Judy Garland’s Wizard of Oz dress to be auctioned off

One of the last few “Dorothy” dresses from the iconic movie, 1939’s The Wizard of Oz, and worn by the legendary Judy Garland, will be auctioned off to one lucky fan at the upcoming Bonham’s Classic Hollywood and Film Auction on May 24th, held in Los Angeles.

If you ever wanted to own a piece of film history, now is your chance.

The baby blue and white gingham dress paired with the original cream organdy blouse, now tinged with age, were gifted to Reverend Gilbert Hartke by actress Mercedes McCambridge in 1973. McCambridge was employed at The Catholic University of America in DC as a resident artist.  While it’s uncertain just how McCambridge acquired the dress, she likely got it from the MGM costume department.  The dress went missing sometime in the 1980s, only to be found in 2021 in a box at the Unversity when undergoing renovations.

The University donated the historic costume to Bonham’s and plans to use the proceeds for the drama department, which hopes to create a new acting program.

The dress would make a lovely addition to any Golden Age collector’s home, but it will come at a high price.  It has an auction estimate between $800,000 to $1.2 million, according to Bonham’s site, which has the piece in preview viewing as well as a detailed description of the garments.

Judy wore this specific dress during the “Captive in the Witch’s Castle” scene in The Wizard of Oz, along with several duplicates throughout the movie.  Yet, only a handful survived since then and remains a treasured item of Hollywood history.

Last month, The Tin Man’s (Jack Haley) oil can earned a winning bid of $200,000. Later this summer, a three-hundred-year-old violin that played during the Oscar-winning song, Somewhere Over the Rainbow, could break the auction record if sold at the highest bid of $20 million.