‘Wizard Of Oz’ Dorothy Dress Snags $480K At Auction

The dress worn by Judy Garland in the classic motion picture The Wizard of Oz fetched around $480,000 at auction this weekend, according to Deadline.

The memorable blue gingham dress crafted by MGM designer Adrian and worn by Dorothy during her adventure to the Emerald City proved to be a popular item at the Julien’s Auctions in Beverly Hills this weekend. After all was said and done, someone was willing to pony up nearly $500,000 to own a piece of cinema history.

The BBC reports that officials at the auction house expected the dress to sell for around this amount. However, a similar dress worn during tests for the movie netted around $910,000 in 2011.

The Wizard of Oz outfit worn by Judy Garland wasn’t the only item up for grabs this weekend. Actor Steve McQueen’s racing jacket sold for approximately $50,000, while the watch worn by John Belushi in the comedy classic The Blues Brother went for around $15,000. Belushi’s iconic sunglasses from the film were purchased for $16,640.

According to Yahoo! News, one of the dresses worn by Julie Andrews in The Sound of Music was auctioned off for around $38,400. A skirt selected for Marilyn Monroe’s character in River of No Return fetched upwards of $50,000.

Jaclyn Smith’s dress from the original Charlie’s Angels TV show ($15,000), a cat print jumpsuit worn by Jayne Mansfield ($16,250), and a package of promotional material from The Wizard of Oz ($33,750) were also up for grabs.

Celebrity memorabilia has enjoyed a spike in popularity over the past few years. In 2011, the dress famously worn by Marilyn Monroe in director Billy Wilder’s The Seven Year Itch sold for an impressive $4.6 million. The dress worn by Audrey Hepburn in the 1964 musical My Fair Lady was purchased for around $3.7 million.

Would you be willing to spend close to $500,000 to own a piece one of the dresses worn by Judy Garland in The Wizard of Oz?