Recreating Marilyn Monroe’s Dresses for the Movie 'Blonde'

Recreating Marilyn Monroe’s Dresses for the Movie 'Blonde'

Marilyn Monroe was a famous American movie actress from the 1950s and early 1960s. Her life is being detailed¹ in a new movie on Netflix, Blonde. It stars Ana de Armas as Marilyn Monroe.

Monroe was well-known for her costumes in the movies.

She wore a bright pink long dress to sing the song Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend. And most famously, she wore a white dress that blew up as she walked over the subway in the movie The Seven Year Itch².

The costumes have been talked about in popular culture. They have been recreated and reimagined many times in Hollywood movies and even in low-cost clothing shops.

In 2011, the famous white dress that Monroe wore was bought for $4.6 million. And a copy of the dress went for $120,000 several years later. That explains why Jennifer Johnson felt a lot of pressure to get the costumes just right for the movie Blonde.

As costume designer for the movie, Johnson was not able to study Monroe's costumes in person. Johnson and her team watched films, looked at photos, and used information from a book by William Travilla who was responsible for Monroe's famous looks.

Even though the team could not use the same materials to make the costumes for Blonde, Johnson said it was important that the structure of the dresses was similar, so that they would not look like low-priced copies.

She had read in Travilla's book about problems that happened with the dresses. For example, when the pink dress was not moving correctly when Monroe walked down the stairs in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Travilla used green felt, a material usually found on pool tables, to support the dress.

While Johnson did not use the same pool table material as Travilla, she understood the issue and recreated the dress with new material. Johnson said that it is always easier to make new clothes than to find something old. "It's quite hard to find existing things," she said.

The most difficult one to recreate was, of course, the white dress from The Seven Year Itch. The dress has many pleats in which the material is folded over itself. It needs a special structure that few places can make anymore.

Johnson said it took about 45 meters of material for her team to recreate the white dress because of problems with the pleats. "It was incredible³ how much fabric⁴ it took to create the arc⁵ and the drama of that dress when it blows up with the subway grate..." she said.

But in the end, it was worth creating that special moment. "It's so beautifully shot by Chayse Irvin, our amazing cinematographer, Johnson said.

Monroe's everyday style was more casual⁶. Johnson and Andrew Dominik, the director, dressed Ana de Armas as Monroe with Capri pants that are cut off just below the knee and sweaters. Some of the pieces were old clothes found in Los Angeles costume houses. Johnson wanted the clothes to be as natural as possible to fit de Armas's body and to be understood by modern movie watchers.

Johnson then added, "Those dresses are so iconic, they could easily overtake⁷ the actor and become all about the costume. And I always wanted it to be complementary to Ana's incredible performance."

Words in This Story

costume – n. the clothes that are worn by someone (such as an actor) who is trying to look like a different person or thing

dress – n. a piece of clothing for a woman or girl that covers the body and part or all of the legs

subway – n. a system of underground trains in a city

pleat – n. a double fold in item made of cloth, held together by stitching⁸

fabric – n. woven or knitted⁹ material; in this case special cloth made to use in a garden

cinematographer – n. a person whose job it is to film movies

casual – adj. not formal; done without much thought or effort

iconic — adj. describing a widely known image, object or person that represents something; a person who is very successful and famous

complementary -adj. serving to make whole or improve something, to add to or enhance¹⁰ the qualities or what is already there.

incredible – adj. difficult or impossible to believe

1 detailed   

adj.详细的，详尽的，极注意细节的，完全的

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• A detailed list of our publications is available on request.我们的出版物有一份详细的目录备索。

2 itch   

n.痒，渴望，疥癣；vi.发痒，渴望

参考例句：

• Shylock has an itch for money.夏洛克渴望发财。
• He had an itch on his back.他背部发痒。

3 incredible   

adj.难以置信的，不可信的，极好的，大量的

参考例句：

• Some planets run at incredible speed.某些星球以难以置信的速度运行着。
• Her answer showed the most incredible stupidity.她的回答显示出不可思议的愚蠢。

4 fabric   

n.织物，织品，布；构造，结构，组织

参考例句：

• The fabric will spot easily.这种织品很容易玷污。
• I don't like the pattern on the fabric.我不喜欢那块布料上的图案。

5 arc   

n.弧形（物），弧，电弧，弧光

参考例句：

• The sun appears to move in an arc across the sky.太阳看起来在天空中以弧形运行。
• The rainbow described an arc in the dark sky.彩虹在昏暗的天空划出了一道圆弧。

6 casual   

adj.漠不关心，冷漠的；随便的，非正式的；偶然的，碰巧的

参考例句：

• He earns a living by casual labour.他靠做临时工为生。
• The guests wore casual clothes.客人们穿着便服。

7 overtake   

v.追上，赶过，超过；袭击，压倒

参考例句：

• I had to walk very fast to overtake you.我不得不快走才能赶过你。
• No one could overtake him.没有人能超过他。

8 stitching   

n.用U字钉钉箱，缝纫v.缝，缝补，缝合( stitch的现在分词 )；[引申]把某物连在一起

参考例句：

• The nurse cleansed the wound before stitching it. 护士先把伤口弄干净后才把它缝合。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• There was only homemade thread for stitching up wounds. 缝伤口用的线只有国产的。 来自辞典例句

9 knitted   

v.（使）愈合( knit的过去式和过去分词 )；编结；（使）紧密地结合；织平针

参考例句：

• I knitted this cardigan myself. 我自己织的这件开襟毛衣。
• Our two nations are knitted together by common concerns. 共同关心的问题使我们两国团结一致。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 enhance   

vt.提高（强度、力量、数量等），增加（进）

参考例句：

• BBC backing for the scheme will enhance its credibility.英国广播公司对这一计划的支持将提高其可信度。
• Good secretarial skills should enhance your chances of getting a job.出色的秘书工作技能会增加你找工作的机会。