Marquisette

Marquisette (pronounced mahr-kuh-zet or mahr-kwuh-zet)

A lightweight open leno weave fabric of cotton, silk etc; very popular under the Raj.

1907: From the French, diminutive of marquise (a marchioness), from the Medieval Latin marchionissa (feminine form of marchion) from Late Latin marcha, from which Frankish picked up markōn (to mark, mark out, to press with the foot).  The Proto-Germanic was markō (area, region, edge, rim, border).  Marquisette fabric is constructed using a leno weave and was originally made only from silk for use in bridal wear and evening gowns.  More commonly nowadays, it is made from cotton, wool or synthetic fibres and is used for drapes and mosquito nets.  Marquisette, along with voile, was a robing fabric especially suitable for travel and for draping over other dresses.  Early in the twentieth century, Deliniator magazine adopted the light, limp fabric for the newly fashionable directorie look.

Marilyn Monroe, President Kennedy and the marquisette dress

In a marquisette dress, Marilyn Monroe (1926-1962) sang happy birthday Mr President to President John Kennedy (JFK, 1917-1963; US president 1961-1963) at a Democratic Party fundraiser at New York's Madison Square Garden on 19 May 1962, ten days before his actual birthday.  Within three months, she would be dead.

An impressive piece of structural engineering (so body-hugging Ms Monroe had to sewn into it) and an eye-catching design, the dress was cut from a sheer, flesh-colored silk marquisette, adorned with 2500 hand-sewn (and intricately positioned) rhinestones and the famously sultry performance did nothing to dispel rumors the two might be having an affair.  In 1962 it cost US$1,440.33 (equivalent to some US$10,000 in 2022) and it remained part of Ms Monroe's estate until sold at auction by Christie's in 1999 for US$1.3 million.  Subsequently, it was purchased in 2016 for US$4.8 million by Ripley's Believe It Or Not Museum in Florida. 

RFK, Marilyn Munroe & JFK.

The first conceptual sketch of the dress was the debut project of US fashion designer Bob Mackie (b 1939) who two years earlier had left the Chouinard Art Institute to work for French costume designer Jean Louis (1907-1997) and year later, he revealed to Vogue magazine that until the pictures of the Madison Square Garden performance were published, he had no idea of the use to which his sketch was to be put.  Marilyn Munro was certainly aware of the impact the translucent look would have and was seeking a “work-around” to the problem of her employer (Twentieth Century Fox) not permitting her to be dressed too revealing in films.  Having just lost weight and concluded she was looking better than ever, she wanted an outfit with what Mackie called “the wow factor” and that she certainly got.  Sixty years on, dresses which approach functional nudity are commonplace but in 1962 the clinging, shimmering creation which moved with her, caused a sensation.  The garment is also a reminder of the way history unfolds according to the chance interaction of events.  Had JKF not won the 1960 presidential election "by an electoral eyelash", the song would doubtlessly never have been performed.  Marilyn Munroe would not have dressed as she did to sing happy birthday Mr President to Richard Nixon (1913-1994; US president 1969-1974).  

The two superstars of the 1950s.  Maria Callas and Marilyn Monroe, back-stage after the performance.

Remarkably, despite being in the limelight that evening, Ms Monroe purchased five tickets (at US$1000 each) to the event because it was the only way to guarantee her attendance at the private supper which followed.  At the after-party she enjoyed a number turns on the dance floor with the president’s brother, Robert Kennedy (RFK, 1925–1968; US attorney general 1961-1964) although it was reported she left with JFK via a basement corridor and a private elevator to his suite at the next-door Carlyle Hotel, returning the next day to Los Angeles.  There, according to her biographer, she was contacted by one of his aides telling her not to again contact him.  They would never meet again and within three months, she was dead.

At the 2020 Met Gala, Kim Kardashian (b 1980) wore the famous marquisette dress.  It couldn’t be expected to cause quite the same stir as sixty years earlier because, cut from a sheer, silk marquisette that almost exactly matched Ms Monroe’s skin-tone, the 2500 hand-sewn rhinestones were intricately positioned to respond to the particular gait she chose for that evening and, under the limelight in the darkened amphitheater, as she moved, the crystals sparkled and the dress came alive.  It was quite a design.  In the hard, white light of the Met Gala’s red carpet, it couldn’t be expected to work the magic it did all those years ago and, not shimmering in the darkness, it seemed lifeless and perhaps it would have benefited from the contrast her lustrous natural hair would have lent but Ms Kardashian wore it well, attracting admiration (and criticism from the usual suspects) too for the reasonable achievement of shedding some 16 lbs (7¼ kg) in three weeks to ensure a comfortable fit.  Digesting the implications of that, keen-eyed fashionistas noted the vintage white coat which Ms Kardashian kept strategically positioned below the small of her back for the ritual walk to and up the staircase, some taking to Twitter to wonder if it was there to conceal that things were quite fully done-up.

The theory is plausible; it’s always been known that in 1962, Ms Monroe had to be “sewn-into” the dress just before the performance.  The day after the Met Gala, photographs circulated purporting to show Ms Kardashian with a generously sized, pear-shaped lacuna between the seams, accompanied with the accusation that the images showing things done up had been digitally modified and the haters were certainly out, one distressed soul lamenting that for Ms Kardashian to wear the dress "...was an absolute disgrace, a tacky photo opportunity" and that "...one of the most important items of clothing in history, is now tainted with the stain of the Kardashians."  There are people who do take pop-culture very seriously.  The green dress she changed into after her ascent had similar lines (and perhaps slightly more generous dimensions) but was certainly done-up and anyway, in either, she looked gorgeous.