Marilyn Monroe’s iconic “subway dress” from The Seven Year Itch has sold at auction for a whopping $5.6 million. The gigantic price tag exceeded the auction house’s expectation that the dress would sell for about $2 million.
The buyer, who won the bid after 20 minutes of auction drama so intense that it had seller Debbie Reynolds in tears, placed his bids over the phone and could not be immediately identified.
In the Beverly Hills, California auction on Saturday (18th June 2011) night the bidders paid another $2.7 million for three other Monroe movie outfits. Collector Keya Morgan said Saturday’s bids were “totally crazy, especially in this recession. Bidding for the iconic ivory pleated dress Monroe wore in ‘The Seven Year Itch’ was totally magical.”