Marilyn Monroe Niagara - Her Sizzling 1950s Fashion
This post may contain affiliate links
Marilyn Monroe wears sultry 1950s fashion in the film noir movie Niagara (1953).
For her role as the femme fatale in Niagara, Marilyn shows off her famous curves in a range of 1950s fashion.
Her character wears fitted dresses, perfectly tailored suits, skirts, and of course since it’s Marilyn Monroe some lingerie. Perhaps her most famous outfit from the the film is the pink dress she wears, which her jealous husband comments is cut so low in front you can see her kneecaps.
Here we’ve broken down all Marilyn Monroes outfits from Niagara so you can get your dose of 1950s fashion inspiration.
This post is all about Marilyn Monroe Niagara and her Sizzling 1950s Fashion
Niagara Movie Synopsis
Ray and Polly Cutler (Max Showalter & Jean Peters) finally get to spend their delayed honeymoon at Niagara Falls.
On arrival, they run into another couple staying at the same hotel, George and Rose Loomis. They are soon drawn into the plot of the beautiful wife (Marilyn Monroe) and her jealous, brooding husband (Joseph Cotton) with a serious of strange activities, ultimately culminating in murder.
Marilyn Monroe Niagara fashion
Marilyn Monroe Niagara’s character Rose is portrayed as the sexy femme fatale.
Her jealous husband refers to her as a “tramp” but she sure dresses classy.
Her wardrobe helps disguise her character’s motives: to make her husband look insane to the other guests, so that his death will look like a suicide and she can be with her lover.
Marilyn Monroe’s fashion directly contrasts with the other main character’s clothes, the “good girl” Polly Cutler (Jean Peters) who wears a mix of more conservative skirts and cardigans (although her clothes were also pretty snazzy) but with a decidedly lower key than Marilyn’s clothes.
Dorothy Jeakins was the costume designer responsible for Marilyn Monroe’s stunning outfits in the film.
Marilyn Monroe Niagara 1950s Lingerie
The first glimpse of Marilyn Monroe’s character Rose Loomis, is early morning at Niagara Falls and she is lying in bed, smoking (very 1950s!).
She hears a knock at the hotel room door and gets up to answer it, showing us a sexy 1950s style slip.
Marilyn Monroe Niagara Robe
Marilyn Monroe’s character Rose pulls a glamorous robe on over her slip to open the door. Her silky white robe has a fur lined neck, and of course Marilyn Monroe is already wearing her signature bright red lipstick.
Here is where she first meets the other main character in the film, the “good girl” Polly Cutler (Jean Peters.)
Even from the firsts scene, Marilyn Monroe’s negligee and bright red lipstick are a direct contrast to Polly’s conservative pink cardigan and pencil skirt.
The hotel manager reminds her that she was supposed to check out that morning as the arriving couple have reserved the room for the night.
Rose is flustered and asks if possible to stay another day, she explains that she’s worried about her husband and his strange behavior.
Polly assures the hotel manager that they would be happy to take a different room.
Marilyn Monroe Niagara Suit
With the room secured for another night, Rose then changes into a fitted blue suit and tells Polly that she needs to run to the supermarket.
Marilyn Monroe’s character Rose Loomis wears a tailored blue suit accessorized with white high heels and white bag to “run some errands.”
Polly and her husband go on a tour of Niagara Falls and Polly sees Rose kissing a man next to the falls.
Marilyn Monroe Niagara Dress
Marilyn Monroe’s most famous dress in Niagara, is the pink dress that she wears to join the other guests at the hotel who are listening to records and dancing.
Rose brings out her own record and puts it on the record machine, playing the song “Kiss.”
Rose goes over to chat with the other couple and hums along to the song.
Suddenly Rose’s husband George (Joseph Cotton) comes out of the hotel room in a jealous rage, pulls the record off the machine and breaks it.
All the hotel guests watch as he breaks the record, also managing to slice his hand while doing it.
Polly follows him back into the hotel room to help him bandage his hand.
George tells Polly how he doesn’t know who Rose heard that song with and that she is a tramp. Despite his anger at her, it’s obvious he’s still crazy about Rose.
Marilyn Monroe Niagara Skirt
After his jealous rage that was witnessed by all the hotel guests, Rose and George make up.
As part of her plot, Rose then get all dressed up to go to the bus stop to check on the tickets.
As expected, George jealously wonders where she’s going all dolled up.
Marilyn Monroe’s character wears a gray pencil skirt paired with a white blouse. When she goes out to the bus station she tops it with a light blue shawl like jacket.
George jealously follows Rose to the bus stop.
At the bus stop, she signals to her lover who her husband is.
Her lover passes her a note that if everything goes well he will play their song “Kiss” on the church bells.
In the last part of the scene, we see Rose’s lover following her husband George out the door of the bus station towards Niagara Falls.
Marilyn Monroe Niagara Red Jacket and Black Pencil Skirt
Later on, Rose runs into Polly and her husband.
She’s distraught and says she’s worried about her husband as she hasn’t seen him for a while.
They offer her a ride back to the hotel and she’s about to get into the car when she hears her song “Kiss” being played by the church bells.
Suddenly she seems to recover and tells them she’d rather walk. She begins walking excitedly towards the church bells thinking that everything has gone well and her husband is now dead.
Marilyn Monroe’s character Rose is wearing a black pencil skirt paired with a white blouse and a red jacket as she pretends to be worried about her husband.
Marilyn Monroe Niagara Black Suit
The moment arrives when a body is found at the bottom of Niagara Falls and Rose is asked to identify it since she has reported her husband as missing.
She is calm until she sees the body of her lover instead of her husband and she falls into a faint.
Marilyn Monroe’s character Rose wears a black skirt suit over a white blouse, with a matching 1950s style pillbox hat tilted to one side.
Rose is admitted to the hospital and is given sleeping medication.
The song “Kiss” being played on the church bells wakes her up, even through the medication and she flees the hospital in fear, knowing that her husband is still alive and he knows she plotted to kill him.
Marilyn Monroe Niagara Walk
Supposedly the longest walk filmed in cinema walking away from the movie camera is Marilyn Monroe’s walk in her high heels and suit as she tries to escape out of Niagara Falls in fear for her life.
She tries to head towards the border with her luggage when her husband spots her and comes after her.
Marilyn Monroe’s part in the movie ends with a breathless chase up flights of stairs as he husband chases her up to the top floor.
He strangles her, and in the final shot we see the bells ringing over her body.
The movie ends climatically with George Loomis himself going over the falls as he steals a boat, also trying to escape across the border.
This post was all about Marilyn Monroe Niagara and her 1950s Fashion
What did you think of Marilyn Monroe’s fashion in Niagara?
Other posts you might like:
Ava Gardner Fashion in Pandora and the Flying Dutchman - Stunning outfits from a 1950s fashion icon
Ava Gardner Style - Her Glamorous 1950s Fashion in the Barefoot Contessa
Lauren Bacall Style - Her Fabulous 1950s Fashion in How to Marry a Millionaire
The Ultimate Guide to 1950s Fashion for Women
Sizzling 1950s Marilyn Monroe Outfits in Don’t Bother to Knock
