What’s even more unsettling is the opinion held by Blonde’s original author, given in a 2000 interview. Oates essentially victim-blames Monroe, stating: “She fell into the trap. She made herself into the blonde who looks dumb, who is very sexy”. This harsh outlook fails to align with what Monroe said herself about how she hated the idea of being reduced to what a sex symbol was – just a thing. Again, blaming Monroe for the restrictions placed on her is a scathing alliance with misogyny.

The writing was on the wall when, in a scene straight out of a Hollywood movie, and according to History Today, Monroe found Miller’s notebook lying open on a table. Like seeing a car crash, she was unable to look away: “She discovered that he was disappointed in her, feared that his own creativity would be threatened by this pitiable, dependent, unpredictable waif he had married and was seriously regretting the union. Marilyn told friends that he also wrote, ‘The only one I will ever love is my daughter’.” Vanity Fair later stated: “One of her greatest fears, that of disappointing those she loved, had come true." In 2013, Marilyn was the subject of an advertisement campaign by Chanel entitled ‘Inside Chanel.’ In the two-minute advertisement, Marilyn is the posthumous face of the legendary perfume. In a most upsetting way, Monroe is still experiencing consumer exploitation and abuse even 61 years after her passing, not just through all the edited images used for bedroom posters, T-shirts and those weird ‘Yas Queen’ Facebook posts. Conspiracy theorists infiltrate Monroe’s status by arguing that her death, ruled as a suicide, was an assassination orchestrated by the Mafia due to her alleged affair with JFK. However, many historians have pointed out that Monroe never even had an affair, let alone was murdered.Polge returned to university the following September but soon turned up to the family home for dinner. “I told him I wanted to leave my studies and learn to become a perfumer,” recalls Polge. “At first he said it wasn’t a good idea, but within a few days he’d warmed to it.” This perfume was Givenchy L’Interdit that was created specifically for Hepburn in 1957. Givenchy L’Interdit has notes of bergamot, iris, jasmine, narcissus, rose, sandalwood, and violet. Floris have scented everyone from royalty, Florence Nightingale, prime ministers and even Marilyn Monroe, but now you can dip into their incredible history (and try some their more contemporary fragrances) in their beautifully curated Floris Discovery Collections… Why are we fascinated by celebrities' beauty choices is a more general question one might ask. A simple, practical answer at first is that they help us gain time. Having greater access to all sorts of paraphernalia, we assume their taste and savvy is superior to those of more ordinary people in terms of beauty access. Secondly of course, there is a process of identification between a choice one makes and one's personality it is assumed. Somehow, Rose Geranium would reflect Marilyn Monroe's character especially so since it was hush-hush until now, far from any advertizing rationale. A personal beauty choice revealed is somehow equated with a straightforward access to the hidden, authentic dimension of a celebrity. It is a promise of going beyond the persona and approaching the real person. Of course, a third main line of thought is to consider that perfume can impact personality, modulate it, and so, really the star might be Rose Geranium In those moments Marilyn wore it, for she borrowed some of the personality of the scent, its floral inflections guiding her mood.

One of the most elegant actresses of all time, it’s unsurprising that the fashion house Givenchy wanted to create a perfume for Hepburn, who already was a big fan of their clothes. At the heart of this operation sits Chanel No 5, the world’s most popular perfume. This year marks its centenary, in that time faces of the scent have included Nicole Kidman, Catherine Deneuve and, more recently, actor and activist Marion Cotillard. Now, for the first time, a book dedicated to exploring the perfume’s history has been published, celebrating this milestone.Especially celebrities who did not exist in the age of social media, where information about celebrities is readily available. In the early 50s, Arthur Miller (played by Adrien Brody in Blonde) was married to Mary Slattery, and Monroe was at the peak of her stardom, appearing in Niagara and Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. According to Donald Spoto in Marilyn Monroe: The Biography, Miller and Monroe were first introduced at this time by the director Elia Kazan. But where did this quote come from? It originated from an interview with Monroe in Life Magazine in April 1952. The interviewer didn’t ask this question themselves, but rather the quote came about during an anecdote Marilyn was telling: As he explains: ‘I feel immensely proud to be part of the family business and to have the opportunity to help introduce our perfume house to a new generation. I have such fond memories of visiting the shop from a young age, and it is very nostalgic for me to be around the fragrances that I have grown up with my whole life. They really are like old friends to me.’