By: Rose Storey
Have you ever been to an auction? An auction is where people provide items to sell and people wager money on the items they want. The highest price of money that someone wagers gets that item. Recently, there was an auction that people went to and one of the items that people could have gotten was a Leia dress from Star Wars. This was a very popular dress because this was the only dress they had left from the movie; many people are familiar with it. Many people would have thought it was sold right away, but that’s not really what happened.
When the Leia dress was at the auction, it was expected to get sold for a really high price. Unfortunately, it ended up unsold and the money that people thought they were going to get was lower than the minimum sale price amount. According to Reporter Emily Obsen, “The gown had been expected to fetch up to $2 million, with bids closing Wednesday. Instead, the dress went unsold, having failed to meet the seller’s minimum sale price. Bidders stopped short of the minimum price its owners required to make a sale ($1 million), with a final bid amount of $975,000.” This means that the person who was selling the dress wanted at least $1 million for it, but people didn’t want to pay that high of an amount, so it ended up being unsold.
Even though the Leia dress ended up unsold, why was it very popular? According to Reporter Emily Obsen, “The white gown serves as the focal point of the mise-en-scène. It’s even the last object visible as the final shot transitions to the director’s credit, in the movie equivalent of what’d be a final bow on stage. The dress is a real relic. It’s an absolute piece of film history.” This means that that dress was very important because it told about a lot of history. They remember how it was the last dress to be made and used for filming.
The Leia dress was the last dress to be used, but how did it end up being made? According to Reporter Emily Obsen, “A crew member had swiped the dress from the burn pile, according to Alinger. ’It was 10 or 12 years ago that we first became aware of the piece,’ he added. ’It was such a moment when we first learned of this and then, ultimately, when the Star Wars fandom learned that this piece still existed.’” This means that the Leia Dress was found from the burn pile, so it was torn and no one could use it. People used fabric and sewed up the dress to make it look as beautiful as they could. After it was sewn up, the Leia dress was able to become a star.
In conclusion, the Leia dress is very popular to many fans around the world. It has a ton of history and many people respect all it’s gone through. Many people loved how it was used in the movie Star Wars and really like seeing it. Even though it ended up unsold, many people still really love that dress today. The next time you see that same Leia dress, think about the history it’s gone through, and even you might learn something new about it.
Source:
Princess Leia dress from ‘Star Wars_ a New Hope’ has failed to sell at auction _ NPR.pdf (bubble.io)