Judy Garland Dorothy Dress Sells For $910,000 Record Price

ART MARKET NEWS

Judy Garland, Dorothy Dress, Wizard of oz,MGM,Audrey Hepburn

Judy Garland Dorothy Dress Sells For $910,000 Record Price - ArtLyst Article image

DATE: 19 JUN 2011

$1,000,000 Over The Rainbow price tag for Oz costume (including buyers premium) Ruby Slippers go for $510,000

The Debbie Reynolds sale of Hollywood costumes set several record prices for items designed for Marilyn Monroe, Elizabeth Taylor, Joan Crawford and Audrey Hepburn

The Dress worn by Judy Garland when she played the role of "Dorothy Gale" in the classic 1939 film The Wizard of Oz has just sold for over $1,000,000 including buyers premium, a record price for Oz costume memorabilia. This is the real thing and something that only comes up once in a lifetime. The dress was estimated at a modest $60,000 - $80,000. The $910,000 price is just on the hammer and the total is expected to be 20% on top.

The blue cotton dress with polka dot trim and ivory sheer puff-sleeved blouse was designed by Adrian the chief costumier for the MGM film. The blouse also contains the original blue ribbon neck orniment. No label was sewn into the top but the provenance was impeccable having been acquired by Debbie Reynolds an icon of the golden age of the Hollywood musical from MGM directly in 1970. The matching Blue cotton dress and pinafore with polka dot trim has a Handwritten label "Judy Garland 3955." Worn by Judy Garland as "Dorothy" in the first two weeks of filming in The Wizard of Oz.

The slippers were not the ones used in the filming of the classic musical but a more stylized pair appearing only in the screen test.

Other interesting items include:

Elizabeth Taylor's Velvet Brown racing silks and riding pants from "National Velvet", the MGM, 1944 film has sold for $60,000 plus premium. The silk top bears internal label handwritten in script "Elizabeth Taylor," and trousers bear MGM label "I-133", a maker's label "Made in England Exclusively for Pesterre's Beverly Hills", plus fountain pen mark "B-2 377-1." Worn by Elizabeth Taylor as "Velvet Brown" in National Velvet. Easily one of Miss Taylor's most indelible and iconic costumes from her entire career.

Joan Crawford's "Mildred" waitress uniform from the 1945 Warner Bros. film Mildred Pierce. Has sold for $22,500 The Blue and white checked gingham waitress uniform with ivory collar and cuffs, and simple cloth apron. Bears the internal label "WARNER BROS. PICTURES, INC./ A 18865-638" and "CRAWFORD. J." written in fountain pen on zipper lining. Gingham cleavage insert has been removed. Worn by Joan Crawford as "Mildred" in her first job to support her two girls after her divorce in Mildred Pierce.

Marilyn Monroe's ivory pleated "Subway" dress by Travilla is one of the most recognized costumes in film history. It is predicted to sell today for the highest price of any single piece of film memorabilia in history.

The dress was created for the 1955 film The Seven Year Itch. The ivory rayon-acetate halter dress with pleated skirt. Handwritten label "1-27-1-8171 M. Monroe A-734-12." Worn by Marilyn Monroe as "The Girl" in one of the most iconic images of film history in The Seven Year Itch, when she stood above the subway grate and uttered that famous line, "OOOH isn't it delicious?" The Seven Year Itch storyline, unlike some of Monroe's earlier films, held no promise as a costume showcase. It was not a period piece and had no dance routines. Yet this was to become the vehicle for Travilla's most famous dress design, in bias-cut crepe with a halter top and sunburst pleats. "So I wondered what could I do with this most beautiful girl that Marilyn was to play to make her look clean, talcum-powdered, and adorable," Travilla mused. "What would I give her to wear that would blow in the breeze and be fun and pretty? I knew there would be a wind blowing so that would require a skirt." [Hollywood Costume Design by Travilla, Maureen Reilly]. The fabric Travilla chose was an ivory colored rayon-acetate crepe, heavy enough to flow beautifully as Marilyn walked but still light enough to blow up in an interesting way. A fabric very hard if not impossible to get now, the closest is georgette. Travilla never normally used man-made fabric but this posed a challenge with pleating as 100% natural fabric would not hold such stiff pleats, so for all his pleated creations a special fabric had to be made with just a small amount of man-made fiber in it to maintain the structure. Acquired by Debbie Reynolds directly from Twentieth Century-Fox during the "pre-sale" when she bought all of the Marilyn Monroe wardrobe from the studio prior to the auction in 1971.

The Debbie Renolds collection is valued at 50 million dollars. Reynolds announced in 2004 she would relocate her collection from Las Vegas and Hollywood to Pigeon Forge, Tenn. But Fisher says a museum project there had to file for bankruptcy protection last year and the collection must be sold to satisfy creditors. The auction is taking place live on the internet through Live Auctioneers in Beverly Hills, CA. Read More