Deemed Marilyn Monroe's Worst Fashion Moment, It Actually Aged Like Fine Wine

Even though she has become synonymous with Hollywood, Marilyn Monroe attended the Oscars only once. And it was at the iconic event that she had her worst fashion moment. Monroe was in attendance not as a nominee but as a presenter. However, she nearly didn't take the stage as the black gown she had worn for the occasion ripped down the side. How could she present the award for best sound recording in front of 1,800 people, including the mayor of Los Angeles and the governor of California? She refused.

Luckily for pop culture and fashion lovers everywhere, a seamstress was able to quickly stitch up the rip, and the world's most famous blond bombshell gave her one and only Academy Awards speech. Designed by Charles LeMaire, the lightly sequined black gown featured a sweetheart neckline with tulle sleeves that fell off the shoulders. While marked by the wardrobe malfunction at the time, the dress has aged like fine wine. The piece, which had originally been worn by Valentina Cortese in "The House on Telegraph Hill" earlier that year, highlighted Monroe's famous silhouette while staying elegant.

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Decades later, it has proved an enduring classic. Social media users still rave about the dress today. "It literally looks like she's wearing the night sky," a Reddit user noted in a 2024 thread. Others highlighted the perfect mix of classic and innovative elements. "Just black tulle covering most of her chest. Very daring, but beautiful," a second Redditor argued. The 1951 Oscars dress could have gone down in history for all the wrong reasons, but a skilled seamstress made the opposite happen.

Marilyn Monroe's transformation into a pop culture icon wouldn't have been the same without her fashion moments. Like the 1951 Oscars dress, many of her looks have withstood the test of time. Just two months before Monroe's mysterious death in August 1962, she infamously sang "Happy Birthday, Mr. President" to John F. Kennedy in a nude figure-hugging, sequined dress (seen above). Almost exactly 60 years later, Kim Kardashian rocked the iconic Monroe dress at the 2022 Met Gala.

There are countless examples. The white dress from "The Seven Year Itch," which has taken on a life of its own; the controversial hot-pink dress with matching gloves from "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes;" the gold dress, also from "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes." Monroe's enduring myth wouldn't be the same without her famous (and infamous) fashion moments. And we owe many of those moments to costume designer William Travilla. "The costume designer and an actress or starlet have a very intimate relationship," fashion historian Darnell-Jamal Lisby told Time in 2022.

He continued: "The one [between Monroe and Travilla] is a great example to show how that relationship resulted in a fashion marriage that helped create how we see Marilyn Monroe today." But the hyper-glamourous image of Monroe was just part of who she was. And because she died at only 36, those images became even more poignant because that's all we have. "Because of those moments, her image has been ingrained in culture. You sort of have to wonder, if she lived into old age, whether those images would still be so iconic," fashion historian Caroline Young told Time.