After finding the Dorothy dress stuck in a white trash bag above their faculty mail slots during renovations (seriously), The Catholic University decided to sell the valuable costume, and it is scheduled to be auctioned by Bonhams New York on May 24, according to CNBC. That is, unless the niece of the long-dead priest, Barbara Hartke, is successful in blocking the sale. Hartke has sued both The Catholic University and the auction house, claiming that the dress doesn’t belong to the university, it belongs to her uncle’s estate.
This is now the second iconic dress to cause a giant controversy this week. The first, of course, being Kim Kardashian wearing Marilyn Monroe’s “Happy Birthday Mr. President” dress to the Met Gala — which is technically owned by Ripley’s Believe It Or Not and which did not technically fit her, via BuzzFeed. We at least don’t think that the priest’s niece is planning to wear Dorothy’s blue dress from 1939 to any events. But who really knows.
Nicki
