was clear that history was going to be made with the sale of this dress.

Bidding for the dress started at $1,000,000.00, and bids were in increments $100,000.00. An absentee bid of $1,000,000.00 had been submitted, and after several minutes of excited and feverish activity, bidding finally closed at a record breaking $4,600,000.00. With the buyer’s premium of $1,058,000.00, the final price for the dress was $5,658,000.00. It was undeniable at that point: Marilyn Monroe was the most iconic film actress of all time. She held the record for the most expensive personal dress ever sold at auction (the gown she wore as she sang Happy Birthday to President John F. Kennedy on May 19, 1962, which sold for $1,267,500 at Christie’s in 1999) along with the most expensive film costume ever sold at auction as well.

In the days following the auction, the media was abuzz with the news of the record setting auction prices. While we all knew the subway dress could sell for a record setting amount, no one really knew just how far collectors and investors were willing to go to own this iconic piece of American memorabilia. However, with the media buzz came a stirring in the Marilyn Monroe community. Almost immediately after the auction, I was contacted by several people with concerns about the subway dress. I also saw comments being posted on Facebook about the Reynolds dress.

“How could this not be the dress?” I asked myself. “It’s from the Debbie Reynolds collection, and everyone knows that Debbie Reynolds owns the subway dress, along with many other Marilyn Monroe costumes." I soon began searching for myself to see if there was merit to concerns being raised. I’d obviously seen the dress in person so I began to conduct some research.

I saw a comment on Facebook, “The belt doesn’t look right to me.” I did some photo comparisons and realized that yes, the belt was not exactly right. Marilyn wore a belt with the dress in the film, yet there was no belt on the Reynolds subway dress. A bow had been attached to the dress. It’s quite common for film costumes to have been altered back then. It’s likely that a bow was created from the original belt and it was simply affixed to the dress for display purposes. Note in the photo below that the bow on the Reynolds dress is actually perfectly shaped. The knot was likely sewn to the dress, and I noticed that the loops of the bow are actually attached to the dress with small metal snaps. It’s quite plausible indeed that a bow was created from the original belt, and simply attached to the dress.


Not long after, someone pointed out a fairly significant difference between the hem of the Reynolds subway dress and the hem of the skirt of the dress worn by Marilyn in photos. I did a bit more photo research for myself and discovered very quickly that yes, the hem of the Reynolds dress was in fact very different from the hem of the dress when it was worn by Marilyn. Again, this could be very easy to explain. If the original hem had come undone, it was simply re-sewn. This is a very plausible and logical explanation. The most iconic film costume of all time simply cannot be un-hemmed.

As part of my research, I remembered a past Profiles In History auction item: An official replica of the subway dress, created by designer Billy Travilla himself.


In looking at the photo of the official Travilla copy, I noticed a significant difference immediately: The pleating of the skirts on the dresses was completely different. The pleating of the Reynolds dress was a wide box pleat, yet the pleating of the Travilla copy was a very narrow sunburst pleat. See photo below.

I began to do side-by-side comparisons of photos of the Reynolds dress, the Travilla copy, and photographs of Marilyn in the dress from the movie. I looked at the studio test shot of Marilyn wearing the costume, other images, and of course the actual film.

The subway scene from the film was originally shot on location in New York City. However, there were so many people in attendance at the filming (media and general public) that the footage couldn’t be used due to all of the noise from the crowd. It’s not a well known fact that the subway skirt blowing scene was actually re-shot on the Fox lot back in Hollywood. In order to ensure I covered all bases, I compared the Reynolds dress to photos of Marilyn wearing the subway dress on location in New York City and also on the set in Hollywood.


Finally, in comparing photos, I noticed that the skirt of the Reynolds subway dress does not appear to be as full or as long as the skirt of the dress worn by Marilyn Monroe. See below a side-by-side comparison which appears to show a much fuller, longer skirt on the dress worn by Marilyn.

With all of this confusion, I reached out to Andrew Hansford, the England-based curator of the Travilla Estate. The estate possesses patterns and sketches from Travilla for many of his costumes. Andrew actually shared with me an image of the pattern and a sketch for the subway dress.

In our conversation, Andrew indicated that Travilla left “very” detailed notes, along with accounts as to how the dress was made, the fabric that was used and his inspiration for the costume. According to Travilla’s notes, he actually delivered four subway scene dresses for The Seven Year Itch to Fox.

(Above: Marilyn Monroe & Billy Travilla)

Also according to Andrew, Travilla himself knew that Debbie Reynolds had an original subway scene dress. This is evident from taped conversations and interviews with Travilla, wherein he discusses contacting Reynolds to borrow the subway scene dress in order to recreate dress patterns for the costume as the original patterns were unfortunately lost in a fire at his home, along with many original costume sketches.

In Billy Travilla’s own words, “Debbie Reynolds has the original dress from The Seven Year Itch and after all these years it has changed colour slightly and some of the threads have all but gone. Debbie is a woman that trusts me with everything but even when I borrowed the dress to make an exact copy she had someone watching while we opened some seams and carefully put them all back.” Interestingly, Andrew recalls that Debbie herself recounted this same story when he himself had a chance to visit with her earlier this year.

Finally, another little known fact. An original Travilla subway scene dress was worn by actress Roxanne Arlen in the 1962 film Bachelor Flat. If Arlen wore the same dress Marilyn wore in The Seven Year Itch, would it have been altered for her, hence the variances? See a clip from Bachelor Flat with Arlen wearing the dress here.

I have reached out to Profiles In History to discuss the dress and the apparent variances. Unfortunately, my personal contacts there were not available and the staff member I was able to speak to was unwilling to discuss this issue with me in detail. However, he did state that, due to the fact the dress was "off the rack" there were likely going to be some inconsistencies here and there. Regardless, it was apparent that I wasn't the first caller to bring questions about the Debbie Reynolds dress to their attention.

It’s important to note that with the sale of the most iconic film costume of all time, and for a record setting amount at that, there are some questions around consistency. Above all else, it cannot be dismissed that the pleats of the Debbie Reynolds subway dress do not appear to match the pleats of the dress(es) Marilyn worn in the film and in photographs. There are additional questions as well: the hem of the skirt and what appears to be differences in the fullness and the length of the skirt.

Was this truly the dress worn in the subway scene in The Seven Year Itch?

Might this actually be a prototype dress, designed by Travilla, but not used in the film?

Did Travilla perhaps alter the dress when he borrowed it from Reynolds to recreate his patterns?

Could Reynolds have purchased a (possibly altered) dress that was worn by Arlen in Bachelor Flat?

Dressing Marilyn, A New Book by Andrew Hansford

Andrew Hansford has written a new book about Oscar winning costume designer William "Billy" Travilla and Marilyn Monroe.

The book is currently listed on Amazon.com in the UK, and will be available soon. Click here for the posting on Amazon.com in the UK.

From Amazon.com:

William Travilla is one of the best costume designers of all time and Marilyn Monroe his most famous client. Marilyn's Dresses will focus on the striking dresses Travilla designed for Marilyn, from his early work on the thriller Don't Bother to Knock and the gorgeous pink dress in which Marilyn sang "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend" to the legendary white dress from The Seven Year Itch, which arguably contributed to the collapse of Marilyn's marriage to Joe DiMaggio. Featuring Travilla's original sketches, rare costume test shots, dress patterns, photographs of Marilyn wearing the dresses, plus exclusive and never before- seen extracts from interviews with Travilla, this book offers a fresh insight into the golden age of Hollywood.


About the Author: Andrew Hansford manages Travilla's archive and was responsible for the 2008 exhibition. He has lectured to fashion students on Travilla and his work.

For more about designer Travilla, visit www.TravillaTour.com

Debbie Reynolds Collection to be Auctioned in May

In following up to my September 11, 2010 post, "Is the Most Iconic Dress in Film History Coming to Auction?" the answer appears to be...yes.

In a recent interview with the Orange County Register, Debbie Reynolds confirmed that her entire collection of film costumes will be auctioned by Profiles in History May 26th and 27th, 2011.

Reynolds' collection is much more extensive, of course, and efforts to create a museum for it all have failed for various business reasons, she said. "I am going to stop collecting and I am putting it all up for auction May 26 and 27 in Los Angeles with the auction firm Profiles in History.

"You sometimes have to let your dreams go. I have been trying since 1970 to share my collection with the public. I couldn't get the backing. It's just a shame. I am sad I couldn't have achieved that dream come true. It was a very hard decision," she said.

It was originally reported last year that Reynolds would be using Christie's to sell the collection. Profiles in History has evidently scored the collection.

Of course, Reynolds owns the original costume Marilyn Monroe wore over the subway grate scene in the Seven Year Itch. The question of the day is, "What will the hammer price be for what is undoubtedly the most iconic film dress of all time?"

To read the entire article, click here.