Theres no place like the V&A. The Victoria and Albert museum will be bringing the iconic ruby slippers worn by Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz to the museum this month as part of the new exhibition ‘Hollywood Costume’.
The shoes worn by Judy Garland in the film will be on display for the first time ever. This pair of sparkling slippers are on loan from the Smithsonian National Museum of American History in Washington. When being displayed at the V&A they will also be reunited for the first time with Dorothy’s blue-and-white gingham dress since filming finished in 1938.
The slippers have only been loaned for a short period of time, between the launch of the exhibition on October 20th until November 18th so they can be returned in time to the U.S for Thanksgiving. The Wizard of Oz is shown every year in the States as a Thanksgiving film.
It has taken the V&A senior guest creator over five years to secure the slippers for the exhibition! They were originally made in 1938, covered in red sequins sewn onto fine chiffon, with bows edged with red glass beads. The colour of the slippers is actually a deep garnet which shone a ruby-red under the film lighting.
The rest of the exhibition will feature over “100 of the most iconic and unforgettable film characters from a century of Hollywood filmmaking, 1912–2012” including most recently, Captain Jack Sparrow’s pirate costume from Pirates of the Caribbean.
Hollywood Costume will run at the V&A until 27th January 2013. I will be heading down as soon as I can to see the ruby slippers before they are shipped away again! TBC…
This post may contain affiliate links, meaning when you click the links and make a purchase, we can receive a commission.
1 Comment
Sonia
October 5, 2012 at 17:30Hey I wanna see it too – let’s make it a date! 😀