The first of screen legend Elizabeth Taylor’s eight wedding gown will go under the hammer in London next month.<\/p>\n
Elizabeth’s first wedding, to hotel tycoon Conrad ‘Nicky’ Hilton, took place in Hollywood in 1950 when she was just 18 years old.<\/p>\n
Her gown, a gift from MGM studios, was a beautiful oyster shell-coloured, floor-length satin garment designed by MGM’s chief costume designer Helen Rose, who was also responsible for Princess Grace of Monaco’s iconic wedding dress.<\/p>\n
It is said to have taken 15 seamstresses nearly three months to sew and features a silk gauze off-the-shoulder illusion neckline, long, fitted sleeves, and the neckline, bodice, cuffs and skirt are embroidered with simulated seed pearls and glass bugle beads in a foliate motif.<\/p>\n
The gown, which boasts a mere 20-inch waist, was topped off with a matching Juliet cap and is expected to sell for up to $75,000.<\/p>\n
Among the guests at Liz’s first wedding were Hollywood’s A-list, including Gene Kelly, Ginger Rogers, Fred Astaire and Esther Williams.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, the wedding lasted less than a year, however, the violet-eyed actress went on to marry seven more times (to six other men) before dying in 2011 of congestive heart failure.<\/p>\n
She was 79.<\/p>\n
Previous auctions of items from Elizabeth Taylor’s estate have attracted a whopping $210 million in sales, making her the highest-earning deceased celebrity. Most of that was the result of sales of her extensive collection of jewellery, artwork and clothing.<\/p>\n
Taylor’s wedding dress will be sold by auction house Christies in London on June 26.<\/p>\n