From the 1999 Christie's Auction, The Personal Property of Marilyn Monroe, a brown and beige Pucci belt, size 10.

History does not relate when Marilyn discovered the brilliant colors and easy shapes of the Italian house of Pucci.  Founded in 1947 by Emilio Pucci, scion of a venerable Italian Florentine family, the first designs Pucci made were for skiwear-hardly surprising as he was a member of the Italian Olympic ski team.  From the first jewel colored prints, inspired by motifs from the Italian Renaissance, to the ultimate simplicity of little silk jersey shifts, Pucci was one of the hottest looks of the early sixties.

Marilyn collected Pucci items in multiples; if she didn't have a dress in every color, she certainly had one in every other shade.  She favored a palette of flesh tones, of leafy greens or of shocking pinks and mauves with occasional excursions into deep blues.  Unlike her 'working' daytime wardrobe, which was predominantly black, these were clothes for Marilyn to play in, and by the beginning of the sixties had replaced the natural colored chambrays, the capri pants and matching shirts she had worn throughout the mid to late fifties.  Looking at Marilyn's Pucci wardrobe today, it is astonishing how contemporary is seems; the feather light dresses cut as simply as T-shirts; the silk shirts in brilliant colored jewel prints, designed to be worn, as Marilyn did with simple white pants or with jeans, are of today, not of yesterday. 

Marilyn is said to have been buried in a green Pucci ensemble.

Provenance: Christie's New York: The Personal Property of Marilyn Monroe, October 27-28, 1999.  Click here to buy your copy of the Christie's auction catalog for the sale of Marilyn Monroe's personal items.