Ripley's Believe It or Not! Buys Iconic Marilyn Monroe Dress at Auction for $4.8 Million

    ORLANDO, FL, November 19, 2016 /24-7PressRelease/ -- It's the world's most famous dress and the world's most expensive dress, and it now has a new home with Ripley's Believe It or Not!

The entertainment company was the winning bidder for the dress at last night's Julien's Auctions event in Los Angeles. The price was a staggering $4.8 million, making it the world's most expensive dress ever sold at auction.

Edward Meyer, Ripley's VP of Exhibits and Archives - who has been acquiring items for the company for more than 35 years - placed the winning bid for the iconic dress.

"This is the most famous item of clothing in twentieth century culture," said Meyer. "It has the significance of Marilyn, of Hollywood, of JFK, of American politics. Any museum in the world would love to have it on display, and now it belongs to Ripley's Believe It or Not!"

Monroe wore the dress at President Kennedy's 45th birthday celebration at Madison Square Garden on May 19, 1962. The dress designer was Jean Louis and the original sketch of the dress was done by none other than a young Bob Mackie in his first job out of college.

Ripley's will likely first display the dress in its Marilyn Monroe gallery at Ripley's Hollywood Odditorium. It will be the signature piece in a collection of several dozen of Marilyn Monroe's personal items. Ripley's has plans to eventually tour the dress at several of its 32 Odditoriums worldwide.

For images of the dress, please visit this Dropbox.

About Ripley Entertainment
Ripley's Believe It or Not! is part of the Ripley Entertainment Inc. (www.ripleys.com) family of worldwide attractions, the global leader in location-based entertainment. More than 13 million people visit its 95-plus attractions in 10 countries each year. In addition to its 32 Believe It or Not! Odditoriums, the Orlando, Florida-based company has publishing, licensing and broadcast divisions that oversee projects including the syndicated Believe It or Not! television show, best-selling books and the popular syndicated cartoon strip, Ripley's Believe It or Not!, that still runs daily in 42 countries. Ripley Entertainment is a Jim Pattison Company, the third-largest privately held company in Canada.

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