If Dorothy Gale’s ruby slippers from The Wizard of Oz are cinema’s most iconic piece of costuming, her gingham costume is an in depth second. Identified for its white puffy-sleeved shirt and brilliant blue full skirt, it’s exhausting to think about Judy Garland galivanting down the yellow brick highway in the rest.
With the intention to hold continuity and the integrity of the look, costume designers on the movie needed to make multiple costume. No precise quantity has been confirmed however 5 official costumes appear to be in circulation. Nonetheless, one of many 5 Wizard of Oz clothes was lacking till the summer season of 2021.
Judy Garland’s lacking ‘Wizard of Oz’ costume dates again to the ‘70s at Catholic College
In 1972, Father Gilbert Hartke was head of Catholic College’s drama program. Rumors permeated the Washington D.C. campus for years that the professor had acquired one among Dorothy’s clothes as a present. Nonetheless quickly after buying one among Judy Garland’s costumes, it vanished.
Catholic College school and college students searched the campus for many years. No costume was discovered.
Reduce to summer season 2021 when drama lecturer and operations coordinator Matt Ripa began cleansing out his area for renovations. He began questioning issues when he discovered a mysterious trash bag on high of the division mailboxes.
Dorothy Gale’s lacking ‘Wizard of Oz’ costume was ultimately present in a trash bag
The costume was ultimately discovered within a shoebox in that rubbish bag. “On the trash bag was a note for our former chair stating that he had found ‘this’ in his office and that he must have moved it when he moved out of the chair’s office,” Ripa said in his blog. “I was curious what was inside and opened the trash bag and inside was a shoebox and inside the shoebox was the dress!! I couldn’t believe it.”
After realizing the costume might be the legendary misplaced costume, Ripa shortly received a colleague. “My co-worker and I quickly grabbed some gloves and looked at the dress and took some pictures before putting it back in the box and heading over to the archives. I called one of our faculty members and former chair, who always told me the dress existed and that it was in the building to let her know that I had found it.”
Judy Garland’s clothes have particular traits that make them genuine
After the lacking Wizard of Oz costume was discovered and brought to the college’s archive, the subsequent job was to authenticate it. Catholic University broke down how their costume in comparison with the others in an announcement.
“All of the dresses have certain verifiable characteristics, including, for example, a ‘secret pocket’ on the right side of the pinafore skirt for Dorothy’s handkerchief, ‘Judy Garland‘ written by hand in a script specific to a single person who labeled all of the extant dresses in the same hand. Apparently, the thin material of the blouse was prone to tearing when Garland took it off after filming, and a seamstress often repaired it before she donned it for the next shoot.”
Dorothy’s different 4 clothes are personal by personal collectors. In 2015, one such purchaser purchased one among The Wizard of Oz ensembles for $1.5 million. A “test” costume that was not worn by Garland throughout filming however earlier than taking pictures began, was offered at public sale for $245,000 in 2014.
That identical 12 months, actor Bert Lahr’s Cowardly Lion costume offered for greater than $3 million.