Marilyn Moore White Dress - Essay Example

Marilyn Moore White Dress Task: Marilyn Moore White Dress The competition in the Hollywood movies experienced during the 1950s initiated a number of designs that remain memorable and appreciated by lovers of artistry and fashion. The 1950s featured a number of designers and the competition saw the rise of experts in the field as William Travilla. Courtesy of Billy Wilder’s 1955 directed The Seven Itch film, Travilla gained sound fame for designing the historic Monroe’s white dress. The design that attracted a number of fans of Hollywood movies still sells highly and remains top among hits in fashion. In addition to the Monroe’s white dress, Travilla designed other Hollywood costumes that attracted attention from a plausible population of lovers of fashion. Was the Monroe’s white dress the most celebrated design throughout Travilla’s professional life as a designer of Hollywood costumes? The main body of the research outlines the biography of William Travilla. An insight of the iconic Monroe’s white dress as one of Travilla’s designs will form the next part of the text. An outline of other designs by Travilla will precede an in-depth analysis of whether Monroe’s white dress tops for attracting the most attention among the other designs. The final analysis outlines the extent to which the design attracted high sales after its auctioning, nearly fifty years after the death of Monroe. Born in March 20 1920, Travilla was brought up in Catalina Island, CA. He served in his career as a costume designer in most part of his lifetime and designed costumes in a number of Hollywood films. The 1953 designed costume used by Monroe in the 1955 film remains one of the best designs he produced during the time he served in his profession. This was the snow-white costume with a cocktail shape, which offered him appreciated fame. Travilla started costume designing in 1941 (FDM 2012, p.1). He served as a designer with the Warner Brothers for three years from 1946 to 1949. He later joined the Twentieth Century. Fox thereafter until 1956. He earned popularity for what was known as the “California” fashion while designing foe film as well as the small screen. He, however, turned to major on television in the 1970s. Among the most viewed among his works was the 1983 TV mini-series, The Thorn Birds. He featured in several nominations Emmy awards for his plausible work. Travilla died in 1990, leaving his career to Bill Saris. Marilyn Monroe wore the famed "Subway" dress in "The Seven-Year Itch. (Source: Duke A, 2011, p.1, Marilyn Monroes iconic dress sells for $5.6 million at auction, CNN, retrieved from http://edition.cnn.com/2011/SHOWBIZ/celebrity.news.gossip/06/19/hollywood.auction/) The most memorable scenes of the Hollywood actress Marilyn Monroes was in the 1955 film directed by Billy Wilder. Monroe’s Hollywood constume features in many costumes shops today, fifty years after her death and sells highly in many exhibitions. It only remains comparable to other designs as the little black dress that Audrey Hepburn wore in the iconic Breakfast at Tiffany’s. Monroe’s white dress remains iconic among the various works of art in history. The design of the dress remains timeless in the memory of many lovers of fashion and artistry as well as featured in different shows (Dalton & Linder 2005, p.159). The dress attracted many fans during the shooting of the Seven Year Itch movie and maintains its popularity. The dress traces its history to the plausible designing skills of William Travilla. Travilla remains among the most famous Hollywood designers celebrated during the 20th Century. His work as a designer earned a lot of credits for the period he worked as a designer. In addition to the white dress, Travilla designed three others. Monroe used the three designs in Gentleman Prefer Blondes film (Kidder, p.92). The films that came in 1955, is among the best of Monroe’s scenes in her profession. The white dress used by Monroe has a brilliant design enthused buy the many folds of Greek robes. The dress has many pleats that wave attractively under the influence of wind when blown. The dress, made from fabric that is like is light in weight, enables ease of movement. The light fabric opens up and flatters to reveal the thighs. The dress is white in color as a representation of innocence. The dress’ halter-neck coupled with a neckline designed in a dipping shape attracted plausible attention from a number of viewers. Since the 1955 shooting by Monroe in the Billy Wilder directed film, only Debbie Reynolds used the costume in 1971 to as an actress of Hollywood. It turned as the most expensive costume used in Hollywood after its auctioning at 2.8 million dollars (Nikkhah 2012, p.1). Travilla worked on a number of designs after joining 20th –Century studio. The pink gown was one of the most a highly appreciated design, for instance. The design was used by Monroe in the musical “Diamond are a Girl’s Best Friend” (Munich 2011, p.22). The design attracted a high price upon auctioning, as well (Collins 2010, p.1). Duke 2011 (p.1) notes the high sales that the iconic dress attracted in Beverly Hills in June 2011 amounting to an estimated over five million dollars. There were a notably high number of bids received for the pleated Monroe’s despite the economic challenges that were apparent during the times. This depicts the extent to which the dress attracted a plausible number of lovers of art and designs. The white dress elevated the status of Monroe as a star of the Hollywood. The white dress of Monroe used in The Seven Year Itch film remains a masterpiece exhibited by several countries. The dress receives recognition in a number of notable Hollywood celebrations including major exhibitions in museums as a notable Hollywood costume. Travilla was a proficient Hollywood costume designer known to design the attractive Monroe’s white dress used in 1955 in The Seven Itch film. Monroe remains a highly celebrates actress of Hollywood movie fifty years after her death (Rovi 2010, p.1). Other costumes designed by Travilla inclued the pink gown, also used by Monroe. The dress auction at a high price in 2011 (AFP 2011, p.1). Having auctioned at over four and a half million dollars, the Monroe’s white dress remains the best among the various designs by Travilla during his profession as a Hollywood costume designer. References Collins, N 2010, Marilyn Monroe gown fetches £213,000 at auction, The Telegram, 14 June, viewed 4 December 2012, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/celebritynews/7825228/Marilyn-Monroe-gown-fetches-213000-at-auction.html Dalton, M & Linder, L 2005, The Sitcom Reader: America Viewed And Skewed, SUNY Press, Albany, NY. Duke, A 2011, Marilyn Monroes iconic dress sells for $5.6 million at auction, CNN, June 19, viewed 4 December 2012, http://edition.cnn.com/2011/SHOWBIZ/celebrity.news.gossip/06/19/hollywood.auction/ Fashion Model Directory (FDM) 2012, William Travilla, FDM, viewed 4 December 2012, http://www.fashionmodeldirectory.com/designers/william-travilla/ Kidder, K 2011, Marilyn Monroe: Cover to Cover: Cover to Cover, Krause Publications, Iola, WI. Munich, A 2011, Fashion in Film, Indiana University Press, Bloomington, IN. Nikkhah, R 2012, Marilyn Monroe’s Seven Year Itch dress to go on show at V&A, The Telegram, 14 Oct, viewed 4 December 2012, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/culturenews/9606561/Marilyn-Monroes-Seven-Year-Itch-dress-to-go-on-show-at-VandA.html Rovi, J 2010, Marilyn Moore, The New York Times, viewed 4 December 2012, http://movies.nytimes.com/person/1030054/Marilyn-Monroe/biography AFP 2011, Monroes white dress sells for $4.6m, World News, 20 June, viewed 4 December, 2012. http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/1561091/Monroes-white-dress-sells-for-46m Read More