Believe It or Not: Grand Prairie Ripley's Is Displaying the Most Expensive Dress in the World

Ripley's Believe It or Not is living up to its name. The kitschy museum we pass by on Interstate 30 on the way to Fort Worth shockingly acquired something of real value to add to its hall of wax presidents and shrunken heads. Last November, Ripley's bought the dress Marilyn Monroe wore...

By Caroline Pritchard

September 15, 2017

The dress in which Marilyn Monroe sang to President John F. Kennedy on his 45th birthday will be on display in Grand Prairie. courtesy Ripley's

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Ripley's Believe It or Not is living up to its name. The kitschy museum we pass by on Interstate 30 on the way to Fort Worth shockingly acquired something of real value to add to its hall of wax presidents and shrunken heads.

Last November, Ripley's bought the dress Marilyn Monroe wore when she sang "Happy Birthday" to President John F. Kennedy at his 45th birthday party at Madison Square Garden in New York City on May 19, 1962.

Julien's Auctions sold the dress for $4.8 million, breaking a record for the most expensive dress sold at auction. With fees, the dress topped $5 million.

Beginning next Friday, Sept. 22, the dress will be on display for a month at the Ripley's in Grand Prairie.

“This is the most famous item of clothing in 20th-century culture,” Edward Meyer, vice president of exhibits and archives for the museum, said in a press release Friday. “It has the significance of Marilyn, of JFK and of American politics.”

Other artifacts from the historic birthday party will be on display as well, and the museum will show Monroe's movies Saturdays in October and host Marilyn Monroe lookalike contests. Tickets to Ripley's start at $19.99.

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Caroline Pritchard studied English at Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio, and in 2012 returned to her hometown of Dallas, where she spends her free time seeking out new places to roller skate and play pinball.

Contact: Caroline Pritchard