This Marilyn Monroe dress is worth more than gold

Can you guess which one?

marilyn monroe dress
(Image credit: Rex Features (Shutterstock))

Can you guess which one?

It’s official: these days fashion really is a much better investment than gold. Of course, it helps if said fashion was previously owned by one of the most iconic actresses of all time: Marilyn Monroe.

A new survey by WatchShop found that a dress Marilyn owned is worth more than 1,000 times its weight in gold, and no, it’s not that subway grate dress.

The dress in question is the one she wore to sing Happy Birthday to JF Kennedy in 1962. Designed by Jean Louis, it was so bespoke, she had to be sewn into it. It was embellished with 2,500 crystals that meant it shimmered beautifully in the spotlight.

marilyn monroe dress

It was sold at a Christie’s auction for £3,703, 680 (ouch), and based on its weight of 103g, the experts estimated its value in gold to be £3,233, making it worth 1,145 its weight in gold.

Of course, we can't imagine the current owners would ever want to part from what is essentially a piece of Hollywood history, but good to know that if they did want to, that would be their retirement fund sorted.

Penny Goldstone

Penny Goldstone is the Digital Fashion Editor at Marie Claire, covering everything from catwalk trends to royal fashion and the latest high street and Instagram must-haves.

Penny grew up in France and studied languages and law at the Sorbonne Nouvelle University in Paris before moving to the UK for her MA in multimedia journalism at Bournemouth University. She moved to the UK permanently and has never looked back (though she does go back regularly to stock up on cheese and wine).

Although she's always loved fashion - she used to create scrapbooks of her favourite trends and looks, including Sienna Miller and Kate Moss' boho phase - her first job was at MoneySavingExpert.com, sourcing the best deals for everything from restaurants to designer sales.

However she quit after two years to follow her true passion, fashion journalism, and after many years of internships and freelance stints at magazines including Red, Cosmopolitan, Stylist and Good Housekeeping, landed her dream job as the Digital Fashion Editor at Marie Claire UK.

Her favourite part of the job is discovering new brands and meeting designers, and travelling the world to attend events and fashion shows. Seeing her first Chanel runway IRL at Paris Fashion Week was a true pinch-me moment.