The Marilyn Monroe Collection

The Marilyn Monroe Collection One of the world’s leading private Marilyn Monroe archives. Preservation • Exhibitions • Research
👠 In Her Shoes

The official fan page for the Marilyn Monroe Collection, the world’s largest private collection of Monroe’s personal property & archives.

It’s National Beard Day, and who better to celebrate with than Marilyn Monroe? 🧔‍♂️💋Yes, Marilyn once judged a beard con...
09/03/2026

It’s National Beard Day, and who better to celebrate with than Marilyn Monroe? 🧔‍♂️💋

Yes, Marilyn once judged a beard contest!

On August 6, 1955, Marilyn traveled to the small town of Bement, Illinois, as a special guest for the community’s centennial celebration.

Among the day’s festivities was a beard-growing contest, where Marilyn was given the task of selecting the best beard in town.

Her choice? 73-year-old William G. “Cotton” Porter, (Photo 7) whose spectacular white beard earned Marilyn’s approval, and a kiss from the judge!

Marilyn’s visit drew thousands of people to Bement and included a parade through town, a visit to Bryant Cottage, associated with Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas, and an art exhibition. Marilyn actually carried a book on Lincoln with her to Bement.

Photographer Eve Arnold accompanied Marilyn on the trip and captured wonderful candid moments from the day.

More than 70 years later, Marilyn may still hold the title of history’s most glamorous beard contest judge.

Happy National Beard Day!

If you were judging with Marilyn, who in your life would win the best beard contest? 🧔🏆

Getting Marilyn ready for the camera, 1962. We so often see the finished photographs of Marilyn Monroe: perfectly styled...
09/02/2026

Getting Marilyn ready for the camera, 1962.

We so often see the finished photographs of Marilyn Monroe: perfectly styled, beautifully lit, and seemingly effortless. What we don’t see nearly as often are the moments just before the shutter clicked.

During a 1962 photo session with photographer George Barris at the home of Tim Liemert, Marilyn was photographed as her longtime makeup artist, Allan “Wh**ey” Snyder, and hairdresser Agnes Flanagan prepared her for the shoot.

These behind-the-scenes images offer a wonderful glimpse into that process. Hair being adjusted, makeup being touched up, a drink in hand, and Marilyn moving between preparation and posing.

Wh**ey had been doing Marilyn’s makeup since her first screen test at 20th Century Fox in 1946 and remained one of the people she trusted throughout her career.

Seeing him here, sixteen years later, preparing her for what would become some of the final professional photographs of her life makes these images particularly poignant.

I love photographs like these because they pull back the curtain. For a few moments, we’re not simply seeing the finished image of Marilyn Monroe. We’re seeing the work, the people, and the quiet moments that went into creating it.

Photographs by George Barris, 1962.



Time is running out to see Marilyn Monroe: A Portrait at the National Portrait Gallery in London. The exhibition closes ...
08/31/2026

Time is running out to see Marilyn Monroe: A Portrait at the National Portrait Gallery in London. The exhibition closes September 6.

It has been an extraordinary experience to have nearly 60 pieces from The Marilyn Monroe Collection included in this exhibition, bringing together objects that tell Marilyn’s story not simply as a Hollywood icon, but as a working actress and a woman with a remarkable life beyond the screen.

Among the pieces I contributed are Marilyn’s costume from The Prince and the Showgirl, along with the beautiful lace fan she held during the film’s ballroom sequence; her Ferragamo shoes; her personal working scripts for Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and How to Marry a Millionaire; cosmetics and other personal effects; and documents from her personal files.

Some of the pieces I find most meaningful are the ones that bring us closest to Marilyn herself. Among them is a letter she wrote to her former father-in-law, Isidore Miller, whom she affectionately called “Dad.” Also displayed, his actual written response to her. These personal documents offer a glimpse of Marilyn that existed far beyond the photographs and movie screen.

I also contributed an extensive collection of original candid snapshots of Marilyn taken by members of the “Monroe Six” and by James Haspiel. Together, they document a very different Marilyn: arriving and leaving, interacting with fans, and simply moving through her everyday life.

Seeing so many pieces that I have spent years preserving displayed together at the National Portrait Gallery has been incredibly meaningful. More importantly, I’m grateful that they can help tell Marilyn’s story and allow people to experience these pieces in person.

If you’ve been planning to see the exhibition, this is your last week.
Marilyn Monroe: A Portrait
National Portrait Gallery, London

Through September 6, 2026





08/27/2026

FINAL DAYS | MANIFESTING MARILYN ✨

Take a walk with me through MANIFESTING MARILYN at Genesis House New York in New York.

The exhibition has been extended through September 6, and several new artifacts from The Marilyn Monroe Collection have been added for its final weeks.

Throughout the experience, Marilyn’s personal belongings are paired with immersive technology that surrounds visitors with her photographs, image, voice, and story. It’s a completely different way to experience Marilyn…intimate, innovative, and incredibly moving.

Among the pieces on display are Marilyn’s black wool suit, iconic green Pucci blouse, SAG membership card, 1962 address book, books from her personal library, personal correspondence and documents, along with newly added artifacts that weren’t part of the original installation.

If you’ve already visited, there’s now something new to see. And if you haven’t, time is running out.

MANIFESTING MARILYN
📍 Genesis House, New York City
🎟️ Free admission
📅 Ends September 6

Don’t miss your chance to experience it.





🐾 Happy National Dog Day! 🐾Marilyn Monroe was a lifelong animal lover, and during the final years of her life, one littl...
08/26/2026

🐾 Happy National Dog Day! 🐾

Marilyn Monroe was a lifelong animal lover, and during the final years of her life, one little dog was frequently by her side: Maf, a gift from her friend Frank Sinatra.

Maf has long been described as a Maltese, although surviving records have also identified him as a poodle.

Even his name came with a story. “Maf” was reportedly short for “Mafia Honey,” a tongue-in-cheek reference to Sinatra’s rumored connections to organized crime.

Whatever his breed, He was her sidekick for the remaining years of her life.

After Marilyn’s passing in August 1962, Maf was taken in by Gloria Lovell, Frank Sinatra’s secretary, and lived with her afterward.

Photographs like these offer a glimpse beyond the movie star. Just Marilyn and Maf.

Today, on National Dog Day, it seems only fitting to remember Marilyn and one of her most famous four-legged companions. 🐶❤️



08/24/2026

NEW TO THE MARILYN MONROE COLLECTION ✨

Marilyn Monroe’s personal copy of Rembrandt by Ludwig Münz.

I acquired this book at auction earlier this month, and what makes it especially meaningful is that we can actually see it in Marilyn’s home. Her copy of Rembrandt is visible in the background, sitting on a bookshelf in the living room of her apartment at 444 East 57th Street in New York City, in this wonderful photograph of her beloved dog, Maf. It’s even possible that Marilyn herself took the photograph.

Marilyn’s interest in art, and in Rembrandt specifically, was documented during her lifetime. In the September 1956 issue of Screenland, writer Bill Tusher described the transformation taking place during Marilyn’s time in New York. She was studying at the Actors Studio, reading extensively, and spending time at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Museum of Modern Art. Tusher wrote that Marilyn had become:

“steeped in the world of Goya and Rembrandt.”

That reference takes on new meaning when you realize that Marilyn actually owned a substantial volume devoted to Rembrandt, and kept it among the books in her New York home.

Her interest in art wasn’t limited to Rembrandt. Contemporary accounts describe Marilyn visiting museums and studying the great masters, part of the intellectual curiosity that so often gets overlooked when her story is reduced simply to her image on the screen.

In this video, I’m sharing a look through the pages of Marilyn’s own Rembrandt, followed by that photograph of Maf in her East 57th Street living room, where the very same book can be spotted on the shelf behind him.

As these pages turn, you’re seeing the same images of Rembrandt’s work that Marilyn herself once looked through and studied. There’s something remarkable about experiencing the art through the very same book that once sat on her shelf.

Sixty-plus years later, it’s extraordinary to hold a book Marilyn herself held, turn the same pages she turned, and see the works of art that once captured her attention.

Now, I’m honored to preserve it as part of The Marilyn Monroe Collection.

I’m excited to share that four additional one-of-a-kind artifacts from my collection are now on exhibit as oart if MANIF...
08/22/2026

I’m excited to share that four additional one-of-a-kind artifacts from my collection are now on exhibit as oart if MANIFESTING MARILYN at Genesis House in New York.

The newly added pieces include an envelope addressed to Marilyn, a check bearing her signature, and two personal letters.

One of these is particularly significant: a letter signed by Marilyn to photographer and business partner Milton H. Greene on the date of the dissolution of Marilyn Monroe Productions.

In the letter, Marilyn confirms her commitment to provide Milton with a copy of The Prince and the Showgirl, the film they produced together through Marilyn Monroe Productions. Given the timing and circumstances, this letter likely represents one of the final transactions between Marilyn and Milton as their professional partnership came to an end.

It’s a recent addition to the collection And for the first time ever, this signed letter is now on public exhibition.

I’m incredibly pleased to be able to share this important piece of Marilyn’s history, along with the other newly added artifacts, as part of MANIFESTING MARILYN.

The exhibition at Genesis House New York runs through September 6, so there’s still time to see these pieces in person.




The details you never see on screen. ✨Take a close look.This is the intricate beadwork along the lower portion of Marily...
08/21/2026

The details you never see on screen. ✨

Take a close look.

This is the intricate beadwork along the lower portion of Marilyn Monroe’s original costume from The Prince and the Showgirl (1957).

Nearly 70 years later, the details are remarkable. Tiny beaded flowers are scattered across the fabric, leading to delicate vertical patterns, floral motifs and a scalloped border finished with long strands of bugle beads.

Swipe and you can see these very same details on the costume as Marilyn wore it in the film.

That’s one of the things I find most fascinating about preserving Marilyn’s original wardrobe. A costume we’ve seen in photographs and on screen countless times becomes something entirely different when viewed from just inches away. You begin to see the individual materials, the craftsmanship and all of the tiny details that came together to create the finished look.

And today, you can see them for yourself.

Marilyn’s original Prince and the Showgirl costume, along with the lace fan she carried with it, is currently on exhibit in Marilyn Monroe: A Portrait at the National Portrait Gallery in London through September 6.

If you’re in London, don’t miss the opportunity to see it in person.

From The Marilyn Monroe Collection. Dress closeup by Lorraine Nicol. ❤️

📍 London



08/20/2026

One of Marilyn’s most timeless looks, and one of the final opportunities to see it in New York. 🖤

Marilyn Monroe’s personal black wool suit, now part of The Marilyn Monroe Collection, is currently on display at MANIFESTING MARILYN at in New York City.

There’s something especially powerful about seeing Marilyn’s actual clothing in person. Not a costume, replica, or a recreation, but something she owned, loved, and wore during her lifetime. She wore this suit many times.

If you haven’t visited yet, time is running out. MANIFESTING MARILYN closes Sunday, September 6.

Can’t make it to New York? Fans can also see items from The Marilyn Monroe Collection currently on exhibit in Los Angeles at the of Motion Pictures and at the in London.

It’s an incredible centennial year for Marilyn, with pieces from her life being seen and celebrated around the world. I’m incredibly proud to have items from my collection included in these exhibitions.

📍 New York • Los Angeles • London



08/18/2026

I want to raise something that has become increasingly concerning to me.

Every image and video in this reel is AI-generated. None of this is real.

And these are just a few examples.

I can scroll through Facebook and see countless AI-generated images and videos of Marilyn being shared in the various Marilyn groups I belong to. It’s becoming more and more prevalent. Some are identified as AI in the accompanying post. Others aren’t. And often there is nothing on the actual image or video identifying it as artificial.

That’s a problem.

Once an image or video is downloaded, shared, or reposted without its original caption, any disclosure is gone. An uninformed or casual fan may have absolutely no idea that what they’re seeing isn’t real.

And my concern goes beyond labeling.

Marilyn was one of the most photographed women in the world during her short 36 years. We have thousands of authentic photographs of her, along with films, interviews, newsreels, and home movies.

Why do we need to manufacture a Marilyn who never existed?

As AI becomes more sophisticated, the line between authentic and artificial will only become harder to recognize. Fiction can very quickly become accepted as fact.

Marilyn left us an extraordinary visual record of her life. We don’t need to invent more of her.

The real Marilyn is more than enough.

What do you think? Are you concerned about the growing number of AI-generated images and videos of Marilyn?


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