Audrey Hepburn vs. Billy Bob Thornton
What's a higher price to pay, Tiffany's or telling the truth?
Categories: Collecting the West
By: Meghan Saar 08/01/2007
Billy Bob Thornton’s got a costume that frankly beats out pretty much most of what passes for collectible in the Hollywood memorabilia category so far this year.
Sure, when Audrey Hepburn’s iconic black Givenchy dress from 1961’s Breakfast at Tiffany’s hammered in at $800,000 last year, many movie collectors, after the first initial gasp, of course, probably surveyed their costume collectibles to see if they had any worthy of garnering a Tiffany price.
To give you a clue as to how monumental this sale was, Audrey’s dress even beat out Dorothy’s ruby red slippers from The Wizard of Oz ($600,000), but not Marilyn Monroe’s “Happy Birthday Mr. President” dress ($1.15 million) both sold by Christie’s in the past. (But then again, Marilyn’s dress wasn’t from a movie, so does it really count?)
Thornton’s Davy Crockett vest from 2004’s Alamo didn’t get a Tiffany price, nor come anywhere close to it. If anything, the bid it received at the Cody Old West auction held this June 21-22 more resembles the value of the Cracker Jacks ring that Paul had engraved for Hepburn’s character.
What’s cool about the vest is that it isn’t a “real phony, baby.” The vest is not some designer’s cuckoo idea of what someone who is most known for his coonskin cap would have considered fashionable when he set foot on the battlefield that fateful day in 1836. Costume Designer Daniel Orlandi actually replicated all of Crockett’s clothing, right down to the embroidered buckskin vest, which sold for $900. You can see the original vest on display at the real Alamo in San Antonio, Texas.
Sometimes Hollywood does get it right. And that, my friends, is worth more than anything at Tiffany’s—or at least it should be.
Roy's First Fringe Shirt
It’s hard to imagine Roy Rogers without a fringe shirt, but it was an original 1947 shirt designed by Marge Riley that set him apart from all the other cowboy movie stars. Sold with a Movies Magazine and a #137 Dell Roy Rogers Comics that showed Roy wearing the fringe shirt; $6,000.
Crazy for Patsy
Jessica Lange portrayed Patsy Cline, the first female solo artist inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame, in 1985’s Sweet Dreams. The costume Lange wore during her character’s performance of “Walking After Midnight” on the Arthur Godfrey Show sold for $1,900. Designed by Ann Roth, the costume is an accurate replica of the types of outfits worn by the Country superstar.
The Female Elvis
The very sexy Ann-Margret hires John Wayne and company to recover the gold that her deceased husband was accused of stealing in 1973’s The Train Robbers. Her buckskin color cotton weave shirt and russet color pants from the film both bear Western Costume labels; $900.
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