Bids for Princess Leia’s Gown Did Not Reach the Minimum Sale Price

By: Johanna Wu

A gown worn by Star Wars’ Princess Leia, played by the actress Carrie Fisher, in the first film of the blockbuster space saga, A New Hope, was up for sale at this week’s NPR 24-Hour Program Stream On Air NowSponsor Message Entertainment Memorabilia Live Auction.

The gown was expected to reach up to 2 million dollars in bidding, but things did not go as well as the seller anticipated.

The highest bid for the gown was only 975,000 dollars, which wasn’t enough to reach the seller’s minimum sale price. So, the gown was left unsold.

The company behind the auction, Propstore, said it was still actively accepting post-auction offers on the gown.

While, the gown was thought to be long gone, a crew member had actually taken the gown from set and stored it in an attic. It is believed to be the only surviving costume to have been worn by Princess Leia in the film. It is Princess Leia’s ceremonial gown- a floor-sweeping dress made of silk with a silver-plated belt. The original production of the film had a relatively small budget of $11 million, so the costume team made just one ceremonial gown for filming and photos. That’s why the gown is so valuable.

“The dress is a real relic. It’s an absolute piece of film history,” said Brandon Alinger, the chief operating officer of Propstore. “When Star Wars fans see it, they stop in their tracks, they gasp a bit at the sight of it because they recognize the significance of it,” Alinger added.

Even though Princess Leia’s gown went unsold, there might be a chance that it will be offered again. “It may be sold after the auction in a private treaty sale, or may be re-offered again in a future auction,” the Propstore company said to NPR. This time, we won’t keep our hopes too high.

Sources: https://www.npr.org/2023/06/28/1184781055/princess-leia-dress-star-wars-auction#:~:text=An%20original%20Princess%20Leia%20dress,million%20at%20auction%2C%20went%20unsold&text=via%20Getty%20Images-,A%20dress%20worn%20by%20actress%20Carrie%20Fisher%20in%20the%201977,in%20Los%20Angeles%20this%20week.