Dorothy’s Signature Red Slippers Make Auction History

The shoes were created by MGM’s costume designer, Gilbert Adrian, who put them together by attaching fabric, sequins, and the signature bows to a pair of simple silk pumps from Innes Shoe Co. 

Usurping the record sale of Marilyn Monroe’s subway dress from the The Seven Year Itch (1955), which sold for $5.52 million in 2011, it only took a mere few minutes for the estimate to swell.  

Heritage Auctions’ Executive Vice President Joe Maddalena said in a statement, “There’s simply no comparison between Judy Garland’s ruby slippers and any other piece of Hollywood memorabilia. It’s been a privilege for all of us at Heritage to be a part of the slippers’ epic journey over the rainbow and off to a new home.” 

Another member of their team, Robert Wilonsky, also noted that approximately 1,000 people had been keeping track of the iconic slippers. 

One of the many bidders at the auction was the Judy Garland Museum, located in her hometown of Grand Rapids, Minnesota. However, it was quickly outbid. The same pair of shoes had incidentally been stolen from the museum while on loan in 2005 when an unknown burglar smashed the display case. 

It took over a decade for the FBI to track them down, but they were ultimately able to charge a 77-year-old local man for the theft. When brought in, the man claimed he’d stolen them under the impression they were embellished with real rubies, but did away with them once he found out otherwise. 

As of now, two other pairs are safely held in the collections of the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C., and the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles. The remaining three are in private collections, though the record-making buyer’s identity is yet to be released.