Madness at the Auction: Fierce Bidding War Breaks Out Over Marilyn Monroe Bra

A real bidding war has erupted over a bra once owned by Marilyn Monroe, with collectors already prepared to pay more than five thousand dollars for the provocative item, according to the New York Post.

A size 36C bra, dating back to the 1950s, will go under the hammer this Thursday alongside dozens of other personal belongings of the Hollywood legend. The starting price was only twenty-five dollars, but it quickly surged into the thousands, easily surpassing the initial expert estimate of one thousand to two thousand dollars. At this point, thirteen official bids have already been registered.

“This item is priceless. Many collectors are waiting until Thursday to make their move, so I expect the price will easily exceed twenty thousand dollars. There is worldwide interest in this lot,” said Martin Nolan, chief executive officer and co-founder of Julien’s Auctions.

“People are literally obsessed with her breasts,” Nolan added, recalling that during a previous sale of similar lingerie, one visitor even asked for permission to smell it. “People want to feel closer to her, and there is nothing more personal and intimate than underwear. Marilyn created this brand herself, and her breasts are an inseparable part of it.”

Gates to Eternity and Iconic Cosmetics

Another item expected to spark intense competition at the Peninsula Hotel in Beverly Hills is the gates from the Brentwood home where Marilyn Monroe tragically died in an alleged suicide.

These wooden gates, famously captured in news footage as her body was removed from the house on a stretcher, remained part of the property until 1984. Marilyn Monroe purchased them on July nineteenth, nineteen sixty-two, for three hundred fourteen dollars, just weeks before her death.

“They weigh almost a ton, were in a state of disrepair, but have now been fully restored,” Nolan explained.

There is also major excitement around the “blonde bombshell” cosmetics. For example, bids for her Max Factor lipstick have already reached seven thousand dollars in pre-auction bidding, and experts believe the final price will multiply several times over.

“And again we return to the Marilyn brand phenomenon: which lipstick did she use? Which mascara did she prefer?” Nolan said. “The answer is simple: people are still fascinated by her beauty.”

The auction is being organized jointly by Julien’s Auctions and the TCM television network as part of the “100 Years of Marilyn” project, marking the centenary of the birth of the legendary actress.