Juliens will hold the largest ever auction of Princess Diana’s wardrobe in Beverly Hills on June 26. More than 200 lots will come under the hammer. A week before the collection goes live, Princess Diana items will be on exhibition in Newbridge, Ireland at The Museum of Style Icons (MOSI) from mid May until mid June 2025. The auction will feature pieces from British royal history, including couture garments from the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, and historic items belonging to Queen Elizabeth II, the Queen Mother, and royal treasures dating as far back as the 19th century. In 2023 one of Diana’s gowns sold for $1.14 million at Julien’s and in 2024 a pair of her shoes achieved $390,000 at auction.
Telegram requesting a list of Titanic survivors on the Olympic
Titanic memorabilia or the early days of transatlantic aviation? The choice is yours at Julien’s online and live in California on February 27. Among a collection of Titanic relics are two telegrams from rescue ships Carpathia and the Olympic. One to Captain Herbert Haddock of the Olympic from the International Mercantile Marine Co. in New York requests a list of every survivor on the Carpathia, the other is from 2nd Class passenger Lucy Ridsdale to her sister in Milwaukee saying “safe”. There are serviceware items from Titanic and an envelope signed by all four surviving ships officers.
Another lot of local interest is the Pan Am 1938 Air Trails magazine and cover artwork of the Boeing 314 Clipper Flying Boat. There are no B314’s left today and the only full scale replica in existence is at the Foynes Flying Boat and Maritime Museum in Co. Limerick. This museum re-opens on March 15 after a winter break.
Pan Am 1938 Air Trails magazine and cover artwork of the Boeing 314 Clipper Flying Boat.
A print of Banksy’s “Girl with Balloon” embossed with the P.O.W. (Pictures on Walls) seal sold for $104,000 at Julien’s auction of the Steve Lazarides archive in Los Angeles last night. Hundreds of bidders and collectors from around the world vying took part in the sale of a collection unseen in over 25 years. It was put together by his closest associate and partner Steve Lazarides and featured Banksy’s early career sketches and handwritten raw notes that would forge his signature style. Girl with Balloon, estimated at ¢60,000, was the top selling lot. Banksy’s Hooded Figure, an original painting, made $78,000.
This Victor Edelstein magenta silk and lace evening dress sold for $910,000 (€849,890).
Celebrity adds value and when it comes to Princess Diana it does so in spades. A collection of her most famous gowns, suits, handbags and accessories was sold out at Julien’s in Hollywood in a sale that brought in $5.5 million (€5.13 million). Many of the pieces in the sale drew crowds to viewings at the Museum of Style Icons in Kildare in June and in Hong Kong, New York and Los Angeles.
The top lot was a magenta silk and lace evening dress by Victor Edelstein. It made $910,000 (€849,890) over a top estimate of $200,000 (€186,570). A navy blue silk blouse by Edelstein made $76,200 (€71,083) over a top estimate of $6,000 (€5,597). A midnight blue strapless tulle diamante star gown designed by Murray Arbeid made $780,000 (€727,620) over a top estimate of $200,000 (€186,570). A pair of Ferragamo pumps made $127,000 (€118,470). No less than 15 of the top lots went to Renae Plant, owner of the Princess Diana Museum in Los Angeles.
A signed Jacques Azagury illustration for a 1995 black evening gown made for Princess Diana.
Prince’s original “Cloud 3” electric guitar used in his iconic ’80s-’90s tours from Purple Rain to Diamonds & Pearls, set a new world record for the most expensive Prince guitar ever sold at auction when it made $910,000 at Julien’s Music Icons sale in New York. Bono’s iconic U2 signed 2005 Gretsch G6136i “Irish Falcon” sold for $260,000, Steve Jones’ custom 1974 Gibson Les Paul electric guitar, recently verified as the punk rock icon’s true original and iconic Sex Pistols axe, sold for $390,000, Adam Clayton’s Fender Rose Sparkle Precision bass guitar from the U2 Las Vegas residency sold for $260,000, ans Cliff Williams’ circa 1980s AC/DC teal double cutaway precision style bass guitar with eight mother of pearl inlaid “penis” motifs sold for $22,750.
John Lennon’s long-lost Framus 12-string Hootenanny acoustic guitar, used in the recording of The Beatles’ Help! album and film and many other seminal hits from the 1960’s will headline Julien’s Auctions’ Music Icons two-day auction event at the Hard Rock Cafe in New York on May 29 and 30. Considered the most important Beatles guitar ever to come to market it is expected to exceed its estimate of $600,000 – $800,000 and set a new world record for the highest-selling Beatles guitar. The guitar can be heard on “Help!” “You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away”, “It’s Only Love” and “I’ve Just Seen A Face” and more. The Framus Hootenanny 12-string can also be heard on the The Beatles’ recording of “Girl” during the Rubber Soul sessions and on the rhythm track for “Norwegian Wood” played by George Harrison. By the mid to late 60s, the famous Framus was in the possession of Gordon Waller of Peter & Gordon, who later gave the Hootenanny 12-string guitar to their road managers. It was recently discovered in an attic in the rural British countryside where it had lain forgotten and unplayed for over 50 years.
MARILYN MONROE’S PINK PUCCI DRESS SOLD FOR $325,000
With over eight thousand bids online, and on the phone, from countries across each continent such as the United States, Canada, Great Britain, France, the Netherlands, Mexico, Monaco, Zimbabwe, Brazil, Germany, and Hong Kong the ICONS: PLAYBOY, HUGH HEFNER X MARILYN MONROE sale at Julien’s Auctions realised over $4 million. Though the two Hollywood icons remarkably never met, Hugh Hefner’s and Marilyn Monroe’s legacies became inextricably linked when Monroe appeared in Hefner’s inaugural 1953 issue of Playboy. In that moment, they gained worldwide fame becoming two important figures of twentieth-century America and Playboy establishing itself as an iconic global brand.
The most expensive lot of the three day sale was Monroe’s pink Pucci long-sleeved dress of silk jersey which sold for $325,000, the top selling lot of the event that set a new world record of most expensive Pucci dress sold at auction. Monroe’s The Seven Year Itch costume– a Mae West-inspired black and cellophane effect evening gown designed by legendary costume designer William Travilla worn by Monroe in the classic 1955 film’s dream sequence scene, which was later cut from the film–sold for $127,000.
A letter from Jean Smith, one of the children to Rose and Joseph Kennedy and sister to John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy, Ted Kennedy, Eunice Kennedy Shriver and four other siblings that reads: “Dear Marilyn – Mother asked me to write and thank you for your sweet note to Daddy – He really enjoyed it and you were very cute to send it. / Understand that you and Bobby are the new item! We all think you should come with him when he comes back east! Again thanks for the note. / Love, Jean Smith” sold for $28,575, seven times its estimate of $4,000.
(photo left to right: Elizabeth Taylor’s Karl Lagerfeld caftan, Princess Diana’s Catherine Walker dress, Princess Grace’s Givenchy ensemble, Dior Galliano newsprint dress, tutu worn by Sarah Jessica Parker, Chanel ski suit and Paris Hilton’s Louis Verdad dress)
Princess Diana’s black silk velvet cocktail dress (estimated $100,000-$200,000) created by Catherine Walker sold for $325,000, over three times its original estimate of $100,000 at Julien’s in Hollywood. Worn to a private event it features an off-the-shoulder neckline, a princess-seamed bodice with boning, and bias-cut ivory satin accents sewn at the neckline, cuffs, and hem. A 1961 Givenchy ensemble worn to the White House by Princess Grace with Prince Rainier to meet President John F. Kennedy and First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy sold for $325,000 (original estimate: $250,000-$300,000). It consists of a “Kelly-green” wool, tweed sleeveless dress with a gathered skirt with an elbow-length sleeved tweed jacket worn with a white hat, which appears as flowers about to bloom. Sarah Jessica Parker’s three-tier tutu skirt worn in her iconic role of Carrie Bradshaw on Sex and the City turned sold for $52,000, six and a half times its original estimate of $8,000. The oyster white tulle three-tier tutu skirt with a matching satin waistband worn by Parker in her Emmy award winning role in the opening credits of the HBO series during its entire run from 1997-2004 was originally found for five dollars in a bin in New York by the show’s legendary costume designer Patricia Field. Another recognisable Sex and the City design made a sensational appearance when John Galliano for Christian Dior’s newsprint silk chiffon strapless gown with an asymmetrical ruffled flounce hemline hit the auction runway for $11,430 (estimate: $8,000 – $12,000). A Chanel 2001 nylon ski suit in pale green with silver hardware and logo zipper pulls that was featured in cream in the Chanel Identification winter ad campaign sold for $7,800 (original estimate: $1,500-$2,000)
Fender Stratocaster electric guitar smashed by Kurt Cobain
A lefty black Fender Stratocaster electric guitar smashed by Kurt Cobain, during Nirvana’s seminal Nevermind era made an astounding $595,000 – nearly ten times its original estimate of $60,000 – at Julien’s Music Icons sale at the Hard Rock Cafe in New York. The reassembled but unplayable guitar signed by all three members of Nirvana, Kurt Cobain, Krist Novoselic, and Dave Grohl, with additional inscriptions to Mark Lanegan (of Screaming Trees) by Cobain that read: “Hell-o Mark! Love, Your Pal, Kurdt Kobain / Washed up rockstar” as well as the inscription Boddah Lives engraved to the neck plate (referring to Cobain’s childhood imaginary friend) is housed in a black hard case with “Abort Christ” written on the top in white block letters and includes a white Ernie Ball guitar strap.
Bono’s 2002 Gretsch Irish Falcon electric guitar made $238,125. The guitar signed by all four members of U2 was donated by Bono when he was honored as the MusiCares Person of the Year in 2003. A devotee of the Gretsch 6196 Country Club, Bono commissioned ten Irish Falcon electric guitars from Gretsch in 2000. Over 1,200 pieces of music history from rock royalty owned and used by stars like Elvis Presley, The Beatles, Michael Jackson, Eddie Van Halen, Alex Lifeson, Freddie Mercury, Led Zeppelin, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, KISS, Mötley Crüe, Tom Petty, Lenny Kravitz, and more with special collections from Amy Winehouse, Bill Wyman, Bette Midler and Julian Lennon, sold in front of a live audience and online with thousands of bidders, fans and collectors from around the world participating at julienslive.com The three-day sale will close on today (May 21) with property from Janet Jackson.
Christine McVie’s wardrobe Including her vintage Rumours album cover worn maxi dress sold for $56,250 at Julien’s in Hollywood over the weekend. The sale featured over 800 lots from three iconic members of Fleetwood Mac including personal wardrobe, musical equipment, household furnishings, awards, memorabilia and more. A portion of the proceeds will benefit MusiCares, who honored Fleetwood Mac in 2018 as the organisation’s Person of the Year, to support the charity’s work providing critical services to underserved members of the music community.
An emotional moment of the auction was the sale of the collection of Christine McVie, who passed away three days before the event took place. The auction and catalogue of her most personal and professional items organised by Ms. McVie and her team with Julien’s a year ago represented the Songbird’s lifetime of great performances, recordings and songs as a member of one of the best-selling groups of all time, Fleetwood Mac, and as a legendary solo artist.
Highlights included: the GRAMMY® Award- winner’s vintage maxi dress which sold for $56,250, five times its original estimate of $10,000. Christine McVie’s iconic instruments including her Leslie Rotary speaker and microphones sold for $37,500, thirty-seven times its original estimate, touring Hammond B3 organ made $28,125, Yamaha E3 Series Disklavier electric five-foot baby grand piano sold for $22,400 and Hammond B3 Organ, stage-played sold for $18,750
