The iconic white dress from movie The Seven Year Itch sells for more than double the estimate at auction
It's one of the most iconic dresses in movie history - yet, no one predicted that Marilyn Monroe's Seven Year Itch white dress would sell for a whopping £2.8million at auction - more than double its estimate.
Vintage dealers, Hollywood prop collectors and Monroe enthusiasts gathered in Los Angeles yesterday as a huge collection of film memorabilia, including several items worn by the silver screen legend, went under the hammer.
The white halter neck dress with a pleated skirt designed by William Travilla and worn by Monroe in the 1955 film had expected to make around £1.24million, but ended up being sold for more than double the estimate to a mystery bidder.
The instantly-recognisable dress - famous for that scene of Monroe standing on a New York subway grate with her dress billowing up by a gust of wind from the travelling trains below – was put under the hammer by its owner, the actress Debbie Reynolds.
Reynolds, who starred in Singin’ in the Rain, amassed a huge collection of around 3,500 film costumes and props over the years - the largest private collection of its type in the world - before deciding to put all the items up for sale after failing to find a museum to house them.
Other pieces up for grabs included the red sequined dress Monroe wore in Gentleman Prefer Blondes, which fetched £908,000 at auction, Judy Garland’s iconic blue gingham pinafore dress and sparkly ruby slippers that she wore in The Wizard of Oz, which went for £690,000 and £387,000 respectively, and racing clothes worn by Elizabeth Taylor in National Velvet, which sold for £37,000.