'Wizard of Oz' dress sells for $1.56 million

NEW YORK, Nov. 24 (UPI) -- The blue and white dress Judy Garland wore in The Wizard of Oz sold at auction for $1.56 million Monday.

An unidentified buyer beat out two others at an auction at Bonhams. The dress, a blue gingham apron and shirt costume worn by Garland in the 1939 classic, and one of only two known to be in existence, surpassed estimates. It was expected to sell for between $800,000 and $1.2 million.

Costumes from the film have sold well before. The Cowardly Lion costume worn by Bert Lahr sold for more than $3 million last year. One of the blue and white dresses sold for $480,000 in 2012. A "test" dress, created for, but not actually worn in the film fetched $245,000 last year.

"As we witnessed today in the Bonhams' saleroom, the dress is considered a true and timeless icon of classic Hollywood," said Catherine Williamson, Bonhams' director of entertainment memorabilia.

Monday's auction featured 400 pieces of classic film memorabilia sold in conjunction with Turner Classic Movies, including Steve McQueen's racing suit from the movie Le Mans and scripts from Casablanca.