While most studios back in the Golden Age of Hollywood occasionally produced period dramas, the period costumes from MGM showed a level of detail and care that was unparalleled. Irene designed this beautiful Victorian ensemble, and the amount of work that went into it is especially impressive when one considers that it was made for a secondary character.

The gown was first seen in 1944 on May Whitty as Miss Thwaites in the film Gaslight. It was used again several years later in 1949 on Florence Auer as Ann Forsyte Heyman in That Forsyte Woman.

This gown is still in existence and in remarkably good condition for its age. In 1970, MGM was experiencing severe financial problems and auctioned off thousands of props and costumes from their films. This auction was largely responsible for the surge in the collection of movie memorabilia, with studios beginning to understand the importance of many of the props and costumes they had amassed.

Debbie Reynolds attended the MGM auction, purchasing the above costume, as well as thousands of other items, spending $180,000. She housed the collection for some time until it became impossible and cost-prohibitive to store and care for all of her pieces. This went up for auction and was sold on June 18th, 2011. The auction listing describes the gown as follows:

Three-piece brown wool crepe period dress and jacket with black embroidery and beading finished with pompom fringe.