I always love seeing emails come through from Julien’s Auctions, an auction house that handles a lot of Hollywood items. This morning, they sent notice that a black crepe cocktail dress worn by Marilyn Monroe to a 1958 party at the Beverly Hills Hotel sold for $348,000.
My husband: “Did she wear it in a movie?”
Me: “No, she wore it to a party.”
That’s just amazing to me. I know things like this are really collectible, and it would be cool to have a dress worn by Marilyn Monroe, but to pay that much for it? Someone has a lot of extra cash sitting around.
Other hot items from the movie goddess:
- Marilyn Monroe swimsuit with MGM label sold for $84,000
- Collection of original negatives and transparencies taken by Harold Davidson sold for $72,000
- Umbrella from the 1949 photo shoot with Andre de Dienes on Tobey/Jones Beach sold for $18,000
Other highlights of the Hollywood Legends Auction 2011:
- Straw hat with green, orange and yellow sheer fabric worn by Audrey Hepburn in the 1957 film ‘Funny Face’ sold for $16,250,
- Zorro signed Rapier also sold for $16,250,
- Griffin throne used by Elizabeth Taylor in the 1963 film ‘Cleopatra’ sold for $6,875 (see, now I would have thought that’d fetch a little more cash)
- Frank Sinatra original painting depicting a poker table and signed by the legendary actor sold for $37,500
- Marlon Brando Golden Globe statuette awarded to Marlon Brando in 1972 for his role in ‘The Godfather’ sold for $23,750
- Bruce Lee signed selective service card and photograph sold for $20,000
- Gold tone ring seen in the final scene of ‘Schindler’s List’ as Ben Kingsley’s character, Itzhak Stern, gives the ring to Liam Neeson’s character, Oskar Schindler sold for $13,750
If you had unlimited amounts of cash, would you spend it on collectible Hollywood items?
Nope! I would not spend it on that stuff, but I can understand the urge to do so. In the back of my closet, I have my own “Marilyn Monroe Dress”–never worn by Marilyn, but worn by ME in college in the 60’s. It is white, sheath, scoop neck, in a fabric with shimmery silver threads. I always thought that it looked like something Marilyn would wear. Anybody want to buy my Marilyn Monroe dress??
Say what? Marilyn Monroe’s cocktail dress sells for $348K: http://bit.ly/kIaJdL #wsbr #movies #collectibles
Wow! You could purchase a very nice house around here for that. I can’t imagine blowing it on a dress. Amazing that icon status has reached such epic (and pricey) proportions. I do love Some Like It Hot.
This makes me think of the sweater in the Wonder Boys. Remember?
Ah, no, but I think it’s fascinating that people do. I’d love to hear their stories too.
No way. But, this is fascinating. Are they expecting these articles to increase in value as time passes or are the buyers huge (rich) fans?
I love to see the value of items like this. But it definitely would not be my style to ever spend anywhere near that kind of money on celeb clothes, jewelry or most any other kinds of collectibles.
Not my cup of tea. (Hey, i ‘ll bet someone would also pay a lot for a celebrity’s used teacup…) The purpose of paying that much money for someone else’s stuff just amazes me.
No way. But I wish I had some of those items so I could make that money off people who would! 🙂
Ruth – I’ve had Wonder Boys in my to-watch stack for eons. I’ll have to watch it and report back on the sweater.