You Could Help Bring the Marilyn Monroe Dress Back to NYC

As we've reported previously, the white halter dress worn by Marilyn Monroe in The Seven Year Itch -- you know, the one in that iconic subway grate scene -- will soon be up for sale by an L.A. auction house. The dress, currently owned by Debbie Reynolds, is worth an estimated $1 to $2 million, and a New York-based tech company, inQuicity, has set up a website called www.savethedress.org, where donors can contribute to help buy the dress and "bring it home" to New York City.

Darlene Newman, co-founder of inQuicity, said in a statement about the dress, "It's also a prolific piece of New York City's vivid history and culture, and deserves to find a permanent home here." Any donors would be credited in an exhibition of the dress, which would find a place in a city museum after being taken on a national tour.

The iconic scene from the movie, directed by Billy Wilder, was originally filmed over a subway grate at Lexington Avenue near 52nd Street, but had to be re-shot on a soundstage because crowds went crazy -- we can only imagine -- during the shot.

Effort to return Marilyn Monroe's fluttering white dress to NYC [Reuters]