A sea of blondes: 1000 Marilyn Monroe lookalikes set staggering world record on icon’s 100th birthday
Over a 1000 Marilyn Monroe lookalikes dressed in the Hollywood star’s iconic white halter dress in an attempt to break a world record. The event celebrates what would have been Monroe’s 100th birthday.
1000+ Marilyn Monroes!
More than 1000 Marilyn Monroe lookalikes assembled in Palm Springs on Saturday (30 May) to celebrate what would have been the Hollywood legend’s 100th birthday and to attempt
setting a Guinness World Record for the largest gathering of Marilyn Monroe look-alikes.
Blondes do have more fun
The event was a huge success with a staggering 1,037 lookalikes breezing past the previous record of 254 Marilyns set in 2020. Her iconic red lip could be seen in the swarm of white, as everybody turned out flaunting blonde wigs.
The mission
Greater Palm Springs Pride, a non-profit promoting LGBTQ rights, organised the “Marilyn 100 A Centennial Celebration and World Record Attempt”. The mission was to “fill the streets with a sea of white dresses and blonde curls”, according to their website.
The famous ‘subway’ dress
The costume being replicated was Monroe’s iconic white halter dress from her 1955 movie, "The Seven Year Itch.” She wore the dress in the film’s most memorable scene, when she steps over a subway grate in New York City. A gust of air from a train passing underneath blasts her dress upward, prompting her to say, "Oh, do you feel the breeze from the subway? Isn't that delicious?"
The ‘Icon’ kit
For a fee of USD 75, participants received the signature white "Subway" dress, stylised platinum blonde wig, cat-eye sunglasses and a martini glass. To be counted under the record, one had to be sporting a red lip along with the Marilyn attire.
A matching Marilyn statue
Celebrations happened around the “Forever Marilyn” statue, a giant statue of Monroe designed by Seward Johnson. The sculpture captures the instant from the movie where her white dress is raised by the wind, the same dress worn by the hundreds of participants. The statue itself has a controversial history, owing to its “sexually expressive” imagery, having been moved multiple times and even attracting legal disputes.
America’s Sweetheart’s 100th birth anniversary
1st June, 2026, marks what would have been Marilyn Monroe’s 100th birthday. The star, who died at the age of 36, remains America’s revered sweetheart even 63 years after her death.
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