By: Jenna Zhang

In the 1977 Star Wars film, “A New Hope,” Princess Leia wore an original gown designed specifically for the film. Now, this gown was recently out for sale at the Entertainment Memorabilia Live Auction.

According to the article “An original Princess Leia dress, expected to fetch $2 million at auction, went unsold,” the frock of the gown is made of slim-fitting silk with a silver-plated belt near the waist. This gown helped its designer, John Mollo, win the Oscar award for best costume design at the 50th annual Academy Awards in March 1978.

With bids closing on June 28th, the gown was expected to fetch 2 million dollars, with the seller’s minimum price being 1 million dollars. Instead, the final bid amount was only $975,000, stopping short of 1 million dollars.

The company that ran the auction, Propstore, said they were still accepting post-auction offers on the gown. In a statement to NPR, the company said: “It may be sold after the auction in a private-treaty sale, or may be re-offered again in a future auction.”

Brandon Alinger, the chief operating officer of Propstore, said a crew member had swiped the gown from the burn pile. The gown was then stored inside an attic in London.

It took restoration teams eight months to remove the dust that had gathered on the gown and close holes that had opened on the gown’s fragile areas.

Given the price the gown was supposed to sell at, the gown may end up on display instead of being worn.

Sources: https://eb18600f7bb2916037f5ee8e636ce199.cdn.bubble.io/f1688330928606x195711938448681180/Princess%20Leia%20dress%20from%20%27Star%20Wars_%20a%20New%20Hope%27%20has%20failed%20to%20sell%20at%20auction%20_%20NPR.pdf