Posted in: Movies, News | Tagged: heritage auctions, ruby slippers, wizard of oz

Wizard Of Oz Ruby Slippers Sell For $32.5 Million At Heritage Auctions

A screen-worn pair of Judy Garland's iconic ruby slippers from the Wizard of Oz sold for $28 million at auction yesterday.

Wizard of Oz fans watched in awe as the iconic ruby slippers worn by Judy Garland sold at Heritage Auctions yesterday for an astounding $32.5 million. This is not the only pair used in the film production that has survived, as four known pairs are still around. One is on display at The Smithsonian, and another at the National Museum of American History. This pair is known as the Michael Shaw pair, and if you click this link to the official auction page, you can read a very long, fascinating history of the shoe's journey from production on the Wizard of Oz to Heritage yesterday. Seriously: this is as rare and important as it gets in Hollywood memorabilia.

Wizard Of Oz Collectors Weep When They See Them

"Michael Shaw's ruby slippers are the cross-matched sister shoes to the pair at The Smithsonian Institution, most likely separated in the early spring of 1970. During the 1980s and onward, Shaw displayed his Ruby Slippers around the country during his popular Michael Shaw's Hollywood on Tour show and seminars. They were also displayed multiple times at the Judy Garland Museum in Grand Rapids, Minnesota, before being stolen from that location in 2005 and recovered by the FBI in 2018.

The Wizard of Oz Ruby Slippers are a vintage pair of Innes Shoe Co. red silk faille heels with uppers and heels covered with hand-sequined silk georgette, lined in white leather, and the leather soles are painted red with orange felt adhered to the front foundation of each shoe. The bows are made of hand-cut buckram cloth and are slightly different in size. Rhinestones rim the bows, which are filled with bugle beads surrounding three center jewels. The left shoe has a slightly thicker, shorter heel with a Cat's Paw rubber top lift cap. The right shoe has a slightly taller, thinner heel with a leather top lift cap. Both lift caps are painted red. This Michael Shaw pair of  Wizard of Oz slippers are darker in color than any other known pair-a rich burgundy-likely the result of careful storage out of direct light. Inside the right shoe is an embossed label reading "Innes Shoe Co., Los Angeles, Pasadena, Hollywood." A similar embossed label is inside the left shoe. Inscribed on the inner white kid leather lining of both shoes is the name "Judy Garland" written neatly with black ink in block letters. The manufacturer's numbers in the right shoe are 5C 11869 D536, and 5BC 15250 in the left shoe. Matching manufacturer's numbers are found in The Smithsonian's left and right shoes, respectively."

The above is just a small sliver of the story, you need to read the whole thing. While it seems like this was a private sale, hopefully, the shoes are properly kept safe and even made viewable to the public somehow, as there is not this much iconic movie memorabilia left of this importance.

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