A harem costume worn by Marilyn Monroe in a shoot for photographer Richard Avedon will auction at Christie's Pop Culture sale in London next month.
Monroe sported the orange concoction for the December 22, 1958 issue of Life magazine.
 Monroe called the shoot one of the great moments of her career |
The shoot saw Monroe pose as five "Fabled Enchantresses": Theda Bara, Clara Bow, Marlene Dietrich, Jean Harlow and Lillian Russell.
Monroe wore the �500,000 ($784,492)-estimated outfit to achieve the likeness of Bara playing Cleopatra - Bara was a sex symbol of the silent film era.
Monroe sent images from the shoot to the president of Fox in the hope of securing the role of Cleopatra in the 1963 film.
"Though the role went to Elizabeth Taylor, Monroe spoke of her shoot with Avedon as one of the greatest moments of her career," explains the auction house.
Monroe-worn items always sell well, yet this costume's connection with Avedon, whose work is revered among photography fans, should ensure even greater interest than usual.
The record for a Monroe costume stands at $5.6m - set by her "subway dress" from The Seven Year Itch.
Also featuring among movie lots at the December 16 sale is a black leather biking jacket worn by Arnold Schwarzenegger in 1991's Terminator 2: Judgement Day. One of several he used in the film, and featuring a number of bullet holes, it has a �25,000 ($39,225) high estimate.
Gone With The Wind supervising film editor Hal C Kern's dialogue cutting continuity script is expected to make up to �9,000 ($14,120).
A single lot of three early draft screenplays of The Godfather, featuring original assistant director Stephen Kesten's annotations, has an �8,000 ($12,551) high estimate.
We will bring you a preview of the music memorabilia lots from the auction tomorrow.
Click here to view our great line in Marilyn Monroe memorabilia.
