A pair of ruby slippers worn by Judy Garland in the 1939 movie The Wizard of Oz sold for a record price of $28 million at an auction. The auction was held by Heritage Auctions in Dallas. After including the buyer’s fee, the total price reached $32.5 million. The buyer’s name is not known.
The slippers broke the previous record for movie memorabilia, which was $5.52 million. That record was set by a white dress worn by Marilyn Monroe in the movie The Seven Year Itch in 1955. That dress was also sold by Heritage Auctions in 2011.
Joe Maddalena, an executive at Heritage Auctions, said, “There is no comparison between Judy Garland’s ruby slippers and any other Hollywood memorabilia.” He also mentioned that the sale shows how important movies and their memorabilia are to people.
There are three other pairs of ruby slippers known to exist. One is in the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., another was bought in 2012 for $2 million by a group led by Leonardo DiCaprio and Steven Spielberg, and a third is believed to be owned by a private collector.
The slippers were designed for the movie by famous costume designer Adrian. They were made by the Innes Shoe Company and were covered with red sequins and small bows. Each pair of slippers was made for different purposes during the filming, like dancing or close-up shots. The pair sold at the auction was confirmed to have been used in the movie.
The slippers being sold had an interesting history. They were stolen in 2005 from the Judy Garland Museum and were found again in 2018 after the FBI got a tip. The slippers were later confirmed to be real by the Smithsonian.
Also sold at the auction was a witch’s hat worn by Margaret Hamilton, who played the Wicked Witch of the West in the movie. The hat sold for $2.93 million.
But the ruby slippers were the biggest star of the day. With the high price, the auctioneer called them “the most iconic piece of memorabilia in movie history.”