Marilyn Monroe and her 3 Wedding Looks
By Ivan Sanna Del Brocco
January 2023
On our journey back to style icons, Marilyn Monroe is not to be missed. Simply-Si Wedding Planner looks back at her three wedding looks that couldn't be more different. And as a bespoke tailor, as well as a wedding planner, my favourite look is that of her second wedding to baseball star Joe DiMaggio.
Norma Jeane Baker; June 1, 1926 - August 4, 1962, became a world star in the 1950s and was a film actress, model and film producer. She was the most famous and most photographed woman of her time. Her marriages were always mega-events.
A life lived at what felt like supersonic speed, an unforgettable look and a life story that became legendary. Marilyn Monroe knew how to fascinate the masses both consciously and unconsciously. Abandoned by her family but adored by the public, the icon sought to be loved throughout her existence. She married a total of three times between the ages of 16 and 30. Simply-Si Wedding Planners looks back at these three marriages that shaped her life.
Die erste Ehe von Marilyn Monroe mit James Dougherty
On June 19, 1942, Norma Jean Mortenson (baptismal name Norma Jeane Baker) married James Dougherty at the age of only 16. James Dougherty, April 12, 1921 - August 15, 2005, called: Jim or Jimmie, was a detective with the Los Angeles Police Department. He was more of a father figure, she called him "Daddy" before she divorced him on September 13, 1946 after he joined the Navy.
Dougherty published two books about his famous ex-wife, The Secret happiness of Marilyn Monroe (1976) and To Norma Jeane with Love, Jimmie (1997).
"I never knew Marilyn Monroe, and I don't claim to have any knowledge of her to this day," he told United Press International in 1990, "I knew and loved Norma Jean."
It is generally believed that Norma Jeane's aunt Ana Lower made this dress for her. Some traditions say that it was borrowed. It could be that the dress was borrowed and Ana made alterations to it.
The dress had a typical 1940s shape with slightly padded shoulders and a narrow waist. It was floor-length, covered in lace and had ruffles at the neckline and shoulders, as well as long sleeves. She wore it with a 40s style headdress and a mid-length veil. This dress is the most traditional of Marilyn's wedding dresses.
Marilyn Monroe's second marriage to Joe DiMaggio
America's revered baseball champion, Joe DiMaggio.
November 25, 1914 - March 8, 1999, succumbs to the charms of Marilyn Monroe,
whom he married in San Francisco on January 14, 1954.
DiMaggio also became immortal in another way: in his novel, The Old Man and the Sea, Ernest Hemingway has the old Cuban fisherman say, "I would like to take the great DiMaggio fishing. They say his father was a fisherman". At the end of the novel, the old fisherman repeatedly asks himself, "What would the great DiMaggio do now?". In general, the old man often wonders what "big Joe DiMaggio" thinks about the current situation or what he would do.
At that time, the couple could not have a church wedding because they were both already married and divorced. Their union was the second marriage for both of them.
In October 1954, after returning to Los Angeles from filming in New York City, Monroe filed for divorce from DiMaggio on the grounds of "mental cruelty", according to the records. The two were married for only nine months.
Despite rumours of remarriage, the two remained friends. On 5 August 1962, Monroe died of a barbiturate overdose at her home in Los Angeles. At the time, her death was ruled a probable suicide by the authorities. She was 36 years old.
A heartbroken DiMaggio, with the help of Monroe's half-sister Berniece Baker Miracle and business manager Inez Melson, arranged the funeral service at Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery on 8 August.
For 20 years, he arranged for half a dozen red roses to be delivered to her crypt three times a week.
After her death, DiMaggio refused to speak publicly about Monroe and never remarried.
At her second wedding she wore a three-quarter length suit of chocolate brown serge cloth with a white ermine collar. The suit was buttoned up to the neck and the collar was closed with a brooch. This was a big change from the plunging necklines the press was used to seeing Marilyn in, and it is thought that this was partly because she wanted to please her new husband.
The writer Alice Hoffman, who accompanied Marilyn on the trip to San Francisco, later wrote that the suit was bought at the last minute - however, Marilyn wore the suit only a few months earlier at a meeting with the King of Greece, so we can assume that this cannot be true.
Marilyn Monroe's third marriage to Arthur Miller
Arthur Asher Miller, October 17, 1915 - February 10, 2005, was an American novelist, screenwriter, and winner of the Pulitzer Prize. He is considered an important socially critical playwright of modern times.
"Head marries body" was the headline in the press when the film diva Marilyn Monroe and the writer Arthur Miller got married in 1956. In her 30th year, Marilyn Monroe married Arthur Miller in her third marriage on 29 June in South Salem, New York State. Although he was initially fascinated by the actress, the writer had no problem denigrating her after their marriage, which ended on 24 January 1961. One of the reasons: during their marriage, Marilyn Monroe had a relationship with the actor Yves Montand on the set of "The Billionaire".
Marilyn wore a simple pencil skirt, shirt and gloves for the registry office, followed by a light muslin dress by Norman Norell, for the second ceremony. Miller gave his bride a ring he had borrowed from his mother for the ceremony, and three days later brought her a new ring inscribed "A to M, June 1956. Now it's forever".
Monroe's third look came very close to a glamorous wedding gown. The empire waist of her dress had a ruched bust, and the hemline reached just to her calves. The Norman Norell dress was the perfect Monroe style: sweet and sexy, a timeless classic. Her look was completed with a chin-length veil attached to a pillbox hat.
Marilyn Monroe Arthur Miller
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