Do you prefer Blondes or Breakfast at Tiffany’s?

Celebrities Natalie Portman and Lindsay Lohan portraying the ladies in question.

In second grade I was Marilyn Monroe for Halloween. Most second graders do not know who Marilyn Monroe is nor would they care, and although I am not quite sure how I knew who she was at the tender age of seven, I can tell you this, I wanted to be Marilyn real bad. So of course I commissioned my mom to make me a white dress, lathered on the red lipstick, curled my hair, and penciled on her signature mole.

There I stood, seven years old, the spitting image of Marilyn Monroe, except not quite. Yet it was still a defining moment in my life, I had officially established myself as a Marilyn person. There are two types of people in this world: Marilyn people and Audrey people.

Marilyn Monroe and Audrey Hepburn represent two of the most iconic actresses, beauties, and paragons of style in American history. These two women define an era of glamour and extravagance, yet they both stand for such different things.

While Marilyn was the classic blonde bombshell, Audrey represented a more refined and elegant woman. Yet, Andy Warhol never did prints of Audrey’s face and Marilyn never won an Oscar (though to her credit she did receive a Golden Globe nomination). Marilyn is an idol to curvy women everywhere, where as the fashion world associates more with Audrey and her model thinness. Marilyn died young at the height of her career, while Audrey lived into the 1990s, involving herself in humanitarian work.

So where do your loyalties lie? I will leave that that for you to decide, because while my appreciation for each has become almost equal I remain true to my seven year old self and declare my loyalty to Marilyn.

note: article written originally for school newspaper