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.