Lucille Ball’s signature polka dot dress has sold at a celebrity auction house in California for $168,000 US.
At a recent Profiles in History sale, the “signature Lucy Ricardo polka dot dress designed by Elois Jenssen for I Love Lucy” sold for $140,000 (all figures US), with auction house fees bringing the total to $168,000.
“Without question, this is the ‘Holy Grail’ of all female television costumes,” according to Profiles in History. The dress sold for far more than its expected take of $40,000 to $60,000.
Jenssen was an Academy Award-winning costume designer for film and television, who made costumes for films including Cry Danger and Phone Call from a Stranger. She won an Oscar for Best Costume Design in 1951 for her work on Samson and Delilah.
Dozens of other memorabilia items from I Love Lucy also crossed the auction block the same day, including autographs from Lucille Ball and several of Jenssen’s dress design sketches for the actress.



Publicity photo of the I Love Lucy cast: Willi...
I Love Lucy ran from 1951 to 1957 and starred real-life husband and wife Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball as Lucy and Ricky Ricardo. One of the most popular American television shows of all time, it’s still syndicated in multiple languages around the world.
The full listing of items sold at the auction run the gamut from scripts and costumes to pinball machines.
Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine costume from X-Men sold for $22,000, while Tom Cruise’s “Charlie Babbitt” suit from Rain Man sold for $30,000. A pair of prop copies of The Daily Planet from Superman: The Movie sold for a total of $750.