Rare self portrait of a twelve year old Marilyn Monroe (Norma Jean Baker) taken in a photo booth. Photo: The Gene London Collection. FLORENCE.- “The size of your feet, too, tells me about your character. I have divided the women who have come to me into three categories: the Cinderella, the Venus and the Aristocrat. [...] Venus is usually of great beauty, glamour, and sophistication, yet under her glittering exterior she is often essentially a home body loving the simple things of life. Because these two characteristics are mutually contradictory the Venus is often misunderstood. People accuse her of too much luxury-loving and frivolity.” This is how Salvatore Ferragamo described the women who wore a size 6 in his autobiography, but he could very well have been describing Marilyn Monroe, the most famous actress of all time, the most photographed woman in the world, a pop icon with a complex, much talked about personality, the loyal customer who made his 4-inch heel pumps famous, but whom he never met, because she bought her shoes at the Park Avenue ... More
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