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Elizabeth Taylor’s first wedding dress, designed by Helen Rose, comes up at Christie’s

sale of Pop Culture in South Kensington on June 26.  It was worn for Taylor’s wedding to Conrad “Nicky” Hilton Jr. in 1950.  Taylor, then 18, was already a veteran actress and celebrated star.  The wedding was attended by 700 guests with stars including Greer Garson, Gene Kelly, Ginger Rogers, Fred Astaire, Esther Williams and Van Johnson.

The list included co-stars Spencer Tracy and Joan Bennett from Father of the Bride (1950) which MGM scheduled for release weeks after the wedding.  The dress is estimated at £30,000-50,000. A gift from MGM it was designed by their legendary costume designer.

With its 25 yards of shell white sating embellished with bugle beads and seed pearls, trailed by a 15 yard satin train, it was typical of the type of elegant design for which Helen Rose was known.   Elizabeth Taylor’s appreciation of this dress far outlived the marriage. Photographs of it have appeared all over the world, from newspapers and tabloids to LIFE magazine.

The status of the celebrated film star and humanitarian as a style icon continues to be legendary.  When the auctioneer’s gavel fell on the last lot of the complete Elizabeth Taylor collection at Christie’s in 2012 the grand total for the collection amounted to a staggering $183,483,694 dollars or £117,249,761 sterling or  141,036,143 euro. Every one of 1,817 lots of her fine art, jewelry, fashion, decorative arts and memorabilia was sold, often high above the estimate.