In 1956, Marilyn Monroe wore two different outfits to marry Arthur Miller — and neither was a traditional wedding gown

NEED TO KNOW

• Marilyn Monroe was married three times to James Dougherty, Joe DiMaggio and Arthur Miller

• Her first wedding dress was a borrowed gown later gifted to her niece, who wore it as a party dress
• For her third wedding to Arthur Miller, Monroe wore a beige satin and chiffon dress

Marilyn Monroe's wedding dresses have gone down in fashion history — and rightfully so.

The Gentlemen Prefer Blondes actress was married three times throughout her life, starting with her first marriage to police officer James Dougherty when she was 16.

They divorced in September 1946, and she later wed baseball player Joe DiMaggio, whom she divorced in October 1954 after nine months of marriage. In June 1956, she tied the knot with playwright Arthur Miller, to whom she was married until January 1961.

For each of her wedding ceremonies, the Hollywood icon chose a very different look. Her first wedding dress was a white “ballerina-length dress,” according to her niece Mona Rae Miracle. “It was just beautiful,” she told The U.S. Sun in September 2022.

Monroe's second ensemble consisted of a chic suit with a fur collar, while her third bridal look was an understated satin-and-chiffon dress with a mid-calf hem.

Here's everything to know about Marilyn Monroe's three wedding outfits.

Her first wedding dress was borrowed

Monroe tied the knot with Dougherty, who lived next door to her, on June 19, 1942, just 18 days after turning 16, per the Los Angeles Times. Monroe, who was living with a friend of her mother's at the time, reportedly wed her then-boyfriend to avoid going into foster care, Dougherty told UPI in February 1990.

Though it has been reported that Monroe's aunt, Anna Lower, made her gown, the police officer later revealed that it actually belonged to someone else.

“[Monroe] wore a pure white, long silken dress, with a short veil attached to her thick, curly hair,” he reportedly wrote in his 2001 book, To Norma Jeane with Love. “It was a borrowed dress, but that didn't matter to either of us."

Monroe's first wedding dress was later passed down to her niece

In September 2022, Miracle told The U.S. Sun that she had received Monroe's first wedding dress as a gift from her famous aunt.

“She'd send us parcels of clothes she didn't want anymore. What a thrill that was,” Miracle said. “We weren't wealthy, but we had these terrific outfits."

According to Miracle, one of those parcels included the wedding dress from Monroe's marriage to Dougherty. Rather than keep it tucked away in a closet, Miracle said she and her mother had it altered so she could wear it as a party dress.

“I wore it on my first date when I was 14,” Miracle shared.

She bought her wedding suit from a department store

For her wedding to baseball star DiMaggio, Monroe opted for a non-traditional bridal look in the form of a dark brown, two-piece serge suit with buttons down the center and a stylish mink collar.

According to former Joseph Magnin Company assistant buyer Doreen Provost, Monroe purchased the suit, along with a matching hat and a white fur muff, from her at the designer salon.

While finding her perfect ensemble, the bride was “sweet, shy and very quiet,” Provost told the Burke Connection in August 2012.

Monroe wore her wedding suit more than once

Monroe made good use of her wedding suit before ever walking down the aisle.

Two months prior to her January 1954 nuptials, the actress donned the same fur-collared ensemble during a meet-and-greet with King Paul and Queen Frederica of Greece.

The moment was captured on film, with Monroe extending a black-gloved hand for the king to shake.

She borrowed a saleswoman's handkerchief for her second wedding

Monroe reportedly got a little help acquiring her “something borrowed” and "something blue" for her and DiMaggio's Jan. 14, 1954, nuptials.

In addition to helping the Some Like It Hot star procure her bridal suit, Provost also made sure she had her something blue (a garter) and her something borrowed (a saleswoman's handkerchief).

“In those days, a bridal consultant was the person who not only sold you your wedding dress, but offered advice and services on all aspects of a wedding,” she told the Burke Connection.

Monroe gave her wedding suit away and it was later put up for auction twice

Following her nuptials, Monroe gifted her wedding suit to Amy Greene-Andrews, the wife of her photographer, Milton H. Greene.

Greene-Andrews' son Joshua Greene later confirmed to The Marilyn Monroe Collection that his mother gave the suit to his grandmother Nina, who altered the garment to suit her shorter stature so she could regularly wear the piece.

The suit later found its way back to Greene-Andrews' closet, and she put it up for auction at Sotheby's in 1999. The outfit started a bidding war, ultimately going for $33,350.

“It was a lark,” Greene-Andrews told the New York Daily News in October of that year. “I had that suit in a box. Somebody up there likes me.”

In November 2022, TMZ reported that the suit was set to go up for auction again in 2022 by Gotta Have Rock and Roll. At the time, it was expected to fetch between $1.5 and $2 million; however, it went unsold, per a December 2022 post by The Marilyn Monroe Collection.

The bride's third wedding dress wasn't white

Monroe wore two bridal looks for her third wedding to Miller on June 29, 1956.

She donned the first outfit — which consisted of a sweater and a skirt — for the couple's courthouse nuptials, per The New York Times.

Three days later, on July 1, 1956, Monroe and Miller wed again in a separate Jewish ceremony that was held at Miller's agent's home.

While Monroe opted for a dress, she stayed away from white, choosing instead a beige satin-and-chiffon number with a scoop neckline and short sleeves designed by John Moore, according to The New York Times.

She paired the look with matching pumps and a lace halo veil.

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