The Dark Side

Photographer Cecil Beaton had been trying to arrange the shoot for three months, but she still turned up an hour and 15 minutes late at a suite in New York's Ambassador hotel. According to Beaton, the blonde bombshell squealed with delight and leapt onto the sofa putting a flower stem into her mouth and pretending to smoke it. I get the impression he wasn't too impressed with her avant garde nature. Pictured laughing into a cushion with apparent abandon, her slightly puffy eyes smile back at the camera. Marilyn Monroe was the ultimate blonde and dated a string of high profile men, yet her dark haired co-stars pocketed fatter wage packets. Now, in the midst of a recession, blonde women are dyeing their hair brown to be taken more seriously in the office. Twenty first century screen siren Scarlett Johansson kick started the trend by adopting a more sober shade. Researchers (or rather Superdrug staff handing out surveys) found 62 per cent of people think brunettes look more professional than blondes in the workplace. This has led to fair headed women darkening their locks - with the current economic climate partially to blame. The researchers found redheads have the most sex - enjoying a romp three times a week, compared to twice a week for brunettes. Blondes emerged as the most adventurous in the bedroom. Brushing the survey twaddle aside, I decided I wanted a change and it was after much debate (and without the aid of Superdrug's statistics) that I crossed over to the dark side. Whether it results in a fatter pay cheque remains to be seen.

The Collector

Mr Gainsborough-Roberts' full length black coat was emblazoned with a sequinned image of the legendary blonde. The eccentric sixty-something-year-old also wore a faded blue tie and waistcoat from which the screen siren pouted seductively. He digressed endlessly as he sipped his 11am glass of white wine. “Well I used to collect posters from the cinema from about the age of seven,” his upper class accent and tongue rolling blended his answers into a posh inaudible mumble. But the real collection started with a £15,000 dress. Now, eighteen years later, he has the world's largest genuine collection of Marilyn Monroe memorabilia. Costumes, folded hap haphazardly in acid free tissue paper, had been stuffed into drawers in uninhabited rooms at his Jersey home. Outfits, jewellery, shoes and photographs from the too short life of the glitzy fifties show stopper mingled with Elvis' ring and Audrey's make-up set. A life size wax work model made by Madame Tussauds stands in his kitchen. In the next room, the iconic red sequinned dress from Gentlemen Prefer Blondes had been tried on by the Monroe lookalike who wiggled across the carpet leaving a trail of jewels behind her for the PR girls to pick up. Now, thanks to the six feet tall white haired collector, it was on display - carefully fitted around a specially made mannequin. The cocktail dress Monroe wore in Some Like It Hot and the Niagara “wiggle dress” were gems in the fanatic's unrivalled collection. Backstage photographs taken by Eve Arnold during the filming of The Misfits were also laid out behind the glass. A legend born from her untimely death and her unhappy life.