Judy Garland’s dress from The Wizard of Oz expected to fetch up to $1.2m at auction

A dress worn by Dorothy in the classic 1939 film The Wizard of Oz is expected to sell for up to $1.2m (£935,000) at auction.

The dress was worn by the iconic Hollywood actress Judy Garland in the scene where Dorothy faces the Wicked Witch of the West in the Witch’s Castle.

The blue and white gingham print dress is one of only two worn by Garland in the film that had a white blouse attached.

The other one fetched over $1.5m, just over £1m at the time, at Bonhams in New York in 2015.

The second dress is estimated to sell for between $800,000 (£620,000) and $1.2m (£935,000) when it is goes up for auction at the Bonhams Classic Hollywood: Film and Television sale in Los Angeles on 24 May.

The dress is being sold by the Catholic University of America in Washington DC.

It was originally gifted to the university’s former head of drama, Reverend Gilbert Hartke, by Mercedes McCambridge, a Hollywood actress and artist in residence at the university in 1973.

After going missing in the 1980s, the costume was recently discovered, and proceeds of the sale will benefit the department of drama.

Helen Hall, director of popular culture at Bonhams in Los Angeles, said: “This dress has an incredible history and Bonhams is honoured to be a part of its journey.

“Important costumes from this iconic movie rarely appear on the auction market and to be able to pinpoint the scene in which this was worn by Judy Garland is thrilling.”

The Cowardly Lion costume from the movie sold for nearly $3.1m, around £2m at the time, in 2014.