"Billy Dear, please dress me forever. I love you, Marilyn."
William Travilla was a spectacularly successful fashion designer, who had the very good fortune in the 1950s to cross paths with the stunning screen icon Marilyn Monroe, for whom he designed some of her most famous frocks.
We went to see the exhibition of some of Travilla's most lauded costumes yesterday - and what a breathtaking ensemble they were. The red sequinned number from Little Girls from Little Rock, the pink dress from Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend, the beautiful gold lame frock that was considered too risqué for the American censors, and THAT dress - the white full-skirted one that featured in Marilyn's most famous scene in The Seven Year Itch.
Travilla's career out-spanned his seven films with Marilyn, and costumes he designed for Betty Grable, Judy Garland, Linda Grey in Dallas (he was apparently credited with creating that "huge shoulder pad" look of the big 80s soaps), Whitney Houston, and Rachel Ward in The Thorn Birds were all included in the exhibition, along with a vast collection of memorabilia, original sketches, photos and messages of thanks from stars as diverse as Errol Flynn and Jaclyn Smith...
We were very glad to catch it, as the touring exhibition leaves the UK for Oslo today. Beautiful!
William Travilla
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