CDG - The Costume Designer

Winter 2016

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54 The Costume Designer Winter 2016 SCRAPBOOK I n 1939, legendary Costume Designer Adrian made 3,210 sketches for MGM's now classic film The Wizard of Oz. Among the fanciful munchkins, winged monkeys, and witches was a winsome gingham pinafore and ruby sequined slippers for the lead character of Dorothy, played by Judy Garland. Little did Adrian imagine that one of the Dorothy dresses would command $1.56 million at auction last November in New York, one of only two complete Dorothy costumes in existence. Why does the Dorothy costume garner so much adulation? First, The Wizard of Oz ranks in the pantheon of the public's most beloved films. Dorothy's humble frock and shoes not only capture her character, they also have come to inhabit a singu- lar place in pop culture. In a rare synchronicity epitomizing Costume Design's far-reaching power, the garments are now emblematic of an innocence that captures the American mind- set of the time, which is recalled by the film's haunting mantra, "There's no place like home." A Judy Garland-worn 'Dorothy' dress from The Wizard of Oz is displayed during a press preview on November 19, 2015, in New York, as Bonhams and Turner Classic Movies (TCM) present 'Treasures from the Dream Factory' auction which took place on November 23 in New York. AFP Photo/Timothy A. Clary. The Dorothy Dress

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