Marilyn Monroe’s Personal Pucci Blouse
From the personal wardrobe of Marilyn Monroe: A lime green Pucci blouse, silk jersey, size 14. Made in Italy exclusively for Saks Fifth Avenue. Acquired from the Christie’s auction of her personal property in October 1999.
Why This Blouse Matters
This Pucci blouse is significant for two reasons. Marilyn wore it while rehearsing for her May 19, 1962 performance of Happy Birthday for President John F. Kennedy at Madison Square Garden. Video footage captures her wearing it as she moved between rehearsal and her East 57th Street apartment. Less than three months later, it was the blouse she was wearing in the last photographs of her alive, taken at Cal Neva Lodge in Lake Tahoe in 1962.
May 18-19, 1962: “Happy Birthday Mr. President”
On May 19, 1962, Marilyn Monroe performed Happy Birthday Mr. President for President John F. Kennedy at Madison Square Garden. She wore a sheer gown embellished with thousands of crystal beads. But the day before, rehearsing for that performance, she wore this Pucci blouse. Photos capture her rehearsing, and color film footage captures her in front of her New York apartment that same day. Photos from the rehearsal are shown below alongside photos from the actual performance at Madison Square Garden.
July 1962: “Cal-Neva Lodge and the Last Photos”
Cal Neva Lodge is a Lake Tahoe resort on the border between California and Nevada. It was owned by Frank Sinatra and, allegedly, Mafia boss Sam Giancana.
In late July 1962, Marilyn was at Cal Neva. Buddy Greco, a jazz pianist who was there performing with Sinatra that weekend, remembers her arrival.
“I remember it was a wonderful weekend. Marilyn turned up wearing a green scarf, green shoes, green slacks and a green blouse, and looking just wonderful. She turned up in a limousine and put her arms around me. I was very lucky my manager was there to take the photographs.”
The last known photographs of Marilyn alive were taken that weekend at Cal Neva. She is wearing this lime green Pucci blouse in those photos.
Related Collection Artifact:
Marilyn Monroe’s Personal Green Pucci Belt
Marilyn and Pucci
Marilyn collected Pucci items in multiples; if she didn’t have a dress in every color, she certainly had one in every other shade. She favored a palette of flesh tones, of leafy greens or of shocking pinks and mauves with occasional excursions into deep blues. Unlike her ‘working’ daytime wardrobe, which was predominantly black, these were clothes for Marilyn to play in, and by the beginning of the sixties had replaced the natural colored chambrays, the capri pants and matching shirts she had worn throughout the mid to late fifties. Looking at Marilyn’s Pucci wardrobe today, it is astonishing how contemporary it seems; the feather light dresses cut as simply as T-shirts; the silk shirts in brilliant colored jewel prints, designed to be worn, as Marilyn did with simple white pants or with jeans, are of today, not of yesterday.
Marilyn is said to have been buried in the green Pucci dress she wore while in Mexico in February, 1962, shown below.
The Personal Property of Marilyn Monroe
October 1999
Collector’s Note
This blouse matters because it documents two of the most significant moments of Marilyn’s final months. She wore it while rehearsing for the Kennedy gala, one of the most famous public appearances of her career. Then, less than three months later, it was the blouse she was wearing in the last photographs taken of her alive.
Unlike studio costumes, this was something Marilyn chose to wear. She collected Pucci because the pieces were comfortable, beautiful, and simple. She wore them with white pants or dressed them up. This blouse connects directly to her private life, not a role or performance. It shows what Marilyn actually liked and how she lived when the cameras weren’t around.
Scott Fortner
Marilyn Monroe Collection
Founder & Owner
@mariylnmonroecollection 
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