The allure of owning a piece of Elizabeth Taylor’s glamour – and her epic romance with Richard Burton – drove prices sky high Wednesday at an auction of the Hollywood legend’s haute couture and jewellery. Coming the day after a record-setting $116 million auction of Taylor’s fanciest jewels, including an $11.8-million pearl necklace, the sale at Christie’s in New York again saw stunning prices. A highlight of the auction – the yellow chiffon dress she wore for her first marriage to fellow star Burton – did not go under the hammer. Christie’s announced it had been withdrawn and would be donated to an institution. Taylor was always famous for her extraordinary wardrobe and one of the biggest successes of the auction was a silver Christian Dior evening gown and matching bag fetching $362,500, leaving the estimate of $4,000-6,000 trailing. Another Dior, this time an evening gown in scarlet chiffon, sold for $20,000, four times the pre-sale estimate, while a beaded 1992 Versace jacket known as “The Face,” fetched $128,500, more than six times its high estimate.
