Costume Design Gouache & Pencil Sketches, ca. 1945
GUEST: They came from my great-grandmother who, uh, worked in the studios. The lore is that they would hand these to the drapers, and my grandmother was one of the drapers, and they would be told to make them. When they were done with them, they'd throw them out, and she would go to the trash and just collect 'em. Especially if it was she that did the dress, or she knew the female lead, or whoever was in the scenes.
APPRAISER: Very cool-- well, they're obviously hard-working drawings, as we would say. (both laugh)
GUEST: There's thumb tacks everywhere. There's coffee everywhere. There's pencil adjustments on them, notes, all kinds of things, yeah.
APPRAISER: Well, you've watched the ANTIQUES ROADSHOW, you hear us often say, "Condition is everything."
GUEST: Yeah.
APPRAISER: And this is one of those rare cases where, yes, condition matters, however, the types of condition issues you have here are such, as we call it, honest wear, it shows that they were functional production pieces, which is what we like to see; they're fascinating. This one has some information on the back that identifies Rita and "You Excite Me" number. And down here, we actually have "Rita Hayworth." And that's really great to have, 'cause we like to see that, that it was actually used.
GUEST: Yeah!
APPRAISER: The department that created the costumes, there were so many different jobs. You mentioned that your great-grandmother was a draper.
GUEST: Yes.
APPRAISER: They had cutters; they had patterners. So there were many people involved in the process of doing it. And these were created by the designer. So this is what their concept was for the costumes for a film. It seems that most of the pieces you have here are from the 1940s roughly. We have a combination of gouache on board and pencil. And some of these even have some much more fun metallic paints. You brought a whole stack of these into the table. And I chose these for a purpose. And the purpose I chose them for is because we have a bit of a good, better, best here. And when I say that, it's because most of the value in drawings is, who is it of, and what film is it from? The one closest to you, what, what drew your eye about that one?
GUEST: My grandmother said it was Elizabeth Taylor, and this was from the film Cleopatra. And on the back, you can see where they actually changed some of the draping in the skirt design and were adjusting it right on the pattern. She just thought that made it extra-special.
APPRAISER: The reason I put that down on towards you is because we have no identifying marks on that one to clearly identify it as Elizabeth, and her face is turned away. It's possible that it is Elizabeth, but there were also so many extras in that film that were wearing similar garments that we can't say for sure. Without that information, a piece like that at auction, it might be in the $300 to $500 range. The middle one, what I love is that there, there's no question that this is Lucille Ball. We can see her face very clearly, and there's no doubt about it. What we don't know is which film this is from. It's also possible, which happens a lot, is that we see costumes like this, and maybe the scene that they were used for gets cut from the film. And when you can't identify it, but you know it is someone famous, it has a different value. Now, Lucille Ball did so many showgirl roles in her early days in Hollywood that clearly it's from something like that.
GUEST: Yeah.
APPRAISER: We just can't nail it down. So without knowing, but knowing it's Lucille, it's more in the $800 to $1,200 range. Now, this one, I already sh, showed the back of it that has the "Rita Hayworth." It also gives us some further information, that it's from the "You Excite Me" number. And that number is actually from a film in 1945, a musical called Tonight and Every Night. And...
GUEST: Oh, wow.
APPRAISER: ...that film was nominated for two Academy Awards.
GUEST: Oh!
APPRAISER: And that particular number from that movie, "You Excite Me," is actually considered one of Rita Hayworth's best musical numbers...
GUEST: Oh, my gosh!
APPRAISER: ...captured on film. So you have the best one over here.
GUEST: Wow.
APPRAISER: I pulled some clips from that scene, and this is the outfit she's wearing on screen.
GUEST: Oh, no kidding! (laughs) I've never looked it up. They've just been family pictures.
APPRAISER: Because we have a big star and a moment we can identify, with a costume that was used on screen, this would be more in the $3,000 to $5,000 range.
GUEST: (exhales sharply) Wow. (chuckling): For studio trash, wow. (voice breaking): Who'd a thought? Certainly not me. (chuckles) Thank you. (laughs): Unbelievable. (voice breaking): I never think of it as money. They're just friends. They're my grandmother.
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Understanding Our Appraisals
Executive producer Marsha Bemko shares her tips for getting the most out of ANTIQUES ROADSHOW.
Value can change: The value of an item is dependent upon many things, including the condition of the object itself, trends in the market for that kind of object, and the location where the item will be sold. These are just some of the reasons why the answer to the question "What's it worth?" is so often "It depends."
Note the date: Take note of the date the appraisal was recorded. This information appears in the upper left corner of the page, with the label "Appraised On." Values change over time according to market forces, so the current value of the item could be higher, lower, or the same as when our expert first appraised it.
Context is key: Listen carefully. Most of our experts will give appraisal values in context. For example, you'll often hear them say what an item is worth "at auction," or "retail," or "for insurance purposes" (replacement value). Retail prices are different from wholesale prices. Often an auctioneer will talk about what she knows best: the auction market. A shop owner will usually talk about what he knows best: the retail price he'd place on the object in his shop. And though there are no hard and fast rules, an object's auction price can often be half its retail value; yet for other objects, an auction price could be higher than retail. As a rule, however, retail and insurance/replacement values are about the same.
Verbal approximations: The values given by the experts on ANTIQUES ROADSHOW are considered "verbal approximations of value." Technically, an "appraisal" is a legal document, generally for insurance purposes, written by a qualified expert and paid for by the owner of the item. An appraisal usually involves an extensive amount of research to establish authenticity, provenance, composition, method of construction, and other important attributes of a particular object.
Opinion of value: As with all appraisals, the verbal approximations of value given at ROADSHOW events are our experts' opinions formed from their knowledge of antiques and collectibles, market trends, and other factors. Although our valuations are based on research and experience, opinions can, and sometimes do, vary among experts.
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