The pink Pucci dress sold for eight times its estimate.
Marilyn Monroe memorabilia have fetched quite a hefty sum over the years, sometimes selling for millions.
At Julien’s Auctions’ recent sale, the Pucci dress she wore for a Vogue photoshoot with photographer Bert Stern sold for $325,000. The dress, a pink long-sleeved silk jersey piece, achieved eight times its original estimate. It also set a record for a Pucci dress sold at auction.
Made by Italian fashion designer Emilio Pucci, the dress was initially expected to sell for $40,000 to $60,000.
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Along with the Pucci dress, a black evening gown Monroe wore in The Seven Year Itch sold for $127,000. An original Jean Louis painted cocktail dress which the star wore at a The Misfits press conference as well as her Elizabeth Arden lipstick each fetched $65,000. Monroe’s custom shade is now the second-highest-selling lipstick in auction history.
Selling for $29,250 each, the costume Monroe wore as Lillian Russell for a feature in Life magazine and her swimsuit from There’s No Business Like Show Business both went under the hammer as well.
The auction, which also featured Playboy and Hugh Hefner memorabilia, brought in more than $4 million in total.
In 2011, the white dress Monroe wore in The Seven Year Itch fetched $4.6 million. The image of the actress posing above a subway grate became iconic, as a gust of wind blew her dress upward.
Then in 2016, Monroe’s “Happy Birthday Mr. President” dress sold for $4.8 million, proving her massive star power. The dress, also designed by Jean Louis, was the one Monroe wore when she sang to former president John F. Kennedy on his birthday in 1962.
Banner image via Instagram @juliens_auctions.
