The Ultimate Guide to Marilyn Monroe’s Style (Life and Fashion Inspired)
We’ve been breaking down our list of 16 classic fashion icons everyone should know. Last week, we covered Diana Ross, the reigning queen of Motown and 1960s trendsetter.
This week, it’s all about cinema’s brightest star, Marilyn Monroe.
Tomorrow, August 5, marks 56 years since we’ve lost the famous “blonde bombshell.” But with every passing year, her image grows more and more beloved.
Marilyn’s blonde hair, red lips, and beauty mark have made lasting style impressions on us all, but in the 1950s, she was known for being the biggest sex symbol of the era.
Her life has been written about and re-imagined countless times, like in the Oscar nominated My Week with Marilyn, or the ill-fated but still adored (especially by yours truly) TV series Smash. But there are a lot of sides to Marilyn you probably don’t know about. Keep reading to find out more about her early life, film career, tragic death, and lasting legacy.
Table of Contents
All About Marilyn
Fade In On a Girl…
Marilyn Monroe was born Norma Jeane Mortenson in Los Angeles, California in 1926. Her father was absent, and her mother suffered from paranoid schizophrenia, spending much of her life in institutions.
Marilyn spent her childhood in and out of various foster homes and orphanages. (TW) During this time she was sexually abused.
When her last foster family wanted to move out of California, laws prohibited them from taking then Norma Jeane with them. Their solution was to have the 16 year old marry Jim Dougherty, the neighbors’ son, so she wouldn’t go to an orphanage.
