Did Marilyn Monroe say, “Give a girl the right shoes and she can conquer the world”?

On the Internet you can often find the phrase “Give a girl the right shoes and she will conquer the world,” the authorship of which is attributed to an American movie star. We checked to see if Marilyn Monroe said these words.

Alleged statement Monroe is very popular V Internet. He can be found on websites with selections of popular quotes, V articles about this actress in glossy magazines, V social networks And blogs. Often mention its online stores shoes And accessories.

Marilyn Monroe (real name Norma Jean Baker) is a film actress, sex symbol and public favorite of the 50s. She gained popularity due to her roles in the films "Gentlemen prefer blondes" And "Only girls in jazz", which have become iconic all over the world. She actually owns several similar catchphrases. Yes, she sangthat “diamonds are a girl’s best friend,” and spokethat “a smile is the best makeup a girl can wear.” It is not surprising that the quote about shoes began to be attributed to Marilyn Monroe. However, there is no evidence that she ever said anything like that. IN collection nothing similar was found in her letters, notes and diaries, as in autobiographies.

Our colleagues from Quote Investigator, a resource specializing in checking the correctness of quote attribution, discoveredthat the first mention of a similar phrase appeared in 1980 in the Trenton Evening Times magazine in an interview with an American actress and singer Bette Midler. She was asked a question about shoes, and she answered: “I firmly believe that with the right footwear one can rule the world.” On September 22, 1985, this quote with Midler's attribution was mentioned in article in The Straits Times newspaper already in the form in which we are accustomed to it. Quote Investigator Team discovered a few more examples of mentions of this quote in the media indicating the authorship of Bette Midler. This quote began to be attributed to Marilyn Monroe only in the early 2000s. 

Thus, there is no evidence that Monroe ever uttered a similar quote about the right shoes. Probably, someone else's statement began to be attributed to her due to the fact that she actually said similar phrases in interviews or films, for example, “diamonds are a girl’s best friend.” In fact, actress Bette Midler was the first to say something similar, and then, after several iterations of inaccurate quoting, the phrase was modified and circulated in the version to which we are accustomed. Interestingly, if you search for this quote with the name Monroe, you can find a lot pictures with her initials, but if you enter a query with the name Midler, no less will appear pictures, where the quote is attributed to her.

Cover photo: Published by Corpus Christi Caller-Times-photo from Associated Press, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Incorrect quote attribution

What do our verdicts mean?

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