Monroe caught off-guard by Richard Avedon

On the fifth of August it will have been fifty years since the death of Marilyn Monroe.  The actress was such an icon, had such a physical presence, could project a character so well that her costumes have become incredibly famous – more famous, perhaps than any other actresses.

Think about it; the white, billowing ‘Seven Year Itch’ dress, the strapless pink ‘Diamonds Are A Girl’s Best Friend’ dress, the shimmering, see-through ‘Happy Birthday Mr President’ dress are all symbols of one woman’s incredible charisma.

However, one has to question whether or not Marilyn Monroe was a true style icon.  The characters she played were icons, but was she?

The film stars we admire for their style often translated their costumes into everyday life.  Audrey Hepburn was a true gamine, Grace Kelly was elegant and smooth like glass, Katharine Hepburn full of athletic vim and vigour.

Marilyn Monroe’s writings and personal observations are full of insecurity, focusing on the duality of her nature.  Was she the blonde bombshell or the bookish introvert?  There is a lot of conflict between her inner and outer lives.  As a consequence, she never seemed comfortable in her own skin, her clothes either bombastically tight in public or shapelessly, comfortably wrapped around her in private.

As Marilyn went from her twenties into her thirties she went through a change that almost every woman goes through; she somehow sloughed off the need to impress or express her innate self through her wardrobe and instead refined a style that suited only her.

Travelling or with friends, she abandoned circulation-cutting waistbands, exchanging them for camel Dior overcoats, men’s Brooks Brothers tailoring, Ferragamo pumps and silk Pucci dresses, which she favoured both for their comfort and ability to flatter.  She would be buried in her favourite green silk Pucci shift.

When people talk about Marilyn Monroe’s style, what they’re probably talking about are her film costumes – and why wouldn’t they?  She really did inhabit some of the most memorable outfits of all time.  Even Marilyn knew the allure of her costumes – she would often get a dressmaker to run up several copies of dresses that she wore in films (in a range of different colours, of course).

It’s not true that clothes maketh the woman.  In the case of Marilyn Monroe, the woman maketh the clothes.  Many of her film outfits were worn by other stars before her, especially in Monroe’s early career.  Monroe wore two dresses that had also been worn on screen by the vastly underrated but no less smouldering film noir-era actress Gene Tierney.  Compared to Marilyn, Tierney looked almost unremarkable.

It wasn’t what she wore – that was unimportant.  It was all in how she wore it.

This is the true essence of Marilyn Monroe’s style icon status.  This is what sets her apart from the Hepburns and the Kellys.  The wardrobe was unimportant. It was the woman who really mattered.  Marilyn Monroe’s most stylish asset was her ability to be luminous.  Her light is what makes her so memorable today.