Fashion's Hall of Fame: Marilyn Monroe’s Iconic 1962 “Happy Birthday, Mr. President” Gown

By Alexus Mosley

Few fashion moments have entered the realm of pure legend, but Marilyn Monroe’s 1962 “Happy Birthday, Mr. President” dress made history while rewriting the language of glamour.

Designed from a sketch by a then-unknown Bob Mackie and brought to life by Hollywood costume designer Jean Louis, the gown was engineered to create the illusion of Marilyn being draped in diamonds. Made of flesh-colored soufflé silk, the dress was so sheer and form-hugging that Marilyn famously wore nothing underneath, and had to be sewn into it moments before stepping onstage.

Over 2,500 hand-sewn rhinestones caught the lights of Madison Square Garden on May 19, 1962, when she delivered the sultriest birthday serenade in presidential history. Though the event was a Democratic fundraiser, the performance instantly transcended politics, cementing Marilyn as the poster girl of Hollywood seduction and high-gloss glamour. Originally commissioned for $12,000 (an astronomical amount at the time), the dress has since taken on mythic value. It first sold at Christie’s in 1999 for $1.26 million to financier Martin Zweig. Then in 2016, it shattered its own record when it sold again. This time, for $4.8 million to Ripley’s Believe It or Not, making it the most expensive dress ever sold at auction.

Today, the gown stands as a symbol of fashion’s power to provoke, mesmerize, and immortalize. More than a dress, it’s a cultural artifact: a whisper of Hollywood’s golden age, a moment of political theater, and a reminder that Marilyn Monroe’s impact on style is as radiant now as it was in 1962.

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