Marilyn Monroe's Happy Birthday dress is to go to auction this week

IT was the dress that shocked and thrilled the world — and the dreadful events to follow merely increased its fame and notoriety.

May 19, 1962, was the day Marilyn Monroe stole headlines across the globe, appearing in a stunning flesh-coloured dress, so tight they’d sewed her into it minutes earlier.

And then, of course, she sang the sexiest Happy Birthday anyone had ever heard, but this was especially for President John F Kennedy in honour of his 45th birthday.

The most-adored actress on Earth had walked on stage at Madison Square Garden, New York, with a white ermine fur coat covering the dress.

With more than 2,500 hand-stitched crystals, it was so tight that she couldn’t even put underwear on, and the gasp from the huge audience was audible.

It’s fair to say it was a mix of lust and envy — the typical sort of emotions that often made people gasp when Marilyn Monroe was around, such was her sheer presence.

The tragedy to come was that the blonde goddess would be dead in a matter of months, and JFK himself would be assassinated just over a year later.

Rumours of an affair between them have also endured all these years since.

So to sing Happy Birthday Mr President in such a way, and have JFK clearly loving every minute, was a sensation, as was that dress.

This week, it will go to auction, the most sought-after item of Marilyn memorabilia sold in decades, and is sure to fetch a huge sum.

Actor Peter Lawford had jokingly introduced her as the “late” Marilyn Monroe, on account of her timekeeping, but that word would prove spookily prophetic.

It was one of her last-ever public appearances, and we know now that she was going through torment at work, falling out with her studio bosses, being fired and rehired.

Her life was in turmoil, but you wouldn’t have guessed it to hear her sing the sultry rendition of Happy Birthday.

As Jacqueline Kennedy was mysteriously absent for the whole thing, the rumours about Marilyn and JFK merely multiplied.

Marilyn’s death that year spurred Andy Warhol to create his now-legendary portraits of her, and the auction experts reckon this dress could fetch a special price.

“Marilyn Monroe singing Happy Birthday Mr President is certainly one of the most-famous impromptu performances in American history,” says Darren Julien, President & CEO of Julien’s Auctions.

“That rendition has lived on for decades as one of the most-remarkable events in her career and certainly one of the most-storied tales in popular culture history — a moment in time squarely at the centre of the 1960s and Hollywood.

“We are incredibly privileged to have the opportunity to offer this amazing dress to collectors, fans and contemporary art enthusiasts around the world.”

On November 17, Julien’s Auctions, the world-record breaking auction house to the stars, will once again make history when it exclusively offers the iconic Jean Louis dress.

The dress will be presented on the custom-made mannequin that was designed to match Marilyn’s exact body measurements.

Collector edition catalogues can be ordered at www.juliensauctions.com before the auction at Julien’s, Los Angeles, on November 17.

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