Marilyn Monroe most personal possessions go on display in Londo
-
There are many ways of measuring a star's staying power. But one of the best barometers must belong to Marilyn Monroe - whose used lipstick is expected to fetch up to £13,500 when it goes up for auction 54 years after her death. The 1947 Revlon lipstick in pink 'Bachelor's Carnation', complete with smudges around the rim, was discovered in a secret compartment of one of the actress's evening bags by auctioneers who had spent years hunting down Monroe's possessions for a "once-in-a-lifetime" auction Cigarette Tobacco For Sale. "Such is the Marilyn factor that we estimate the lipstick will sell for $15,000-20,000 dollars, or probably much more. It's so personal," explains Martin Nolan, executive director at LA auction house Julien's. It's one of 500 of Monroe's personal effects that are set to smash records when they are auctioned off in Los Angeles this November. But, before then - and in honour of what would have been the actress's 90th birthday today - everything that is up for sale is being exhibited at London's Chelsea Harbour Design Centre. It includes everything from her Gucci address book (containing a who's who list of telephone numbers) to beloved clothes and her personal correspondence and art works. So why is Monroe still so fascinating 54 years after her untimely death? "She's this blonde bombshell who has been frozen in time," Nolan says of the actress, who was one of Hollywood's most bankable actresses but struggled with depression and addiction, before overdosing in her LA home in 1962. "We still think of her as that elegant 36-year-old who everyone feels they know and love, even if she was before their time. Ask an eight-year-old who Marilyn is, and they'll probably know." Nolan has been orchestrating the auction for a few years now. It brings together two separate private collections. The first from the estate of Hollywood actor and Marilyn's acting teacher Lee Strasberg, who along with his wife Paula, was Monroe's closest confidante and was left all of her personal effects in her will. The second collection comes from David Gainsborough-Roberts, a British man who became enthralled by Marilyn in 1988 and began investing in items owned and worn by the star Marlboro Cigarettes. Now he's decided, according to Nolan, "that Marilyn is bigger than him and that his collection should go to good homes." Nolan believes part of the reason the auction will be record-breaking is because it includes some of Monroe's most personal items. "My favourite piece is a miniaudière evening bag which is gold and bejewelled in amber with a black velvet lining," says Nolan. He describes how the bag is still filled with all the accoutrements of "a night out on the town": there's a gold tray containing loose powder Cheap Cigarettes, eight Phillip Morris cigarettes "in perfect condition" and even 2 dimes "which is what you'd need to call a taxi home - it's a true picture." Another handbag contains a matching set of comb, compact and cigarette lighter - all exactly as you imagine Marilyn left them when she flung them aside on getting home from an evening out. Despite the fact that Monroe's films grossed $200 million by the time of her death and she made 'Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend'one of the most iconic lyrics of all time Tobacco Shop, Nolan says she owned surprisingly few lavish items. "She actually had very few fine jewellery pieces of her own Wholesale Cigarettes. For her it was all about the costume jewellery, but obviously when she wore it, it had that wow factor." Among the paste necklaces and bracelets by costume jewellery specialist Albert Weiss is only one piece which does include real diamonds; an elegantly dainty cocktail watch from Swiss watchmakers Blancpain. Its face value is $80,000 to $100,000 but, once again, Nolan says that the sky's the limit when you know that it graced the wrist of Monroe Cigarettes Online. "No other celebrity has achieved the collectability of Marilyn Monroe. She transcends continents as she has fans all over the world and she transcends age groups as she has fans from five years old to 95 years old," says Nolan, of why this auction is so important. "It's very rare to find items from her life or career and this is the last ever auction of its kind." Among the other fashion highlights are a well-worn pair of tan leather wedge sandals which Monroe wore as a 21-year-old model when she was still known by her birth name, Norma Jean.
Related articles:
Marlboro Free Zippo
Indonesian Clove Cigarettes