From Dynasty dresses to Beatty’s love letters: Dame Joan sells slice of Hollywood history
LOVE letters from Warren Beatty, costumes from Dynasty and a 14-carat gold perfume bottle are among items being put up for auction by Dame Joan Collins.
The lots will also include her 1973 MG Midget convertible and the outfit she wore for her investiture at Buckingham Palace earlier this year. The cream dress with cape designed by Dame Joan is expected to fetch between $5,000 and $6,000 (£3,300-£3,900).
The two love letters from Beatty are dated 1960, when the couple were engaged and he was on national service. The letters, which are part handwritten and part typed, are in their original envelopes and addressed to “Miss Joan Collins” in Rome. In one he addresses her as “bird”.
The letters, which are accompanied by a playbill from Beatty’s first play and a photograph of the couple, are expected to fetch between $1,500 and $3,000. Dynasty fans who fondly remember Dame Joan as Alexis Carrington Colby will have the chance to snap up some of her outrageous costumes from the show, including a fur and leather cape, which is expected to sell for more than $1,000, and a pair of Yves Saint Laurent earrings, which are expected to fetch more than $2,000.
She will also sell dozens of dresses and pairs of shoes, as well as her collection of turbans, her Louis Vuitton luggage and a Gucci wardrobe bag bearing her initials. A 14-carat gold perfume bottle given to Dame Joan by the actress Natalie Wood and her husband Robert Wagner in 1961 is expected to fetch up to $5,000.
The Collection of Dame Joan Collins will be sold at Julien’s Auctions in Beverly Hills, California, on Wednesday.