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.