It is probably the most famous film moment of its time - Marilyn Monroe clutching her dress as a perfectly timed gust of wind makes it billow up and around her exposed legs. And one lucky punter has broken the bank for the unique piece of 1950s film history - paying a full $4.6million for the dress that made millions of young men's hearts skip a beat, according to dailymail.co.uk Monday.

At the California auction of fellow Hollywood star Debbie Reynolds's costume collection, Monroe's ivory pleated Travilla dress, from the 1955 film The Seven Year Itch, undoubtedly stole the show, the Daily Mail said.

The dress, which sold Sunday at the Profiles in History auction house in Calabasas, California, is one of a selection of iconic film costumes and memorabilia collected by Reynolds over the years as Hollywood studios sold or emptied their warehouses.

Among other pieces up for auction, Monroe's red-sequin dress from Gentlemen Prefer Blondes was also a clear favorite - selling for $1.2million, the newspaper said.