Marilyn, on the block

It’s America’s most famous bust, and it’s up for sale. No, not the ones on Mount Rushmore, but Marilyn Monroe’s bras, two of which were auctioned off on June 4 — already offering up to $5,000 apiece, more than double their estimate of $1,000 to $2,000 — as part of a sale marking her 100th birthday on June 1.

The bras are just two of dozens of personal items up for grabs, including a gold-plated lipstick tube with 70-year-old hot pink lipstick still inside (current bid: $7,000), $1,250 eyeliner, and $800 mascara. For buyers thinking big, the 1960s front gates of her Brentwood home at 12305 Helena Drive — nearly one ton of wrought iron — are currently priced at $15,000, not including shipping. They left the property in 1984 when a fan bought them from the then owner and installed them in the basement of his Minneapolis home, posing a dedication or storage problem.

The first piece is expected to be a 1950s evening bag (estimate: $100,000-$200,000; current bid: $40,000), now owned by fashion designers Tommy and De Hilfiger. Most of the personal items belong to the estate of Lee Strasberg, Monroe’s acting coach, who inherited 75% of her estate and all of her personal effects. Most of them have also been shown before – Christie in 1999, and Julien in 2003 and 2016.

Perhaps the most interesting are the sleeper items: never-before-seen photographs and transparencies from Monroe’s 1954 trip to Japan with Joe DiMaggio, with current bids starting at $100.

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