CAROL CHANNING

AUTHENTIC - CAROL CHANNING /
BOB MACKIE "Diamonds" Dress



#3300 - c. 1975 Original BOB MACKIE Silver Beaded Fringe Dress Worn by CAROL CHANNING! First off, I love what I found online...

"When broadway star Carol Channing sang "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend" in the 1974 musical Lorelei, all that glittered was not what it seemed. Designer Bob Mackie created the show's eye-catching costumes, including a bejeweled dress for the character Lorelei Lee's big number. (Channing had gotten her big break in the Anita Loos play Gentlemen Prefer Blondes in 1949 and starred in its revival, Lorelei, 25 years later.) The showstopper of a dress, which Channing wore for all of the production's 320 Broadway performances, now resides within the collections of the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History. Mackie's extravaganza, with its hailstorm of stones from Czechoslovakia, weighs about 40 pounds. 'The first time I took a bow in that dress,' Channing told me recently, 'I fell over forward and almost broke my teeth.' During the production, Channing had to make a quick change between scenes. 'I told Bob that getting out of that dress in one minute was almost impossible. So he said, "Take off the sleeves."' (Channing would wear the costume in both configurations.)" SO... TAKE NOTE: This is one of the highly coveted Bob Mackie/Carol Channing's "Diamonds" dresses WITH the sleeves!!

Carol wore many of her pieces multiple times, and had certain "iconic" designs that she would wear over and over again! In 2007, someone robbed Carol of her original, most famous 1974 Bob Mackie "Diamonds" dress that she wore on stage in Gentleman Prefer Blondes, which was valued at $150,000!! Luckily the dress was recovered and returned to Ms. Channing and has since gone to the Smithsonian. So she obviously values these dresses highly!!! As for this Bob Mackie Diamonds dress, the sketch for the shorter version of this dress designed for the 1974 Broadway production of Lorelie sold at auction for $960! (the sketch only!)! Condition is Good... amazing for such a heavy dress! The netting at the shoulders is a bit torn under and the dress weighs a ton (OK, I'm slightly exaggerating!)