Historical Treasures
“There’s No Place Like Home” The slippers that clicked Dorothy back to Kansas from Oz! United States of America, 1939
Designed by Gilbert Adrian, MGM’s costume designer, for actress Judy Garland to wear in her role as Dorothy in the 1939 movie, The Wizard Of Oz, these ruby slippers are now some of the most treasured pieces of movie history. Originally silver in L Frank Baum’s novel, the slippers were changed to a vibrant ruby red for the film as part of MGM’s decision to take full advantage of the new Technicolor technology that had hit the film industry in the 1930s. The result of MGM’s creative decision was that audiences were wowed and captivated by the film’s bright and vibrant colours, particularly as Garland’s feet sparkled as she danced down the bright yellow brick road.
To achieve the slippers’ now iconic ruby red look, Adrian took a pair of white slippers, dyed them red, painted the soles red, attached a red netting around the outside, and then added around 2,400 red sequins and a bow to make them shine. Due to the importance of these slippers to the movie, and the various uses they had during filming, many pairs were made. The two slippers pictured are actually not a pair that belong together, these two US size 5 slippers are actually part of pairs #1 and #6 made for the film. The other slippers that belong to pairs #1 and #6 are part of the pair that was stolen in 2005 from the Judy Garland Museum, which was recovered in an FBI operation in 2018.
Fast approaching their 85th birthday, these slippers have deteriorated during their life, as they were worn heavily by Garland during production and then left in an MGM warehouse alongside other Wizard Of Oz props with little climate control or protection until the 1970s. Upon their discovery, they were handed to the Smithsonian for preservation and put on a display, where they suffered light damage. However,
