In the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz, American entertainer Judy Garland wore a blue-and-white dress for her seminal role as Dorothy Gale throughout the film. Also nicknamed the "Dorothy dress", it was designed for the film by MGM costume designer Adrian, who based it on L. Frank Baum's description of Dorothy's dress in his children's book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900). Several copies of the dress were made for Garland to wear during production, which were styled to make her appear younger and thinner on camera. The complete outfit consists of a checked blue-and-white gingham pinafore worn over a cream-colored blouse. It is often paired with ruby slippers, another famous clothing item from the film.
The dress was sewn on a treadle sewing machine to help it appear authentically homemade. Considerably modest in comparison to most of the film's costumes, the garment's simple, youthful design is meant to represent Dorothy's innocence, while its bright color symbolizes the character's journey from mundane Kansas to the vibrant Land of Oz, which were filmed in sepia tone and Technicolor, respectively. The "Dorothy dress" is often credited with helping popularize the use of gingham fabric in women's fashion during the 20th century, following the film's release in 1939.
Eventually becoming synonymous with Garland's public image, the character of Dorothy, and The Wizard of Oz, the dress is one of the most famous costumes in cinematic history. In the decades since the film's release, various original copies of the dress have been acquired, owned, and sold by different individuals. Several auction houses have sold the dress for upwards of a million dollars, making it one of the most valuable costumes in film history. The second of only two complete surviving dresses has been the subject of a lawsuit over ownership since 2022, renewing public interest in the garment.
History In L. Frank Baum's 1900 children's novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, main character Dorothy Gale selects a checked blue-and-white gingham dress from her closet to wear to the Emerald City. American actress and singer Judy Garland wore a blue-and-white dress to play the character in MGM's 1939 film adaptation of the book, which was the only costume she wore for the entire film. The dress was designed by costume designer Adrian, who designed several other costumes for the film, including Dorothy's famed pair of ruby slippers. As MGM's main costumier at the time, Dorothy's simple frock was a significant deviation from the glamorous gowns Adrian had previously designed for some of the era's most prolific actresses. He made 8–10 different prototypes of the dress before settling on its final checked design, which resembled the outfit Baum described in his novel. Early concepts of the dress included a red version and an entirely blue version with polka dot trim, as well as a matching blouse adorned with blue bows on its sleeves and collar. Garland wore the dress with a blond wig and heavy makeup. The solid-blue dress does not appear in the final film and was only used during the first two weeks of filming in 1938 under director Richard Thorpe, who was briefly replaced by George Cukor upon leaving the project. Cukor re-styled Garland's dress and her natural hair into pigtails to better resemble a young girl from Kansas, which ultimately became her final appearance under director Victor Fleming.
Filmmakers opted for the checked dress in an effort to make the then 16-year-old Garland appear closer in age to her 12-year-old orphan character. Producers also felt the pattern blurred Garland's figure, which made her appear slimmer on camera, and styled and cut the dress to help her appear younger. Garland also wore a tight-fitting corset to suppress her breasts, which were further bound by a sewn-in panel. Several identical versions of the final dress were made for Garland to wear during filming, with some researchers believing at least 10 were created. The Wizard of Oz Museum has verified seven. At the time, it was common for film studios to create multiple copies of a single costume or prop to avoid having to halt production should an item be lost or damaged. At the time of the film's release, the media speculated that Garland had worn through all dresses during production, although film historian John Fricke contends that this number was exaggerated, and she likely wore closer to 4–6. According to The Guardian and British Vogue, Garland is thought to have worn only two of the dresses on screen. Each dress was made from cheap gingham and sewn roughly using a treadle sewing machine to appear as though it had been homemade by Dorothy's Aunt Em. Adrian had sourced the gingham material during a trip to Appalachia. According to HuffPost senior editor Caroline Bologna, the fabric was considered a natural choice for Dorothy, a Kansas native, since the pattern was most popular throughout the Great Plains during the early 20th century. The blouse Garland wore underneath was delicate and often prone to tearing when Garland removed it after filming. The film's seamstresses complained about having to repair it almost daily in time for the next shoot.
Since the beginning of the film was shot in black-and-white and sepia tone to emphasize the drab, uninteresting nature of Dorothy's Kansas farm home, audiences do not see the dress's true color until Dorothy is magically transported to Oz, which was filmed in Technicolor. A grey version of the dress (the only one of its kind) was created specifically for the moment the film transitions from sepia to color, but was never worn by Garland herself. Instead, Garland's body double, Bobbie Koshay, was filmed from behind wearing the grey dress while opening the farmhouse door, revealing the colorful Munchkinland through the doorframe. The farmhouse interior was also re-painted sepia for the scene to match Koshay's dress. Koshay slowly backs out of frame to be replaced by Garland wearing the bright blue dress as she ventures into Munchkinland for the first time. Despite being widely perceived as blue and white, the dress was actually blue and light pink, which was considered easier to capture in Technicolor, a new medium at the time.
Garland found the shoot difficult for several reasons, one of which was some of the actors playing Munchkins allegedly groped her repeatedly underneath her dress. After completing The Wizard of Oz, MGM re-used most of Dorothy's dresses in subsequent films.
Design and analysis The dress consists of a fitted bodice, to which straps are affixed to its front and back by two mother-of-pearl buttons. According to an auction listing, the buttons give the garment the illusion of buttoning at both the wearer's front and back waist. Made from cotton gingham, the skirt was equipped with a deep hidden pocket on its right-side seam. The pinafore is usually worn over a high-necked cream-colored organdy blouse with puffed short sleeves, embellished with blue ribbons, and often incongruously paired with ruby slippers. Both the pinafore and blouse are fastened at the back using a hook-and-eye closure. Dorothy wears black saddle shoes before her footwear is replaced with ruby slippers.
The complete ensemble is understated compared to the outfits other characters wear in Oz, which alludes to Dorothy's shy, innocent nature, and humble farm upbringing. In her book The Hundred Dresses (2013), lexicographer Erin McKean defined the "Dorothy dress" as any dress a main female character wears upon finding herself embarking on an unexpected adventure, usually for their first time. According to journalist and fashion editor Jess Cartner-Morley, Dorothy's dress and wholesome image embody the film's "no place like home" message. CNN writer Hilary Whiteman believes the mundaneness of Dorothy's costume was a deliberate choice made by MGM to emphasize the difference between the girl from Kansas and the fantastical world based on Baum's imagination. Similarly, Profiles in History founder Joseph Maddalena said in The Hollywood Reporter that the dress establishes Dorothy has traveled from "boring" Kansas to Oz.
According to various critics, the color blue is symbolic in the context of Dorothy's dress. In the original book, the Munchkins assume Dorothy is a friendly witch because, according to them, only witches and sorcerers wear white, while Munchkins themselves wear blue. The Colour of Fashion (2022) author Caroline Young stated that female characters such as Dorothy are dressed in blue, a traditionally masculine color, to symbolize the act stepping outside of their comfort zones in pursuit of freedom or adventure. Courtney Gisriel of Today and Calin Van Paris of Allure also observed that Dorothy and other female characters wear blue to indicate that they will soon be embarking on a new, unfamiliar adventure.
Reception and impact According to David J. Hogan, author of The Wizard of Oz FAQ: All That's Left to Know About Life According to Oz (2014), the dress proved that Adrian was equally comfortable designing extravagant gowns as he was "a believable Kansas outfit", a sentiment shared by Jessica Pickens of DVD Netflix. Praising Adrian's work, Booth Moore of Women's Wear Daily described two versions of the pinafore as "so beautifully stitched ... it’s easy to understand how the MGM costume giant also had a successful fashion label". The Victoria and Albert Museum considers it to be one of the finest costumes designed for one of cinema's most famous characters. However, Christopher Laverty, author of Fashion in Film (2021), found the dress poorly-made with uneven stitching. Although Laverty acknowledged that the poor craftsmanship might have been intentional to match the character's farm girl image, the author believes Adrian's typical attention to detail more likely suffered from the film's tumultuous production.
Ultimately, the dress achieved international fame. Adrian's work on the "Dorothy dress" is credited with helping make gingham fashionable womenswear in the United States, prior to which the textile had often been used to make household furniture and children's clothing. During the early 20th century, gingham was already common among rural residents of the Great Plains, who appreciated its durability; the trend only became more popular once audiences saw it worn by Kansas native Dorothy for the first time. After the film was released in 1939, the dress was immediately embraced by mothers and daughters who wanted to emulate the style themselves. Its design was replicated and sold by several department stores, with sewing patterns being inserted into fashion magazines from the time period. Several toy companies created "Judy Garland" dolls beginning as early as 1939, many of which were dressed in her costume from The Wizard of Oz. The first composition Judy Garland doll debuted in Christmas 1939, with a blue gingham jumper and white organdy blouse designed by Mary Bauer that is a near-perfect replica of the original costume, with minor variations in the appearance of its collar and sleeves. Adrian later designed a gingham dress for actress Katharine Hepburn to wear in the film The Philadelphia Story (1941), which further established the pattern as a trend, and became a trademark of his work throughout his career.