The story behind the look. Marilyn Monroe: why did this white dress become one of the most expensive in history?

Many fashion pieces have gone down in history. This is the case of Marilyn Monroe’s iconic floating dress worn in 1955 during the filming of the film “Seven years of reflection”. In the middle of the night and in the midst of hundreds of spectators, the actress appeared alongside her colleague Tom Ewell, dressed in a very light white dress signed William Tavilla. Many shots of the scene leaked before the release of the film, including those where we can see the breath of air from the subway lift the star’s dress and thus revealing her pretty legs and sometimes her lingerie. The cocktail dress was then nicknamed the “subway dress” (subway dress) or “flotter dress” (floating dress).

At the age of 29, the young woman has become the ultimate sex symbol of the Hollywood scene. After 66 years, this piece is still imitated all over the world in particular by many stars like Britney Spears, Cristina Ricci, Taylor Swift, Anna Faris or Halle Berry. They were all inspired by this outfit during photo shoots or on stage, helping to make this scene of Marylin a must in film culture.

Marilyn Monroe’s Flotter Dress Has Been Auctioned Multiple Times

This cult Marilyn Monroe dress that forged the legend of the actress was obviously recovered after her death. The outfit became a collector’s item in 1971 when Debbie Reynolds, the star of “Let’s sing in the rain” bought the piece for only 200 dollars, or about 168 euros. 40 years later, the mythical white dress was put back up for auction, but the price was no longer the same. Indeed, the private collector who acquired the dress had to spend 4.6 million dollars, the price the highest for an outfit of cinema sold at auction! There is no doubt, this dress will forever remain in the pantheon of fashion.