Smithsonian seeks funding for Oz ruby slippers restoration
19/10/2016
In 1979, the National Museum of American History, part of the Smithsonian, received the slippers as a bequest and, according to the museum, millions of visitors have, since then, “made the pilgrimage to see what might be the most famous pair of shoes in the world”.
However, at nearly 80 years old, the slippers are in need of urgent restoration and the museum is asking people all over the world to help it raise the money required.
It explained on launching the campaign that costume designers at MGM Studios had bought a pair of ordinary shoes and adapted them for the filming of The Wizard of Oz, dyeing them red and attaching a red mesh material covered with sewn-on sequins. The colour has faded and the slippers appear “dull and washed-out”, the Smithsonian said. The coating on the sequins that give the shoes their hallmark ruby colour is flaking off its gelatin base. Some threads that hold sequins in place have broken.
It is attempting to raise $300,000 by mid-November to commission materials experts to examine what repairs are required and what the optimum conditions will be for preserving and displaying the footwear in future. Generous backers pledging $7,000 or more will receive a pair of replica ruby slippers of their own.
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