Hundreds of items owned or worn by Marilyn Monroe are going on sale in Los Angeles. The top ticket item featured in the three-day Juliens Auctions event is undoubtedly the skintight, sheer, flesh-coloured dress that the Hollywood icon wore when she sang Happy Birthday Mr President to John F Kennedy at Madison Square Garden on 19 May 1962.

The custom Jean Louis creation was so tight fitting that Marilyn wore nothing underneath and had to be sewn into it at the last minute. When the dress was finally revealed, the entire audience gasped. This iconic gown is expected to fetch $2,000,000 to $3,000,000 (£1.6m to £2.4m) when it goes on sale on Thursday 17 November 2016.

The sale continues on 18 and 19 November, and features many of Monroes personal possessions and costumes worn in some of her most famous films. The sheer black beaded and sequinned dress worn by Monroe as she crooned Im Through With Love in the award-winning 1959 Billy Wilder film Some Like it Hot is sure to prove popular with fans. It is estimated to fetch $400,000 to $600,000 at auction.

The sale also includes costumes worn by Monroe in the films Bus Stop, Niagara, The Seven Year Itch and Theres No Business Like Show Business.

Monroes personal style is represented by a figure-hugging black cocktail dress by Ceil Chapman, a slender fitting bias-cut crêpe evening gown worn by Monroe to the 1955 premiere of The Rose Tattoo, and one of just a few pieces of fine jewellery ever owned by Monroe: a ladies platinum and diamond cocktail watch.

Personal items owned by the star include sketches, prescription pill bottles, a used lipstick and an address book containing the details of stars such as Marlon Brando and Monroes handwritten notes to herself, including: Must make strong effort to work on current problems and phobias that out of my past has arisen.

The Juliens Auctions Marilyn Monroe sale runs from Thursday 17 November to Saturday 19 November. Browse the catalogues and register your interest here.