Monday, March 11, 2013

Creation

At the 1997 BRIT Awards the Spice Girls were scheduled to perform, as well as being nominated for five awards, two of which they won. The black Gucci mini dress which Halliwell was given to perform in concerned her, as she thought it was too "boring". Then Halliwell decided she wanted to "celebrate being British", so she asked her sister to stitch on a Union Jack tea towel to the front as a patriotic gesture. After Karen, her sister, had sewn on the tea towel, Geri decided to wear it whilst performing "Who Do You Think You Are" (with excerpts of "Wannabe" in) at the BRIT Awards on 24 February 1997.
Sale

In 1998, a year after Halliwell performed in the dress, she auctioned it off at the London branch of Sotheby's for £41,320. The buyer was Peter Morton, on behalf of the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, Las Vegas, who displayed the piece of clothing as pop memorabilia. Morton bid via telephone, and beat other bidders such as The Sun. Halliwell herself watched the "frenzied bid",as it was described by MTV, and rapped the gavel after the final bid. The dress was originally valued at £12,000, but eventually it sold at £36,200 (minus the 15% commission which totalled it to £41,320). Halliwell gave the proceeds of the dress sale to a children's cancer care charity. The BBC commented on the sale, saying it "marks the end of Geri's links with the Girl Power image of the past". It holds the Guinness World Record for the most expensive piece of popstar clothing dealt at auction.

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