Marilyn Monroe Dress Sells For $4.6 Million

The dress worn by Marilyn Monroe in one of the most famous photos of her has been sold for $4.6 million. The image of Ms. Monroe’s white dress being lifted well above her knees by air coming from the subway below her is one of Hollywood’s most memorable. She wore the dress in the classic 1955 movie The Seven Year Itch. As the gust of wind lifted it, she said: "Oh, do you feel the breeze from the subway? Isn't it delicious?" The dress was sold by Hollywood legend Debbie Reynolds, who bought all of Monroe's wardrobe in 1971. Ms. Reynold’s decided to sell it, along with hundreds more items of Hollywood memorabilia, because it became too expensive to keep. She had failed to find a museum that would look after the entire collection.

The auction price set two records. It beat the $1.26 million paid for the dress Monroe wore when she sang "Happy Birthday" to President John F. Kennedy, and it became the most expensive film costume ever sold. The legendary dress was created by designer William Travilla. He said: “I wondered what I could do with this most beautiful girl that Marilyn was to play to make her look clean, talcum-powdered, and adorable.” In fact, the wind-blown image further elevated Monroe as one of the biggest sex symbols ever. Bare flesh in movies was a rare commodity in the early 1950s. The photo of Monroe trying to keep her modesty intact by stopping the wind from revealing more of her legs made the movie a smash hit. (Breaking News English)