Marilyn Monroe’s Personal White Fox Fur Muff
From the personal wardrobe of Marilyn Monroe: A white fox fur muff. On November 4, 1953, Marilyn wore this muff to the world premiere of How to Marry a Millionaire at the Wilshire Theatre in Los Angeles. She paired it with the matching white fox stole, long gloves, sparkling earrings, and a lace gown. According to author Maurice Zolotow, the white fox muff and matching stole were the first furs Marilyn ever bought for herself.
Related Collection Artifacts:
The world premiere of How To Marry A Millionaire – November 4, 1953
From Marilyn Monroe by Maurice Zolotow:
“I want to be all platinum and white tonight,” Marilyn explained, as anxious as a girl getting ready for her first prom… Gladys (Rasmussen) gave Marilyn a straight permanent. Then she bleached and tinted her hair and set it. Marilyn was wearing it long that night, shoulder length. Gladys painted her fingernails and toenails with platinum polish. Her slippers, her evening dress, her long white gloves arrived from wardrobe, together with two wardrobe women. A messenger boy delivered a box with diamond earrings. Her furs had come that morning. The furs were her own. The first furs she had ever owned. Except for the white fox fur stole and muff, and her panties, everything she wore belonged to the studio. The hair, the nails, a good deal of the face were also the studio’s. They were hers and they were not hers, just as the woman on the screen was she and not she.
Unchastened by Joan Crawford’s pronouncements, Marilyn had chosen a dress made of white lace lined with flesh-colored crepe de Chine and embroidered with thousands of sequins. It had a high waist, and it curved under her breasts revealingly. A long white velvet train trailed from a gold belt. The long gloves were drawn up the length of her arms. The stole was placed around her shoulders. She put her right hand into the muff and with her left she carried the train as she walked outside to a waiting studio limousine.
The Personal Property of Marilyn Monroe
October 1999
Collector’s Note
This muff was one of the first pieces of fine fur that Marilyn owned. The Zolotow account makes that clear. Everything else that night belonged to the studio, but the furs were her own. That distinction mattered. It connects directly to one of her most iconic public moments.
Scott Fortner
Marilyn Monroe Collection
Founder & Owner
@mariylnmonroecollection 
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