Sharon Tate Valley of the Dolls Costume Sketches

 Possible "Fan Art" all by one artist (the signatures are the same). Obvious reasons in quality of art as to why not authentic. None of these have come up to any auction during my research.

Marilyn Monroe Gentlemen Prefer Blondes Costume Sketch

In June 2016, Profiles (now Heritage) Auctions #83 sold a Travilla sketch from Gentlemen Prefer Blondes of Marilyn Monroe “Depicting an evening gown of aubergine steel gray couched in meandering hyphen pattern braid.”

Issues:  The illustration is unlike any of the other 1950s sketches, or any of the 2500 sketches of his I viewed as archivist of the Estate, or like any of the Marilyn examples above. The poorly proportioned figure is rendered in one line weight, Marilyn’s face is way off, and most importantly, for a costume sketch, the outfit is poorly presented and incomplete without the jacket.

When he created the sketch for a similar fabric for Ruth Roman in 1956's The Bottom of the Bottle, Travilla was meticulous in recreating the serpentine ribbon. Not so in the Marilyn sketch.

And finally, the signature looks like it was slowly drawn and gone over twice in some places (right top of “T”, the “r” and “v”), with wobbles and wiggles in letters (“T” and “l”s) not found in those of his signature over the years.

Travilla didn't have a distinct signature until the mid-50s. January 4, 1953 edition of the New Orleans Times-Picayune shows a signature much like his 1940s versus 50s.

Sold for $18,000, including premium.

Marilyn Monroe Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend Costume

Headlining the same sale was what was reported to be Marilyn’s costume from Gentlemen Prefer Blondes’ “Diamonds are a Girls Best Friend” production number, one of Travilla’s most iconic creations for Monroe. The listing stated “Originally designed to be a two-piece garment, this lot features an additional bonus having the original top made for this dress (featuring interior bias label handwritten “1-27-3-7971 M. Monroe A 698-74”) that was not used in the production. This design was discarded due to the top and skirt separating when Marilyn raised her arms during the number.”

Issues: Travilla stated numerous times about the construction of the costume: “I took a brilliant candy-pink silk peau d'ange and flattened that to green billiard felt which I covered with black silk. Apart from two side seams, the dress was folded into shape, rather like cardboard. Then I crunched the whole thing in, with a belt at the waist and a huge bow at the back.”

You can't miss the bulky horizontal seam.

Travilla never mentions it being a two-piece, nor would he fix the issue by joining the top and bottom together with a chunky seam (seen in both videos and photos) to hopefully remain hidden by a small-ish belt during a strenuous dance number. Nor is there any mention of the billiard fabric in the Profiles listing.  (Early on in my Marilyn Monroe fascination, I heard/read that the original Diamonds gown was destroyed by the glue used to adhere the fabric to the green felt.)

In a photograph taken at Fox after Monroe’s death but before the 1971 auction, several of her costumes are shown hanging on a rack, including her Gentlemen Prefer Blondes red sequined Little Girl From Little Rock gown. But no pink one, which leads me to believe the information to be correct.)

Blank vintage studio costume labels are also available online, and production information for specific films is readily available among costume collector groups.

 Including premium, it sold for $313,000.

Marilyn Monroe Personal Studio Dressing Gown

 

June 2010 Sale #40 Marilyn Monroe Dressing Gown. A black with elaborate gold floral motif brocade dressing gown accented with black jet bead fringe and silk lining was specially designed for the star by Travilla. Supposedly worn between scenes on several film sets. Has a sewn-in Travilla label and a letter of authenticity from William Sarris. I’m curious as to the date and content of said letter. The consigner must not have been the Estate as this Marilyn-connected item was not included in the 2007-2009 exhibitions or included in Dressing Marilyn.

Issues:

NO Photographs of Marilyn wearing the robe exist, although there are numerous shots of Monroe wearing white terrycloth robes when filming.

Early Travilla labels (1956-58) were black, featuring a much rougher version of his signature. The sewn-in label with a more refined signature dates from the 1960s.

Passed on the first time, it sold in November 2010 at Heritage Auction #7022 for $14,300 (including premium.)