Marilyn Monroe.............

"I am good, but not an angel.

I do sin, but I am not the devil.

I am just a small girl, in a big world, trying to find somone to love."

- Marilyn Monroe

I have always had an affinity with Marilyn Monroe - maybe it is because we share the same birthday or the fact that her first married named was Doherty -- whatever it is, when I saw a picture of Marilyn in the Dior dress (below) in a photo of an interior in Architectural Digest, I tracked it down until I found the source.  The source was Bert Stern - the last person to ever photograph Marilyn.

On June 21, 1962 Bert Stern got permission from Vogue and Marilyn Monroe to shoot some pictures of her.  Vogue would give outfits and accessories from Dior, Chanel and Pucci.  Bert wasn't thinking of accessories, he was thinking of finding the "pure" Marilyn.  When Bert and Marilyn met, he said "you're beautiful" and she said, "really?".....  Bert said Marilyn had lost weight and it added a fragility to her that you don't necessarily see in other photos.

Over two weeks and 2,500 images, in over twenty different outfits, Bert Stern recorded history, as a mere five weeks later Marilyn would die alone in her bedroom and Bert's images would be the last ever taken of the legend.

In that Dior dress

"We should all start to live before we get too old.
Fear is stupid.
So are regrets."
- Marilyn Monroe

all photos by Bert Stern

the book - Norman Mailer, Marilyn Monroe, Bert Stern - published by Taschen

Cheers,

Deb xx