Lost and bloodied Princess Leia dress from ‘Star Wars’ up for $2M auction

nypost.com:

Star Wars” was lying crunched up in a plastic bag in a London home.Now fully restored, the iconic gown is going up for public auction for the first time and is expected to fetch at least $2 million.The medieval-style dress worn by Carrie Fisher in 1977’s “Star Wars: A New Hope” is the only Princess Leia outfit from that film which has ever been discovered.“When I was first told about the dress, I simply couldn’t believe it,” props collector Stephen Lane told The Post. “I’ve been collecting for 30 years and I think it’s one of the most exciting finds of my career.”It had been kept by a member of the British crew as a memento, while many of the other costumes from the film were thrown away.

Lane was given the tip about the dress by a fellow collector 10 years ago. “Collectors had been searching for nearly 40 years and everyone had come to the conclusion that it didn’t exist anymore.

No one had found any Princess Leia costumes,” he recalled. “But then I went to meet this former crew member and hanging on the back of a door in his office was this ratty old plastic bag — and balled up in the bottom of the plastic bag was the dress.

It was in a really poor condition but instantly recognizable, partly because of the belt.“It all came out grubby and torn, but it was also astonishing because it was clear that it was the real thing.”The silk dress was designed by John Mollo, who won an Oscar for the film, and made by leading costume house Bermans and Nathans in conjunction with a French dressmaker.