I was one of the lucky people attending the Debbie Reynolds Collection Auction held by Profiles in History last weekend. While there were hundreds of one of a kind, important parts of Hollywood’s history on display and up for auction, one of the many standouts was the Marilyn Monroe Subway Dress worn in the film, The Seven Year Itch.

Recently, without checking the facts with all parties involved, a few blogs published incorrect assumptions about the same Subway dress from the Monroe film.

In the past I have stated and always will say, people need to get their facts 100% correct before speaking. That includes both written and verbal comments. Not doing so can cause harm to those being written or spoken about.

After doing the proper research, I can state that the Monroe Subway Dress is, and always was, 100% authentic.

Upon reading the blogs in question, I contacted Debbie Reynold’s son, Todd Fisher, and he was kind enough to take the time out of his busy weekend to set the record straight concerning the Monroe dress. I asked Todd if he heard about the questions raised and he said he had. Todd had no problem explaining to me the facts in the matter.

Mr. Fisher explained that Miss Reynolds, got this dress and other Marilyn dresses directly from 20th Century Fox in the 1970’s. He was kind enough to provide a letter from Gordon Stulberg who was then President of 20th Century Fox from 1971-1975.

Mr. Stulberg stated that he gave the authorization to Fox studio manager, Bernie Baron, to sell Debbie the Fox assets (the Monroe costumes, and others), at the time.

Todd Fisher also provided a letter from the William Travilla Estate which mentions an audio recording of the designer and creator of the subway dress, William Travilla, recorded in 1980 (which still exists), in which Travilla states the following:

“Debbie Reynolds has the original dress from The Seven Year Itch and after all these years it has changed colour slightly and some of the threads have all but gone”.

“Debbie is a woman that trusts me with everything but even when I borrowed the dress to make an exact copy she had someone watching while we opened some seams and carefully put them all back”.

In the same letter of authentification Andrew Hansford from the Travilla Estate says:

“The reasons I know this dress is real:

The fabric is exactly what Travilla says it was

It is boned in the bust area and shaped to Marilyn’s dress (this is very clear to see from pictures)

The bodice is hand pleated and hand stitched into place, not just pleated like the skirt.“

In the 1980’s Mr. Travilla asked Debbie Reynolds if he could borrow the dress so he could make a pattern of it as the original pattern was destroyed in a fire.

Miss Reynolds agreed, and Mr. Travilla took measurements, opened some seams and repaired a few small areas to preserve the dress so Miss Reynolds could display it.

The audio quote from William Travilla stating, “Debbie Reynolds has the original dress from The Seven Year Itch”, answers any question or concern as to the authenticity of the dress. Plain and simple. Since Mr Travilla designed and created the dress  he would be the person to recognize one of his creations.

Collectors should note that the dress was re used by another actress, Roxanne Arlen, in the 1962 film Bachelor Flat.

In many films, when a costume is used by another actress or actor, the clothing is adjusted to fit that actress /actor. This would explain why the dress is slightly shorter and the hem adjusted.

As a matter of fact, I am aware of two other Monroe costumes that were re purposed.

Marilyn’s green costume from the 1956 film, Bus Stop, was later used by Leslie Caron in the film The Man Who Loved Women. The costume was re-purposed for Miss Caron in the film.

The same thing was done for Marilyn’s showgirl costume from, River of No Return. This costume was created by Helen Rose for Betty Grable as “Kate Farley” in the “Cuddle Up a Little Closer”, from the film Coney Island, (1943).

It was later re-purposed by Travilla for Marilyn Monroe’s use in the climatic ending scene in River of No Return.

Adjusting and re-purposing costumes is common practice in the film industry.

The Profiles in History catalog does have the following comment on page 5 of their auction catalog mentioning this.*

Important Note To Prospective Bidders and Disclaimer

“Many of the items featured have been modified for subsequent productions and may differ in certain aspects from the production as listed in the catalog description“.

In conclusion, when asked what he hoped for the new owners of the Monroe dress, Todd Fisher had this to say:

“Hopefully the new owners of the Subway dress will take great care of it as we have, and it will always be for future generations”.

The original publisher of the article questioning the Monroe dress, Scott Fortner, is supposed to be updating his article soon. Please remember that people sometimes make mistakes and should be given a fair chance to correct them. Unfortunately, some bloggers (not Mr. Fortner), repeatedly and recklessly publish misleading and false articles in order to increase their web site traffic. Those bloggers are the ones that people should avoid.

Scott’s site can be found here:

Marilyn Monroe Blog

Photo of Debbie from the 1980’s courtesy Todd Fisher and Debbie Reynolds.

*added after article first published.