Dress worn by Vivien Leigh in Gone With The Wind sold for $137,000

A grey and black dress worn by Vivien Leigh in her role as Scarlett O’Hara in Gone with the Wind has sold for $137,000 at an auction in California.

The outfit from the 1939 film, featuring black appliques, was one of more than 150 items from the film up for auction by Dallas-based Heritage Auctions in Beverly Hills on Saturday.

The items were part of the private collection of James Tumblin, formerly in charge of the hair and makeup department at Universal Studios.

Tumblin began collecting screen costumes, props and behind-the-scenes artefacts from the film in the 1960s, amassing a collection of more than 300,000 pieces of memorabilia, according to Heritage Auction officials.

During a visit to the Western Costume Company he spotted the Scarlett O’Hara dress on the floor. He learned that the dress was about to be thrown away and negotiated a deal to buy it for $20, according to Heritage Auction.

Tumblin has “devoted his life and efforts to promoting Hollywood and this film, touring his items throughout the United States”, Kathleen Guzman, managing director of Heritage Auctions in New York, said in a statement.

Other top selling items from the auction were a straw hat worn by Leigh that sold for $52,500; the trousers and jacket from a suit worn by Clark Gable as Rhett Butler, selling for $55,000; and a black bonnet worn by both Leigh and Olivia De Havilland as Melanie Wilkes, which fetched $30,000.