Designer William Travilla, who created the white dress for the 20th Century Fox movie 60 years ago, later dismissed it as ‘that silly little dress,’ however the dress became a hit and it was sold at a 2011 auction for 4.6 million dollars, reportedly.
The scene, shot on 15 September, 1954, also allegedly played a role in Monroe’s divorce from Joe DiMaggio. Despite the roar of applause from fans, DiMaggio was less than pleased with what he felt was an “exhibitionist” scene.
Monroe stood atop a subway grate and the scene took “14 takes” to capture the magical moments at 1am in the morning, while 100 male photographers and between 2,000 and 5,000 spectators looked on.
However, despite 14 takes, the crew still couldn’t get it right, due in part to the never-ending noise created by the fans on set, so later in 1954, the scene was re-shot on the Fox lot in California though the original location shots were used for ads and promos.
While ‘Some Like It Hot’ actress caught the dress before it blew up over her head, she still took precautions to make sure anyone watching didn’t see too much; so she wore two pairs of white underwear, so that once the fan blew upwards, nobody got an actual glimpse.
