Oscars
A look back at Marilyn Monroe’s fashion mishap at the 1951 Oscars
Monroe avoided a major wardrobe malfunction before she took the Academy stage as a presenter.
Marilyn Monroe had many iconic fashion moments over the years, and ahead of the 2023 Oscar Awards, which take place on March 12, we’re looking back at Monroe’s Oscar fashion mishap.
Although Monroe was a part of films like ‘Gentlemen Prefer Blondes’ and ‘Some Like It Hot’, she only attended the Oscars once, in 1951, as a presenter. This came after she appeared in the hit movie ‘All About Eve’, which was nominated for multiple awards that night.
Monroe made a cameo in ‘All About Eve’ as Miss Caswell, “a graduate of the Copacabana School of Dramatic Arts”.
The film was directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, and was based on the 1946 short story of ‘The Wisdom of Eve’ by Mary Orr.
Bette Davis starred as Margo Channing, a highly regarded but aging Broadway star, while Anne Baxter played Eve Harrington, an ambitious fan who becomes part of Channing’s life.
The movie was praised at the time and received a record 14 Academy Award nominations, a record that has since been matched by ‘Titanic’ and ‘La La Land’. It ended up winning six of them, including Best Picture.
In fact, ‘All About Eve’ is the only film in the history of the Oscars to receive four female acting nominations (Davis and Baxter for Best Actress, while Celeste Holm and Thelma Ritter were nominated for Best Supporting Actress)
Monroe almost didn’t take the stage
Right before Monroe was set to take the stage and present the award for Best Sound Recording, she noticed that her sequin-scattered bouffant gown had a large rip down the side. Worried that there wasn’t enough time to fix the wardrobe malfunction, she insisted that she wouldn’t be able to go onstage.
Luckily, a seamstress was able to rush in and fix the tear in a matter of minutes. Monroe went on to take the stage and managed to make it through her speech, where ‘All About Eve’ won the category.
What you need to know about the 2023 Oscars
The 95th Academy Awards will be presented on March 12, 2023 at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood.
Jimmy Kimmel will be returning to host the award show after previously hosting in 2017 and 2018 before the Academy chose to forgo a host for three years, and then switching to having three hosts: Amy Schumer, Wanda Sykes and Regina Hall in 2022.