Marilyn Monroe dress from 'The Seven-Year Itch' sells for $4.6 million
The dress that famously billowed up around Marilyn Monroe as she stood over a subway vent while filming "The Seven-Year Itch" sold for $4.6 million on Saturday at an auction of memorabilia belonging to actress Debbie Reynolds.
"Oh, do you feel the breeze from the subway?" Monroe said in the 1955 film. "Isn't it delicious?"
Delicious indeed -- the winning bid for the "subway grate" dress easily outstripped the $1 million to $2 million estimated value placed on the frock by dealer Profiles in History.
Reynolds, 79, had hoped to see the ivory-colored rayon-acetate halter dress with pleated skirt housed one day in a museum that would hold her massive collection of costumes, key props, movie posters, original costume sketches and more, assembled over the course of 50 years from studios including 20th Century Fox and MGM. A planned project in Tennessee went bankrupt in 2009, leaving the actress with creditors to pay. Reynolds, of course, is mother to actress and writer Carrie Fisher and was married to Eddie Fisher until he left her for Elizabeth Taylor.