“We are all of us stars, and we deserve to twinkle.” This is a quote by Marilyn Monroe. She was one of the most famous actresses of the 20th century. She is known for blonde hair and a beauty spot on her lower left cheek. As many people loved her, the clothes she wore also did. Although many years have passed, she is still a fashion icon and continues to influence people’s fashion style.

In 1953, Monroe got the opportunity to play a role in the movie “Gentlemen Prefer Blonde”. She was already gaining popularity after the movie “Niagara” was released. Even though she played a smaller role, she gave a strong impression to people. In the movie “Gentlemen Prefer Blonde”, Monroe showed a dress that lasted a long time in the fashion industry. Also, the scene where she sings “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend" became iconic. In this scene, Monroe is wearing a pink dress with opera gloves and sings while she is surrounded by guys wearing suits. The dress she wore had a strapless design with a big bow on the back. The opera gloves and necklace she wore were embellished with diamonds. This dress was designed by William Travilla, a costume designer. Originally, Monroe was going to wear a costume that was totally different from the dress she wore in the movie scene, but because of the controversy of her nude photos that she filmed before she became an actress, they needed a costume that covered Monroe’s whole body. So the movie production asked Travilla to design a new dress.

The original sketch of the pink dress was quite different. Unlike the dress Monroe wore in the movie, the pink was much lighter and was matched with black gloves. But after she offered a new idea for her dress, the design of the dress changed and became the bright pink dress matched with the opera gloves that had the same color as the dress. This dress was very unconventional because hot pink wasn’t the color that was often used for women's clothing. Recently, the dress was sold at auction for $325,000, which is eight times what it was estimated to be worth. Also, the scene where Monroe sang became so popular and inspired many people. For example in 1985, Madonna parodied the scene in her “Material Girl” music video.

The next outfit that became iconic is also well-known. It’s the white dress that Monroe wore in the movie “The Seven Year Itch,” which was released in 1955. Many people won’t recognize if I just say a ‘white dress’, but many will know this famous scene where Monroe performed the iconic pose while standing on a subway grate holding her dress as the dress blows up. This dress was also designed by William Travilla. The dress Monroe wore had a halterneck design, and the skirt was pleated. It was also called the white cocktail dress.

This scene was filmed on Lexington Avenue in Manhattan, New York, and it is still famous. Because the filming location was revealed prior filming, about 4000 people came to see Monroe and stood behind the camera. Back then, Monroe’s husband Joe DiMaggio, who was a famous baseball player at that time, was also surprised. After Marilyn filmed this scene 14 times, she had a hard time because of Joe’s conservative mindset. Eventually, they got divorced less than a year after they got married. Although this made Monroe go into a period of grief, after the movie was released, she rose to stardom and gained even more fans.

Did you know that Monroe became so famous that she even sang a song in front of a president? On May 19, 1962, Marilyn was invited to John F. Kennedy’s 45th birthday party at Madison Square Garden in New York. There, she sang “Happy Birthday, Mr. President” to Kennedy. She wore a tight dress that had more than 2500 rhinestones on it. After her performance, Kennedy left a profound quote, "I can now retire from politics after having had 'Happy Birthday' sung to me in such a sweet, wholesome way." After his birthday, Marilyn and Kennedy’s interaction caused controversy. People didn’t think positively because Kennedy already had a wife and children. Also, recently, at the 2022 Met Gala, Kim Kardashian wore Marilyn’s dress and showed up. The dress is still displayed at “Ripley’s Believe It or Not!” in Hollywood.