The location where Marilyn Monroe's dress photo was taken

Photo Location Manhattan, New York

This is the location where Marilyn Monroe's famous dress scene was filmed.

The actress was standing on a subway grate that is situated outside 590 Lexington Avenue in Manhattan, New York.

Although the original grate is no longer present, the layout is still the same.

This iconic scene of Monroe's white halter dress blowing above her hips was supposed to appear in the romantic comedy film The Seven Year Itch (1955).

However, director Billy Wilder was unable to use the real footage from Lexington Avenue, as the spectators generated far too much background noise.

Marilyn Monroe dress scene location — Monroe was standing on the eighth subway grate from the southwestern corner of Lexington and 52nd Street when her dress blew up. Although the shot never made it into the movie, it did become one of the most famous photographs in pop culture history. The area has changed significantly, as nearly 70 years have passed since the scene was filmed. Wright's Food and Fleurette Jewelry no longer exist. A famous French restaurant called Le Relais de Venise l'Entrecôte occupied the corner unit up until 2021. In November 2023, it reopened at a new location on East 54th Street.

Thousands of people showed up to watch Monroe and her co-star, Tom Ewell, film the scene on Wednesday, September 15th, 1954.

To drum up publicity for the film, the studio leaked the location to the media hours beforehand. Although this clearly turned out to be a marketing masterstroke, it made life impossible for the production team.

By the time Monroe showed up, onlookers had grown impatient. This, coupled with the excitement of watching the actress star in such a "racy" scene, led to people crowding around the film crew.

Despite shooting the scene more than a dozen times, the end product was unusable. As a result, the crew had to recreate the corner of Lexington Avenue and East 52nd Street at a movie set in Hollywood and film it all over again.

This explains why Monroe's famous dress photograph differs from the scene that appears in The Seven Year Itch.