Today's fake: Marilyn detritus

The LA Times has a piece about the booming market for Marilyn Monroe's old clothes and other posessions, spicing up the story with the warning that "sophisticated fakes" lurk among the swag.

Jill Adams of Tujunga, who runs a Marilyn Monroe fan website called forevermarilyn.com, groaned as she recalled the time her mother tried to surprise her with a pair of the late actress' shoes, size 9.

"Clearly, they weren't her shoes," Adams said. "Marilyn wore size 7."

"My mother got taken for over $700," Adams added -- not saying whether she offered to repay at least part of the money. But I can see a real market here. Could you buy Elvis's medicine cabinet? JFK's back brace? Michael Jackson's used condoms? I'll bet you can -- somebody do that eBay search, okay?

Previously: The Museum of Characteristic Objects (low in entry)

And somehow related: Christine posts on drag and the difference between costume, uniform and signifiers of the true self, including a must-see picture of her resembling Jackie Kennedy

Marilyn Monroe, fakes, hoaxes