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As Monroe’s career evolved, it turned out to be the photographs – rather than the films – that made her famous. All the really iconic pieces of clothing we associate with her, such as the pleated white halterneck dress that fans above her waist to reveal a touch of knicker in The Seven Year Itch (another thorn in DiMaggio’s side), came about through the publicity she did for the movie.

As Billy Wilder put it, “Marilyn is not a clothes horse.” Unlike Audrey Hepburn or Jackie O, both of whom it is impossible to think of without immediately envisaging the clothes they wore, she wasn’t a fashion house muse. It was costume designers whom Monroe had relationships with. “When it comes to Marilyn, it’s not about fashion,” says historian Judith Watt. “But it is most certainly about clothes. As we now realise, she was very smart; she understood the power of clothes as she wore them. And she never wore underwear – that became a sartorial rule for her.”

Certainly future generations within the fashion industry continue to be inspired by Monroe. British designer Julien Macdonald admits the champagne-coloured sheath she wore to sing Happy Birthday to John F. Kennedy in 1962, made by Hollywood costumier Jean Luis, had a big impact on him as a young man. “Monroe had a controversial life and a controversial body, and that gave real frisson to the clothes she wore,” says Macdonald. “Everything she did and everything she wore was carefully constructed and thought about – much like Marlene Dietrich. Monroe was obsessed with her image and she worked hard to construct and control it. There was always plenty of artifice involved and she knew how to use clothes to full effect. Most of the time she couldn’t even walk properly because her dresses or pencil skirts were too tight, and allegedly she shaved off part of one high heel to give her that famous wiggle.”

The Happy Birthday, Mr President dress went for $1,267,500 at auction at Christie’s in 1999. At the same auction, Tommy Hilfiger bought a pair of jeans that Monroe wore in River of No Return – they were estimated to go for about $30,000; he bought them for $42,550. Hilfiger also bought a pair of brown boots she wore in The Misfits – estimate $6,000; selling price $85,000.

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It seems incredible in the context of our current era of celebrity-cover saturation that, until Monroe sat for the photographer Bert Stern in 1962, only a few months before her death, she had never been shot for Vogue. In his book, The Last Sitting, Stern documents the emotional journey that led to his meeting with the icon and his consequent love affair through the lens.

The magazine wanted an eight-page high-fashion spread, so they sent along legendary fashion editor Babs Simpson and piles of beautiful clothes. Monroe was probably at her thinnest, and certainly her body was the most fashionable it had ever been – plenty of bones and much smaller breasts. She looks exquisite in the black cocktail dresses and Ferragamo courts; divine and sophisticated in a floor-length chinchilla, and cool and playful dressed up as Coco Chanel in a white silk shirt and black tailored trousers, complete with pearls and a black wig. But it’s the nude shots that are the most compelling. Maybe Stern, who grew increasingly frustrated at Vogue’s attempt to cover her up, had a point when he said, “I wanted to get as close to the real Marilyn as I possibly could, and I didn’t really see what clothes had to do with it.”

Marilyn at the Jersey Museum runs until December 31. For more information call 01534 633371 or visit www.jerseyheritage.org

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