A shocking-pink gown. Long satin gloves. A cascade of diamonds, a sweep of platinum curls, and a staircase full of men in tuxedos. When Madonna’s “Material Girl” video landed on MTV in February 1985, it looked like nothing else on the channel, and at the same time it looked like something everyone’s parents already knew by heart.
That was the trick. Madonna took one of Hollywood’s most famous costumes, Marilyn Monroe’s pink dress from Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, and made it the hottest look of the MTV era. In this Retro Fashion & Style feature, we look at the outfits in the video, the 1953 original that inspired them, and how the look still turns up on stages and red carpets today. The official video is waiting for you at the end of the article.
▶️ Want to see that pink gown in action? Scroll down. The official video is at the end of the article.
Madonna in Early 1985
Madonna was on a rocket ride. Her second album, Like a Virgin, came out on November 12, 1984, and its title track was a smash. “Material Girl,” written by Peter Brown and Robert Rans and produced by Nile Rodgers, was released as the next single on January 23, 1985. Rodgers had actually thought it was the stronger song and should come first, but Madonna preferred “Like a Virgin.”
It was also the age of excess, the decade of yuppies, shoulder pads and conspicuous spending. Critics have called “Material Girl” a “yuppie anthem” and a winking satire of Reagan-era materialism. Madonna has said she was drawn to the song because it was “ironic and provocative” and nothing like her. The video’s look would play on that irony beautifully.
The Inspiration: Marilyn’s Pink Dress
In Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953), Marilyn Monroe sings “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend” in a strapless gown of shocking-pink silk, lined in black satin, with a big bow at the back and matching opera-length gloves. It was designed by William “Billy” Travilla, reportedly as a last-minute replacement for a more revealing costume. The American Film Institute later ranked the number among the best film songs of the 20th century.
Madonna called it her favorite scene from any Monroe film, and she insisted that the “Material Girl” video be built around it. Director Mary Lambert, who had already made her “Borderline” and “Like a Virgin” videos, had first written a different idea. She reworked her concept around the Monroe number, and it was approved on New Year’s Eve, 1984.
Inside the Video’s Wardrobe
The video was filmed in just two days, January 10 and 11, 1985, at Ren-Mar Studios, because Madonna was about to leave for Tokyo and Hawaii. Here are the looks that made it famous.
The Pink Gown and Gloves
Costume designer Marlene Stewart recreated Monroe’s strapless pink dress for Madonna, complete with long gloves. It’s close enough to read instantly as a tribute, but on Madonna, with her dancer’s energy and a knowing smirk, it feels new. Today the dress is regarded as one of the most iconic looks of her whole career.
The Diamonds and Furs
The sparkle came from collector Connie Parente, who supplied the jewelry. In the musical number, tuxedoed admirers shower Madonna with money, jewels and furs, and she shoos them away with a fan. Choreographer Kenny Ortega, who would later direct High School Musical, studied the original 1953 routine closely and reinterpreted it for the video.
Platinum Curls
Madonna’s hair is styled in soft blonde curls, a clear nod to Monroe. It’s a far cry from the messy bleached hair and hair bows she wore elsewhere in 1985, and that contrast is the point: she was showing that she could step into any image she liked.
The Tuxedo Chorus
Don’t overlook the men. The rows of dancers in black tie give the set its old-Hollywood glamour, and they became part of the look. Thirty years later, on her 2015-16 Rebel Heart Tour, Madonna performed “Material Girl” in a crystal-studded, flapper-inspired Moschino outfit, pushing away a line of dancers in tuxedos and top hats.
Two Madonnas in One Video
There’s a clever story wrapped around the song. Keith Carradine plays a wealthy film director who falls for the actress he sees on screen. After overhearing her say that money doesn’t matter to her, he poses as a man of modest means and wins her over with flowers and a beat-up old pickup truck. So the glittering “material girl” of the musical number is really a romantic at heart. Scholars have spent years debating that double image, and many see it as Madonna both celebrating and gently mocking Monroe-style glamour.
Real romance happened on set, too. On the first day of filming, Mary Lambert brought along actor Sean Penn. He and Madonna began dating, and they married later in 1985.
From MTV to the Mall: How the Look Spread
“Material Girl” was added to MTV during the week of February 9, 1985, and the single climbed to No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 on March 23, kept from the top by REO Speedwagon and Phil Collins. It reached No. 1 on Billboard’s dance club chart, and the video earned Madonna her first MTV Video Music Award nomination in the Best Female Video category.
That spring, the “Madonna wannabe” craze hit its peak. On the Virgin Tour, which opened in April 1985, girls arrived in the street-style looks styled by Maripol: lace tops, skirts over capri pants, fishnet stockings, crucifix jewelry, stacked bracelets and bows in their hair. Madonna look-alike contests popped up in shopping malls across America, and Andy Warhol judged one in New York City. On that tour, “Material Girl” was the closing number, with Madonna in diamonds and fur tossing fake dollar bills into the crowd.
The pink-gown look never went away. Nicole Kidman’s “Sparkling Diamonds” number in Moulin Rouge! (2001) blended the Monroe song with “Material Girl,” and in 2010 Madonna and her daughter Lourdes launched a Material Girl clothing line inspired by her ’80s style. The song even soundtracked a mall shopping scene in Stranger Things. For more of the decade’s sounds and styles, browse our 80s Hits collection, or read how a single glove became a signature in our Billie Jean story.
Get the Look, and the Sound
- Recreate the gown at home. The key pieces are a strapless pink satin dress, long matching gloves, plenty of costume diamonds and soft, glamorous curls. A Halloween classic for good reason.
- Compare the originals. Watch Monroe’s “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend” from Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, then the “Material Girl” video, and spot the details Madonna copied.
- Start with the album. Like a Virgin (1984) was selected for the Library of Congress National Recording Registry in 2023. Follow it with The Immaculate Collection (1990) for the hits.
- If you like this, try: “Dress You Up” and “Into the Groove” from the same era, then Cyndi Lauper’s “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” for another 1980s style icon.
“Material Girl” Quick Facts
| Artist | Madonna |
| Album | Like a Virgin (1984) |
| Single release | January 23, 1985 (Sire Records) |
| Written by | Peter Brown and Robert Rans |
| Producer | Nile Rodgers |
| Video director | Mary Lambert |
| Video filmed | January 10-11, 1985, Ren-Mar Studios |
| Costume designer | Marlene Stewart |
| Choreographer | Kenny Ortega |
| Billboard Hot 100 peak | No. 2 (March 1985) |
Sources
- “Material Girl” on Wikipedia (with its cited sources, including Billboard, Rolling Stone and Slant Magazine)
- Pink dress of Marilyn Monroe on Wikipedia
- Like a Virgin (album) on Wikipedia
- Madonna on Wikipedia
- Library of Congress: National Recording Registry
Photo Credits
- Featured image: Madonna on the Rebel Heart Tour, Paris, 2015 by chrisweger, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Featured image: Madonna performs “Material Girl” on the Rebel Heart Tour, Montreal, 2015 by proacguy1, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Featured image: Madonna on the Sticky & Sweet Tour with a “Like a Virgin”-era look-alike, 2008 by Supermariolxpt, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Featured image: Marilyn Monroe gowns from Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and River of No Return on display by Doug Kline, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- In-article image: Madonna’s Jean Paul Gaultier corset from the Blond Ambition Tour by Brandon Carson, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- In-article image: Madonna wax figure at Hard Rock Cafe, Times Square, New York by Nielsoncaetanosalmeron, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
