Marilyn Monroe - The Film Dress

by Braden Scheck

Braden Scheck’s latest film creation has made its way to Hollywood. But it’s not the kind of film you might expect.

Braden has recreated the iconic Marilyn Monroe dress from the 1955 film, The Seven Year Itch, using 16mm film strips, heavy duty tape, a zipper and a buckle. The completely wearable piece made headlines in the local news, and soon piqued the interest of the Hollywood Museum in Los Angeles, CA. A few conversations later, the dress is now on display in their exhibition "Marilyn: The Exhibit", which provides an intimate look at the fabled actress’ life and legacy with an exclusive exhibit of authentic memorabilia.

Fun fact | The dress was constructed to fit Marilyn Monroe’s exact measurements at the time the film was shot.

Braden explains that the idea came to him when he began thinking of filmstrip as a structural medium rather than a time based media. During a hiatus in his studies and in the process of applying to transfer his major from

Photography to Film, Video + Integrated Media, he began o think of project ideas as well as filmstrip for tangible use.

Braden Scheck | Image: Samantha Hoffmann“The photo of Marilyn, with the dress blowing up over the subway grate has easily become one of, if not, the most iconic images/garments in film history. And in my mind, I wanted to honour that," says Braden.

All told, he spent a couple of months creating the dress, with the aid of old Frank Sinatra tunes for inspiration. The film strips themselves were cast-off stock footage that the University had collected from other schools and film companies to enable students to practice their editing skills. Coincidentally, the film strips Braden used depicted women, many in 1950s-style advertisements, which he felt was entirely fitting for his work.

The Marilyn Project, detail. Braden ScheckLike most artists, Braden poured his heart and soul into his creation, and, perhaps just a little bit more. “My filmstrip dress has my fingerprints throughout it, underneath the final layer of film. The tape I used is so heavy duty that it was picking up perfect prints, which I liken to the dress having a unique part of me built right into it,” he says.

The exhibition runs through August 2015. Visit Braden’s website for details on this project and others, and be on the look out for more of his wearable filmstrip creations, coming soon!

Marilyn Monroe - The Film Dress

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