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Eternally stylish: How Marilyn Monroe continues to influence fashion today
By Shivani Dubey | 26 February 2025 | Culture, Style
Marilyn Monroe has inspired legions of celebrities from Madonna to Billie Eilish. Here, we dive into her timeless style, iconic looks and how she continues to inspire fashion today
Marilyn wearing the famous gold lamé Travilla dress designed for her role in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, 1953 © Pictorial Press Ltd / Alamy Stock Photo
Fashion icons come and go, but if there is one name that will always be synonymous with timeless style, it is Marilyn Monroe. Whether it was to perform for US troops during the Korean War, her hot pink dress in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, or her white ensemble from The Seven Year Itch — which resulted in the most iconic photograph of all time — and even now, decades later, Marilyn Monroe never went out of style.
Throughout her career, she frequently collaborated with fashion houses Dior and Chanel, and maintained close relationships with costume designers, namely William Travilla, who was responsible for some of her most famous fashion moments on and off screen. This particular relationship is vividly detailed in the coffee table book Marilyn Monroe Style, which has been published in collaboration with the estate of Marilyn Monroe.
In a 2014 interview, Kimberley Ashley, founder of the Ashley-Travilla Fashion Foundation, explained the relationship between Monroe and the designer: “Marilyn recognized the brilliant psychology [of] Billy…as a costume designer. Although she may have blurred the lines of using costumes in real life, as an actress, she realized…they are first and foremost tools to tell the audience about the personality of that role.”
Marilyn singing to the US troops in South Korea to keep up morale, 1954 © Alexandros Lavdas / Alamy Stock
INSPIRATION TO THE STARS
Marilyn Monroe’s style was the epitome of glamour, sensuality, and demure femininity, inspiring generations of fashion designers and celebrities since. Billie Eilish channeled the Hollywood icon at the 2021 Met Gala, when she wore an Oscar de la Renta dress inspired by Marilyn’s Oscars dress from 1951. Ryan Gosling paid a rousing tribute to ‘Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend’ at the 2024 Oscars — pink ensemble and all. And who can forget when Kim Kardashian wore her original 1962 gown from when she sang ‘Happy Birthday’ for President John F Kennedy to the 2022 Met Gala?
“What’s the most American thing you can think of? And that’s Marilyn Monroe,” Kim Kardashian said in an interview with Vogue about the dress. “For me, the most Marilyn Monroe moment is when she sang ‘Happy Birthday’ to JFK, it was that look.”
The most famous example however, is Madonna, who has been known to cosplay Marilyn Monroe frequently in her bodies of work, especially during her Blonde Ambition tour. She even recreated the famous pink dress from Gentlemen Prefer Blondes for the music video of ‘Material Girl’ in 1985.
“Marilyn was made into something not human in a way, and I can relate to that,” Madonna said of recreating the look. “Her sexuality was something everyone was obsessed with, and that I can relate to. And there were certain things about her vulnerability that I’m curious about and attracted to.”
Marilyn at her home in Los Angeles, 1962 © Landmark Media / Alamy Stock Photo
CASUAL CHIC
But beyond her iconic fashion moments, in her quiet time, Marilyn preferred simplicity. Her style was simple, casual and chic. High waisted jeans, knotted blouses and colourful sweaters — something that has managed to stand the test of time. Her off-duty style, made possible through designers like Claire McCardell, who pioneered ready-to-wear clothing in post-war America, quickly became popular with the masses.
“Marilyn knew the ease of a plain shirt,” details the book Marilyn Monroe Style. “In her memoir, she describes the two white blouses that she owned and how she wore them on rotation. While crafting her career, she used her dressy clothes to get herself noticed, but behind the scenes it was a closet of shirts that she drew upon for day-to-day wear.”
Even today, her casual looks are frequently referenced by fashion influencers and designers as they appeal to the modern woman: relaxed yet elegant and fashionably chic. 
Marilyn posing for photographer Sam Shaw in Amagansett, New York, 1957 © Photo by Sam Shaw © Shaw Family Archives
Another fashion essential in her arsenal that she deployed with finesse was fine accessories. Marilyn owned a whole wardrobe of gloves in a rainbow of colours and a variety of fabrics, from crochet and velvet to nylon and leather, details the book. Her opera gloves were fabulously camp and helped add maximum charge to evening wear.
Her style — whether it was dressing as a sultry red carpet bombshell or for a casual stroll around the park — transcends time. Her legacy as a fashion icon has permeated not just the world of fashion but continues to influence culture as we know today. Marilyn didn’t just use fashion for pleasure, but as a weapon against the intense scrutiny she faced every single day.
She once told Movieland Magazine in 1952: “I believe your body should make your clothes look good, instead of making the body conform to what is considered fashionable at the moment.” And even though it has been over six decades since we lost Marilyn Monroe, her enduring impact on fashion has left an indelible mark on us all.