The leopard-skin cape worn by Marilyn in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (designed by Travilla) gets honourable mention in Vogue‘s ‘potted history of capes’ today.
“While capes have been around since at least the 11th century, the garment was reimagined over the course of the 1900s by some of the greatest designers in fashion history … By the 1940s and ’50s, Balenciaga and Dior had cornered the market – with the former attaching mini-capes to extravagant gowns, and the latter proposing cocoon-style iterations to be worn over tailored suits.
Across the Atlantic, meanwhile, Hollywood did its part to establish the cape’s wildly fashionable reputation. Take Vivien Leigh’s red velvet style in 1940’s Waterloo Bridge, Anita Ekberg’s stunning fur-trimmed creation in La Dolce Vita (1960), and Marilyn Monroe’s 1953 turn in an animal-print cape for Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.”
The Marilyn Report 