Samantha Chang
Marilyn Monroe sang “Happy Birthday” to President John F. Kennedy in 1962 at Madison Square Garden. Monroe’s iconic dress will be offered at auction this fall. (Getty Images)
Marilyn Monroe‘s iconic flesh-colored dress that she wore while singing “Happy Birthday” to President John F. Kennedy is expected to fetch $2 million to $3 million when it goes up for auction this fall.
Marilyn wore the sequinned dress when she sang her breathless rendition of “Happy Birthday Mr. President” to her alleged lover JFK in May 1962 at Madison Square Garden shortly before his 45th birthday.
Julien’s Auctions will offer the dress for sale in Los Angeles on Nov. 17.
The auction house believes the dress could sell for up to $3 million because of its historical, cultural and political significance.
The custom silk gauze dress, covered in rhinestone beads and sequins, was “sewn on Marilyn Monroe,” Darren Julien, president of Julien’s Auctions, told the AP. “It is immaculately preserved.”
Sadly, Monroe died of a sleeping-pill overdose just three months later, in August 1962, at the age of 36. Kennedy was assassinated the following year.
The dress was first sold at Christie’s auction house in 1999 for $1.26 million to the late financier Martin Zweig, who preserved it in a climate-controlled display case at his Pierre Hotel penthouse in New York.
Zweig died in 2013, and the dress is being sold by his estate.
Despite her worldwide fame, Marilyn Monroe never understood all the hype about her beauty.
“I’ve never considered my figure so exceptional,” said Marilyn. “All girls are beautiful in their own way.”