Wizard of Oz ruby slippers go on display in London

An original pair of red glitter slippers worn by Judy Garland in the famous film The Wizard of Oz are going on display in central London.

The slippers, one of only four surviving pairs made for the film, were worn by the child actress in several important scenes, including the ending where she clicks her heels together three times while saying: “There’s no place like home.”

They will be on show at Heritage Auctions’ London saleroom and offices in Hanover Street from 28 November until 5 December as part of an international exhibition.

The shoes will then be auctioned off in Los Angeles on 7 December, with a guide price of £2.3m to £3.8m ($2.9m to $4.8m).

The red sequin slippers were designed by Gilbert Adrian, the chief costume designer at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM).

Several prototypes were made and rejected. Out of the final six to 10 pairs that were made, four pairs worn in the movie are believed to have survived.

One pair is on permanent display at the National Museum of American History, at the Smithsonian in Washington DC.

This pair of slippers were found in an MGM warehouse after the company was sold in 1969.

Based on the 1900 children’s novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum, the film featured a young Kansas girl called Dorothy and her dog Toto, who were transported to the fantastical Land of Oz by a tornado.

There, Dorothy met characters like the Scarecrow, the Cowardly Lion and the Tin Man who joined her on her quest to see the Wizard of Oz so she could return home.

The specific pair of shoes being auctioned feature in scenes where Dorothy stands at the gates to Oz. When the witch tries to take the shoes off Dorothy’s feet, her hands get shocked.

They also appear in the film’s ending where Glinda shows Dorothy she can go home if she closes her eyes and clicks the slippers’ heels together.

The film became a Hollywood classic and is preserved in the US Library of Congress’s National Film Registry as culturally, historically and aesthetically important.

Glinda the Good Witch of the North, and the Wicked Witch of The West, also appeared in the film and were the inspiration for characters in the modern-day Wicked musical and film.

The shoes will be exhibited alongside the Wicked Witch of the West’s hat worn in the film, which is also being auctioned off.

In 2005 the shoes were loaned to the Judy Garland Museum for their annual Judy Garland Festival, but while on display they were stolen and it wasn’t until 2018 that they were found by the FBI.

They were reunited earlier this year with their owner, who decided to sell them through Heritage Auctions.

Heritage Auctions’ executive vice president Joe Maddalena said the slippers were precious and were probably “the most important prop in Hollywood history”.

“We’re thrilled they will journey down the yellow brick road, to the auction block and to a new home.”