Julia Roberts’ iconic red dress in Pretty Woman, Alicia Silverstone’s yellow plaid outfit in Clueless, Uma Thurman’s yellow tracksuit in Kill Bill, Diane Keaton’s waistcoat and tie in Annie Hall…
There are hundreds of iconic film costumes that have been worn on the big screen across the decades – but there’s also one that stands out in particular. And oh, ‘[it’s] the one that I want’: Olivia Newton-John’s black biker outfit (as ‘bad girl Sandy’) in the 1978 musical Grease.
Iconic props and costumes from film sets have long remained coveted pieces, often seeing fierce and competitive bidding when they are put up for auction from avid fans and collectors alike, such as James Bond’s Aston Martin, which recently sold for over £5 million.
See also: Pierce Brosnan Wants to See a Female Bond
It’s therefore no surprise that character Sandy’s iconic outfit from the end of the film, comprising skinny black pants, an off-the-shoulder top and leather jacket, sold for over double its estimate to fetch US$405,700 (£314,500) at Julien’s Auctions in their ‘Property From The Collection of Olivia Newton-John’ sale.
The outfit sold alongside other pieces from the film, such as the original Grease script and a custom ‘Pink Ladies’ jacket, as well as the pink gown Newton-John wore to the Grease premiere. The auction’s final proceeds were reported as US$2.4 million (£1.86 mil), which will go towards Newton-John’s cancer treatment centre, the Olivia Newton-John Cancer Wellness and Research Centre.
In a recent 60 Minutes interview, the Australian actress spoke about her 2017 cancer diagnosis – her third one, having been previously diagnosed with the disease in 1992 and 2013. Newton-John said in the interview, “I see it as something in my body that I'm getting rid of. I don't talk about a battle or a war. I let it go and tell it to leave and talk to my body and tell it to heal itself.”
