Scarlett O’Hara’s Gone with the Wind Dress Sold At Auction For $137,000

Scarlett O’Hara’s gown just sold for enough money to buy herself some new curtains. The grey-and-black dress, worn by Vivien Leigh in her role as the Southern heroine in Gone with the Wind, sold for $137,000 at an auction in Beverly Hills on Saturday.
The outfit, which O’Hara wore in four scenes from the 1939 film, features distinctive black zig-zag appliques along the front placard and sleeves. The gown was fittingly the belle of the ball at the auction of more than 150 items from the Oscar-winning film by Dallas-based Heritage Auctions.
The items up for sale were part of the private collection of James Tumblin, who was formerly in charge of the hair and makeup department at Universal Studios. His collection started in the 1960s, when he was doing research at a costume company. “I saw this dress on the floor and a docent told me not to bother to pick it up, because they were throwing it away,” he said, according to The Telegraph. “I asked if he would sell it to me. I had noticed there was a printed label saying Selznick International Pictures and ‘Scarlett production dress’ was written in ink.” The cost? $20.
From there, Tumblin began stockpiling Gone With the Wind memorabilia, slowly amassing a treasure trove of faux antebellum souvenirs, including props, tools and costumes used in the making of the movie. He also collected drawings, paintings, posters and letters belonging or related to people involved with the film. While Tumblin sold 150 pieces from his trove on Saturday, according to Heritage Auction, there is a lot more where that came from as the collection houses more than 300,000 pieces of Gone With The Windmemorabilia.
Other top selling items from the auction were a suit worn by Clark Gable as Rhett Butler, which sold for $55,000; a black bonnet worn by both Leigh and Olivia De Havilland as Melanie Wilkes, which fetched $30,000; and a straw hat worn by Leigh that sold for $52,500, according to Reuters.
The big-screen adaptation of Margaret Mitchell’s bestseller was directed by Victor Fleming and also starred Leslie Howard and Hattie McDaniel. It won ten Oscars, including the awards for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress for Leigh, and Best Supporting Actress for McDaniel.