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Marilyn at Julien’s: Ferragamo, Chanel No. 5, and More

In the first of several posts about Property From the Life and Career of Marilyn Monroe (coming to Julien’s Auctions on November 1), I’m looking at the lots relating to Marilyn’s personal style. The three movie costumes and the black cocktail dress shown above have been widely publicised, so here’s the best of the rest. (You can read all my posts on the sale here.)

“Marilyn Monroe’s bathing suit from Let’s Make It Legal (20th Century Fox, 1951), worn by the star as ‘Joyce Mannering’ in the scene where she utters the funny line of ‘Who wouldn’t want to meet a man who has millions who isn’t even bald?’

A black silk jersey fabric with a gold and black ‘lace’ print, center is gathered with a wider band of gold down the front, back zip-up closure, interior with attached strapless under-wire brassiere, label reads ’20th Century Fox,’ further handwritten annotation reads ‘M. Monroe’ though that appears to have been added later.

Included with a March 1952 issue of Pageant Magazine where an image of Marilyn Monroe wearing this bathing suit is on the back cover.

(Please note the top of the bust appears to have been slightly altered for a later use.)”

SOLD for $37,500

“Bubble gum-pink satin high-heeled shoes, inside stamped ‘Creations / Ferragamo’s / Florence / Italy,’ black fountain pen ink handwritten annotations on interior of both note in part ‘7 1/2 AA,’ leather interior and sole, further handwritten annotation in same ink on each sole reads in part ‘M.M. F-13,’ soles additionally stamped ‘Handmade in Italy;’ worn by the star as ‘Amanda Dell’ in the ‘Incurably Romantic’ song and dance number from Let’s Make Love (1960.)”

SOLD for $25,000

“A black stretch rayon fabric bathing-suit, shoulder straps, light blue satin bow on bust with matching pleated detail on either side, back zip-up closure, label reads ‘Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer / M. Monroe.’ [Marilyn made three pictures for MGM in 1950, but never wore this onscreen.]

SOLD for $11,250

“A tan wide-wale corduroy skirt, knee-length, straight, kick pleat in back, side zip-up closure, label reads ‘designed by Jax.'”

SOLD for $3,750

“A mint green jersey silk Pucci ensemble; the top sleeveless, boat neck, elasticized waistband, label reads ‘Emilio Pucci / Florence – Italy / Made in Italy / 100% Pure Silk’ and another one reads ‘Made in Italy Exclusively For / Saks Fifth Avenue;’ together with a matching straight skirt, knee-length, elasticized waistband.”

SOLD for $46,875

“A cabochon black oval necklace in gold-tone casing with gold-tone box link chain worn by Marilyn Monroe to a Cinemascope launch party held at the Cocoanut Grove nightclub in Hollywood, and in a circa 1954 portrait with her drama coach, Natasha Lytess.”

SOLD for $21,875

A small brown box containing false eyelashes by Martha Lorraine for Saks Fifth Avenue; and a small white box with an unopened bottle of Chanel No. 5 inside.

False eyelashes SOLD for $8,960; Chanel No. 5 SOLD for $10,000

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Marilyn at Julien’s: Fashion and Beauty

In today’s post about the upcoming Legends event at Julien’s Auctions, let’s take a look at Marilyn’s fashion and beauty habits, and what they cost her. (Read more about the June 13-14 sale here.)

UPDATE: I have added the final bids to each item.

“A typed letter on Jamie, Inc. letterhead dated July 24, 1958 in regards to a newspaper article reporting that Marilyn’s new white platinum bleach is breaking off her tresses. The letter, from the president of Jamie, Inc. reads, ‘Enclosed is a clipping from one of our daily newspapers regarding damage to your hair. We are sending you under separate cover our hair conditioner. If used according to directions, it will allow you to bleach your hair as light and as often as you desire. I am sure you will find that you will no longer have hair damage of any kind, and you will also be able to obtain a truer color.’ Enclosed with the letter is the original newspaper clipping referencing Monroe’s hair.” (SOLD for $1,152)

“An October 19, 1959 invoice for the storage of several of Marilyn’s furs, including a white ermine coat, a black fox stole trimmed with silk, a ranch mink coat, a white beaver coat, a white fox stole, a black fox stole, and a white fox stole and muff, among others. Nearly all of the furs listed on this receipt are instantly recognized in photos of Marilyn at publicity and red carpet events. ” (SOLD for $750)

“An extensive collection of statements from Lilly Dache Boutique and Beauty Salon in New York, with dates throughout 1958 and 1959, together with a letter addressed to Marilyn informing her that she has an overdue balance of $238.40.”  (SOLD for $768)

“A grouping of shopping receipts addressed to Marilyn Monroe Miller for various purchases, one receipt specifies an alteration to a tweed item for her stepdaughter, Janie Miller. Also included is an envelope from the famed clothing line address to Jax in Beverly Hills.” (SOLD for $875)

“A receipt from I. Magnin & Co. addressed to Mrs. Arthur Miller at the Beverly Hills Hotel, dated December 23, 1959, for the purchase of ‘5# Original,’ indicating a purchase for the famed perfume, widely believed to be a favorite of Monroe’s. Interestingly, the order was specified to be delivered to ‘Dorothy Blass,’ a name Marilyn occasionally used for past purchases and deliveries to disguise her identity. During this period Marilyn was completing filming of Let’s Make Love. Research indicates she actually called out sick on this date.” (SOLD for $1,152)


“A black chiffon overblouse. Label reads ‘Rudi Gernreich Design for Walter Bass.’ A separate paper label reads ‘Style 104 M. Monroe.'” (SOLD for $19,200)

“A pair of drop rhinestone ear clips with three strands of teardrop-shaped rhinestones, unmarked; and a
six-stranded iridescent crystal necklace in purple and green. ” (SOLD for $28,125 and $11,250, respectively)

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Vanessa Paradis ‘Chanels’ Marilyn

The French singer and actress Vanessa Paradis is one of Marilyn’s most devoted celebrity fans; she wrote a song called ‘Marilyn & John’ for her debut album back in 1988, and still collects Monroe memorabilia, including a pair of her shoes. As a longtime spokeswoman for Chanel, Vanessa has now combined both passions in a new clip, I Am An Idea. “A Chanel perfume is a play of shadows and light, which reveals nudity and protects intimacy,” she says in the video. “A set of jewelry and an abstraction; a suit of armor and a construction. A Chanel perfume is an invisible negligee, one that Marilyn chose to adorn her nights.” (This mini-film, first in a series, also features Eve Arnold’s photos of Marilyn lying nude in bed – let’s hope she was wearing her signature Chanel No. 5 …)

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What She Said: Marilyn and Chanel No. 5

Marilyn by Bob Beerman, 1953

Over at Garage Magazine, Tatum Dooley traces the origins of Marilyn’s famous quote regarding her favourite perfume…

“When asked what she wore to bed, Marilyn Monroe famously replied, ‘I only wear Chanel No. 5.’

The quote originates from a retelling by Monroe to Life Magazine in April 1952. The question wasn’t posed by Life; instead Monroe offered it up as a anecdote: “Once this fellow says, “Marilyn, what do you wear to bed?’ So I said I only wear Chanel No. 5.”‘

A bastardized version often tidily conflates Monroe as both speakers: ‘What do I wear in bed? Why, Chanel No. 5, of course.’

Monroe is the subject of the second advertisement in a multi-part campaign, titled ‘Inside Chanel,’ levied by the brand. The ad, at just over two minutes, makes Monroe a posthumous face of the venerable perfume. ‘We may never know when she said the phrase for the first time,’ the video states about Monroe’s famous reference to the perfume, going on to cite all the times they have proof it happened: April 7th, 1952, in Life Magazine. October 1953, at a photoshoot for Modern Screen. April 1970, Marie Claire.

‘°5, because it’s the truth… and yet, I don’t want to say nude. But it’s the truth!’

But…it’s the truth lingers on the screen.”

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ABG’s Jamie Salter On Marketing Marilyn

Jamie Salter, CEO of Authentic Brands Group (ABG), has talked about how Marilyn helped to build his business empire, in an interview with Forbes magazine.

“For Marilyn Monroe, Salter purchased 80% of the Monroe estate in 2012 for a reported $20 million to $30 million before slashing its 300 licensing deals—from T-shirts to refrigerator magnets—down to 80. Then he built the business back up, purchasing the other 20% of the estate and increasing the number of licenses to the sweet spot of 100, focusing on venerable brands that Monroe actually used in life—like Chanel No. 5.

‘You can sell X amount of Marilyn Monroe fragrance at a mass-market retailer, or you can do a deal with Chanel No. 5,’ Salter says. ‘A No. 5 deal doesn’t pay as well, but I think that’s important for the brand because it gives a halo effect. And the truth of the matter is, she wore Chanel No. 5.’

He [initially] went after the Marilyn Monroe business and received a no. But eventually Anna Strasberg, the widow of Monroe’s acting coach Lee Strasberg (to whom she’d left her estate), came back and agreed to a deal to sell 80%. (And three years after Salter bought into Monroe, Strasberg sold him the rest of the business.)

Monroe’s business became so successful in the years following Salter’s arrival that he ended up paying the same amount for the last 20% than he had for the first 80%. He wouldn’t reveal precise numbers, but industry insiders were nevertheless impressed.”

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Marilyn and Joe in Japan

Over at Japan Today, Patrick Parr looks back at the newlywed Marilyn and Joe DiMaggio’s eventful trip to the Far East in 1954, where he attended a baseball junket and she entertained US troops in Korea. (They’re photographed here with the manager of Tokyo’s Imperial Hotel, where they stayed during their visit.)

“For Monroe, this was now her life when visiting other countries. As she puts it in her abbreviated as-told-to Ben Hecht autobiography, My Story: ‘My travels have always been of the same kind. No matter where I’ve gone or why I’ve gone there, it ends up that I never see anything. Becoming a movie star is living on a merry-go-round… you don’t see natives or new scenery. You see chiefly the same press agent, the same sort of interviewers and the same picture layouts of yourself… ‘

Before heading out to support the troops in South Korea, Monroe first visited soldiers who had been fighting over in Korea and were now recuperating in Japanese hospitals. Always under heavy security detail, on Feb 11 she visited the Iwakuni City military base south of Hiroshima and then on the Feb 14 traveled to Osaka. She also visited a Tokyo medical center for wounded soldiers.

At the time, she was being treated by Tokujiro Namikoshi, the ‘founder of modern shiatsu,’ for ‘chronic endometriosis,’ a painful condition that can affect the female reproductive system. During this downtime, Monroe always had on hand her favorite perfume.  According to writer Pauline Torin, back in 2009 a bottle of Monroe’s Chanel No. 5 was found sewn into a pillowcase by a housekeeper and dated ‘Feb. 5 1954.’

When Monroe returned to Japan, she came down with the flu and remained mainly in the Imperial Hotel. She and DiMaggio did eat in Ginza once, at Irene’s Hungaria Restaurant, an ‘elegant’ place to dine. One of the cooks there, Yoshimasa Saito, remembered the couple coming in for a bite in a May 2006 interview with Judit Kawaguchi for The Japan Times: ‘Mon-chan, as we called her, was more beautiful in person than on film. I only got a glimpse of her because I was busy cooking.'”

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Marilyn at Julien’s: Style and Beauty

Marilyn in costume for ‘The Prince and the Showgirl’

“Marilyn Monroe famously sang ‘Diamonds are a Girl’s Best Friend,’” Sheila Gibson Stoodley writes for Robb Report, “but collectors of her memorabilia disagree. Seven of the 10 most-expensive Marilyn Monroe items sold at auction are dresses—mainly costumes that the late star wore in her films. The few that she donned outside of the studio earn their high sums thanks to period photographs that prove Monroe wore them.” And over at his MM Collection Blog, Scott Fortner – who helped to catalogue this week’s auction at Julien’s – takes a closer look at the ‘I’m Through With Love‘ dress from Some Like It Hot, and the ‘After You Get What You Want‘ dress from There’s No Business Like Show Business. Both costumes are from the David Gainsborough Roberts collection, and will go under the hammer tomorrow.

Several other items which contributed to Marilyn’s glamorous look are also among the lots. From her modelling days onward, Marilyn often wore her own clothing in photo shoots. These brown leather sandals date back to a 1950 session with photographer Earl Leaf, shot at the Hollywood home of her agent, Johnny Hyde.

Unlike her cinematic alter-ego Lorelei Lee, Marilyn wasn’t really a material girl. These earrings, worn to the premiere of The Seven Year Itch, were made from simulated diamonds.

Green lace blouse, from ‘Bus Stop’

Marilyn’s movie costumes were made in duplicates, with her name next to the Fox logo on a sewn-in label. This green lace bodice from Bus Stop was won in a contest by a lucky reader of the British fan magazine, Picture Show.

These red satin platform shoes – designed by Annello & Davide – were born by Marilyn to the London premiere of Arthur Miller’s controversial play, A View From the Bridge.

John Moore’s pencil sketches for the form-fitting mermaid gown worn by Marilyn to the premiere of The Prince and the Showgirl are also on offer.

Marilyn’s personal diet plan and skincare regime are available in full.

“A two-page, typed plan titled ‘Calorie Restricted Diet/ 1000 Calories/ 100 Grams Protein’ prepared for Monroe by Dr. Leon Krohn. The pages are undated, but some of the approved foods and meal plans are in line with the notations found in Monroe’s hand in the back of one of her notebooks from 1958. The diet put forth presents sound health advice even by today’s standards, recommending the restriction of sugar, fats and carbohydrates to whole wheat and ‘one small white potato boiled baked or riced’ as a substitution for one slice of bread.

Five sets of instructions, eight pages, from the Erno Laszlo Institute written out for Marilyn Monroe Miller, dated June 5, 6, 11, and 12, 1958, and July 3, 1958, outlining her constantly changing skincare regime in great detail. The instructions not only divide skincare into ‘Morning,’ ‘Evening if dressing,’ and ‘Evening before retiring,’ but also there are instructions on what not to eat: ‘Not one piece of any kind of nuts, olives, chocolate, clams and oysters.’ There are also separate instructions for California and ‘Instructions for Makeup While Making Films.'”

These white leather shoes by Salvatore Ferragamo are just one of several pairs that she owned. (The spiked heels were 3 inches high, and the size was 7.5B.)

In the spring of 1958, Marilyn made plans to appear at the Cannes Film Festival. Simone Noir sent her an invitation to visit Christian Dior in Paris. Unfortunately, the trip was cancelled, but a separate invoice shows that Marilyn bought a dress and coat by Dior from a Park Avenue boutique.

That Christmas, Marilyn’s longtime hairdresser, Agnes Flanagan, gave her a bottle of her favourite perfume, Chanel No. 5, purchased from I. Magnin in Beverly Hills.

Finally, a costume sketch by Bob Mackie for Something’s Got to Give. Based on a Jean Louis design, the red skirt suit with a swing jacket trimmed in leopard print, and matching hat, was intended as an ‘Outfit Worn on Day Off/Also in Courtroom Sequence.’ However, the ensemble was not worn by Marilyn during wardrobe tests, or any surviving footage from the ill-fated movie.

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When Marge Met Marilyn

Everyone’s favourite cartoon mom, Marge Simpson, has a Marilyn moment in this illustration by artist AleXsandro Palombo for Vogue, in a series of classic fashion recreations celebrating 25 years of The Simpsons:

“‘There is a Marge Simpson in every woman and with this tribute I wanted to ignite the magic that is in every women; the strength, femininity, elegance, eroticism and beauty,’ Palombo told us. ‘I made a strict and careful selection of what, in my opinion, has really influenced the style of the last 100 years. Each of these dresses really changed the course of the history of costume, giving a new aesthetic vision that has anticipated major changes in our society. We may not consider these clothes as art, but the aesthetic vision that they emanate has played an important role in giving strength to the path of emancipation of women since 1900. In many cases it’s the dress that has transformed a woman into an icon, but in many others, it’s the personality of the women that has enlightened the dress.'”

UPDATE: Here’s another famous MM pose, based on Ed Feingersh’s 1955 photo of Marilyn dabbing on her favourite perfume, Chanel No. 5…