Marilyn Monroe's Pucci dress sells for $325K at auction that nets total $4 million

A pink Pucci dress once worn by late Hollywood icon Marilyn Monroe sold for a record $325,000 Saturday at Julien's Auctions' ICONS: Playboy, Hugh Hefner and Marilyn Monroe event held at NYA Studios East in Los Angeles. 

The 'long-sleeved dress of silk jersey' marked a 'new world record for most expensive Pucci dress sold at auction,' Julien's said in a news release.

The auction, which netted $4 million total, featured a number of other items once owned by Monroe, including movie costumes, makeup, wardrobe from the late legend; as well as hundreds of items the late magazine founder Hefner left in his estate following his death in September of 2017 at the age of 91.

Monroe was tragically found dead at 36 in the early hours of August 5, 1962, at her estate in Brentwood, California. The death of the Tinseltown icon was ruled a probable suicide after she overdosed on barbiturates.

'Throughout our twenty years in the business, Julien’s has proudly represented the legacies of Hollywood’s biggest stars yet there is no one bigger and more enduring than Marilyn Monroe,' Julien’s CEO David Goodman said.

Goodman said Monroe's 'most glamourous and incandescent items were the top sellers at our three-day auction that sold a stunning and fascinating collection of artifacts from three American icons of the 20th century, Hugh Hefner, Marilyn Monroe and Playboy.' 

A script for Monroe's last, incomplete movie Something's Got To Give went for $57,150, while handwritten notes from the late icon sold for $25,400, according to Julien's.

The script included annotations Monroe penned in reaction to the dialogue, according to organizers, as one entry reads, 'Sentimental Schmaltz' in correspondence with a line from her character in the film, Ellen.

The quote from the character, in reference to men from the South Sea Islands, is 'Deep breath then...that's what he thinks...'

The screenplay for the unfinished motion picture, penned by Nunnally Johnson, was dated March 62, 1962, less than five month's before Monroe's passing.  

Production on the film was turbulent, with Monroe refusing to appear on the set at one point, and penning notes to producers stating her concerns, according to Julien's.  

A black and white passport photo of Marilyn Monroe and late baseball icon Joe DiMaggio snapped in 1954 sold for $16,250, according to organizers.

The passport photo was snapped before the famed late icons went on a Tokyo honeymoon, later heading to Korea on a goodwill tour to entertain American soldiers stationed there, according to Julien's. 

Another Monroe item that commanded big bids on the auction block was a custom-made tube of Elizabeth Arden lipstick in an orange shade she owned, selling for $65,000, according to organizers.

The custom shade, which was stored in a goldtone case with typewritten label reading "Orange Pink like Miss I./ sample 05022/ May 2, 1960' was 'the second highest selling lipstick in auction history,' according to Julien's.

A lavender satin leotard Monroe donned in a pictorial for the December 22, 1958 issue of LIFE magazine, in which Monroe paid homage to late actress Lillian Russell, sold for $29,250, according to organizers.

In the issue, Monroe also paid homage to film icons including Marlene Dietrich, Jean Harlow, Theda Bara and Clara Bow.

The auction house sold Monroe's old checkbook, which included seventeen blank checks with the name Marilyn Monroe on them, for $10,400.

The checks, which were issued by the Irving Trust Company, also include seven check payment stubs with the date January 9, 1960 and the amount of $100 noted in one entry, according to Julien's. 

Another major piece of Monroe memorabilia sold was a brass plaque grave marker that was once displayed at her crypt, located at Pierce Brothers Westwood Village Memorial Park & Mortuary in Los Angeles. The marker, which reads 'MARILYN MONROE/ 1926 - 1962,' sold for $88,900, according to Julien's.

An eerie memento in the lot - a Pilgrim's Furniture typewritten receipt that was dated the day of Monroe's death, August 4, 1962 - sold for $12,500, the auction house said.

The evening gown from the 1955 film The Seven Year Itch sold for $127,000, according to Julien's. 

The garment, which was inspired by Mae West and designed by William Travilla, was worn in the romantic comedy, in which Monroe starred opposite Tom Ewell, Evelyn Keyes and Sonny Tufts.

The garment came with a black and white feather boa which was 'not in the original film,' according to the auction house, as the boa was featured in 'a dream sequence that was ... cut from the movie.'

In the deleted scene, Ewell's character Richard Sherman was fantasizing about Monroe's character, known as The Girl, who was wearing the garment and boa.

Among the treasures of the lot is a painting from late legend American artist LeRoy Neiman of a stage-bar, which sold for $114,300. 

The art was used in the magazine's August 1962 issue with a feature from Neiman titled 'Man at His Leisure: A Neiman portrait of the players and pleasures of Vegas.' 

A bronze of the Playboy Rabbit Head Logo sculpture from late artist Richard Hunt  sold for $127,000.