"The Girl’ Ivory Pleated" Subway’ Dress
The third most expensive memorabilia ever sold is ‘The Girl’ Ivory Pleated ‘Subway’ Dress. In Billy Wilder's 1955 picture The Seven Year Itch, Marilyn Monroe wore this white dress. Costume designer William Travilla designed the gown, which was used in one of the film's most famous sequences. The image of Monroe in the white dress standing above a subway grating blowing up the dress has been considered as one of the most iconic images of the twentieth century.
The dress is a light-colored ivory cocktail dress in a style popular in the 1950s and 1960s. The plunging neckline of the halter-style bodice is formed of two delicately pleated fabric pieces that join together behind the neck, leaving the wearer's arms, shoulders, and back naked. The halter is fastened to a band directly beneath the breasts. From there to the natural waistline, the garment clings snugly. A soft, narrow self belt was wrapped around the torso, crisscrossed in front, and then tied into a small clean bow at the waist, on the left side of the front. A delicately pleated skirt reaches mid-calf or below the calf length below the waistline. There is a zipper at the back of the bodice, and tiny buttons at the back of the halter.
Reynolds sold her Hollywood memorabilia collection in 2011 to avoid bankruptcy, and the pleated dress, which has become one of the most famous costumes in film history, sold for $4.6 million at auction.
Price: $4.6 million
