In the end, an old filmmaking trick involving the use of hot cardboard helped fashion designers recreate Marilyn Monroe’s iconic pleated dress from Andrew Dominic “Blonde” The Seven Year Itch.
“On paper, it looks easy,” says “Blonde” costume designer Jennifer Johnson, who worked on many of Monroe’s looks — including the look — for the movie, which is now streaming on Netflix.
She began outfitting the movie’s star, Ana de Armas, with a replica of the dress from a fashion house.
“It looked nice,” Johnson says, but it wasn’t good.
The designer, who called William Travilla “the dress monster,” tried to make her own version, going through at least 50 yards of fabric and various braiding techniques. But she is still not satisfied with the resulting outfit.
“At the eleventh hour it was discovered by a tailor from Western Costume,” says Johnson, who also designed a swatch for “I, Tonya.”
The folds were created by pressing the fabric onto the folded cardboard templates. “You make a mold, you heat it up in a little cupboard, and nobody does that anymore,” Johnson explains.
When it comes to recreating the perfect “flying skirt” moment when Monroe steps in
Subway Network, says Johnson, there was “a whole mathematical chart of how much cloth
Get that beautiful and true bow.”
Travella used a custom-made summer wool in Italy to build the original dress, while Johnson used a modern, woven polyester shirt.
The “Blonde” shows the dress in both color and black and white scenes, and Johnson says cream, yellow, and beige pigments were used to soften the white so it doesn’t glow too much in either version.
Fashion designer Jennifer Johnson made the dress in a fluorescent pink to work in black and white.
Matt Kennedy / Netflix
Get the stunning pink color for Monroe’s evening dress in ‘Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best
The musical number “Friend” from “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes” was another challenge for the fashion designer.
Johnson acquired a heavy Ducal satin from Italy at the exorbitant price of $100 a yard. She was told she could be dyed the right shade, but when she tried it, “She looked like a Pink Panther. So we had
Starting from scratch.”
For the dress to work in black and white scenes, DP Chayse Irvin realized that only fluorescent pink would do.
Travilla incorporated a hard green felt commonly used for pool tables to give the “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes” look more body when Monroe walks the stairs in the 1953 movie. Johnson tried to work with the material to be subtle but ended up giving it up. “It wasn’t moving right,” she says, “so we bolstered the dress with heavy cotton instead.”
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