Marilyn Monroe's style was surprisingly minimalist off-screen, which is why we named our Marilyn line of silk tee shirts after the Hollywood icon. Her glamorous on-screen style teaches us two things: play to your strengths and tailor everything.
Play to your strengths
She wasn't the original hourglass movie star, but undoubtedly has one of the most famous figures in Hollywood history. Everything she wore, from pencil skirts, wiggle dresses, and tight-knit tops played to her best assets — her curves.
One of the sexiest stars of our time, but her clothing was often subtly sexy rather than overtly sexy. The sweetheart necklines were low, but her cleavage was never the focal point of her outfits. It was always her figure. Marilyn never hid her curves.
She also frequently wore boatneck knit tops to show off her neckline and collarbone. Instead of obsessing over what's wrong with your figure, what's too big or soft — shift your perspective and focus on showing off your best features.
Tailor everything
Whether she was wearing khaki capris in her off time, or the flesh-colored rhinestone-encrusted dress for President John F. Kennedy's birthday in 1962 that she was supposedly sewn into, her clothes fit precisely to show off her curves. Tailoring can also remove bunches in a dress and fix what might be ill-fitting to create a garment that skims your body perfectly.
"Imperfection is beauty, madness is genius and it's better to be absolutely ridiculous than absolutely boring." — Marilyn Monroe
When you tailor your clothes to fit your body, not the fit model clothing companies use, you can't help but play to your strengths. In our instant gratification world, we want to find clothing we can buy off the rack and wear that night. Sometimes we find a brand that comes close, but people forget that a good tailor can make a good dress great, and a great dress spectacular.
When most people think of Marilyn Monroe, they think of the ultra-glam, sexy movie star — they rarely think of her clothes and personal style. By tailoring everything and always playing to her strengths, her wardrobe did exactly what it should — it put the focus on the woman and not the clothes.