When Miss Taylor first ordered this car following her marriage to singer Eddie Fisher, she was living at The Pierre. Inasmuch as Rolls Royce was prepared to paint the car any color the film actress chose, she selected her favorite green color. Matched to her wedding dress, the car soon became known to her legions of fans as the “Green Goddess.” Miss Taylor kept the car for approximately twenty years until she sold it to its current owner, a West Coast gentleman who has fastidiously maintained it for four decades. Other than its delivery when new to Miss Taylor in New York, and its appearance in Rome on the set of Cleopatra (where Liz met and formed a liaison with future husband Richard Burton), the Rolls Royce spent its entire life in California.

Dimensions

The green silk evening dress, formerly owned by Elizabeth Taylor was custom made by Gianni Versace in early 1991 for the star. The dress is labeled ‘Atelier Versace.’ The emerald green shirt sleeves silk caddy evening gown bears a bow detail in the front enriched by trapunto stitching effect.

There are few fashion designer – celebrity pairings that match that of the prolific designer Gianni Versace and star Elizabeth Taylor. Versace often created custom looks for Taylor, including this green silk evening dress. A collaboration of note is a Versace beaded evening jacket known as ‘The Face’ custom made for Ms. Taylor in 1992 which sold at the Collection of Elizabeth Taylor sale for $128,500. This jacket features depictions of Taylor in her most famous roles including Cleopatra.

Gianni Versace (1946 – 1997) was an Italian fashion designer and founder of Versace who worked with Diana, Princess of Wales, Naomi Campbell, Madonna, and of course, Elizabeth Taylor to build one of the most recognizable fashion brands in the world. Anna Wintor commented on Versace's work with celebrities, "he was the first to realize the value of the celebrity in the front row, the supermodel," to create symbiotic relationships that sought to elevate the image of both the brand and the star. The brand is known for bringing Baroque and classicism influences into modernity with innovative patterns and colors. As Gianni said, Gianni was murdered outside of his Miami Beach mansion Casa Casuarina at the age of 50 which was subject of the second season of the FX true crime anthology The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story. After his death, his sister Donnatella Versace took over as creative director and has continued to evolve the brand.

Elizabeth Taylor was known as a fashion collector and her storied collection of clothing and jewelry was offered at Christie’s “The Collection of Elizabeth” sale in December 2011. This dress was included in Christie’s “The Collection of Elizabeth Taylor” auction which took place over a four-day live auction. The historic sale set a world record for the most valuable sale of jewelry in auction history as well as the most valuable collection of fashion ever offered at auction. Guernsey’s is humbled to offer two pieces from this sale in our auction of Elizabeth Taylor’s Rolls Royce Silver Cloud II Drophead known as “The Green Goddess” taking place at The Pierre Hotel in New York City where Taylor resided.

The green silk evening dress, formerly owned by Elizabeth Taylor was custom made by Gianni Versace in early 1991 for the star. The dress is labeled ‘Atelier Versace.’ The emerald green shirt sleeves silk caddy evening gown bears a bow detail in the front enriched by trapunto stitching effect.

Christian Louboutin’s lack of adherence to previously agreed-upon rules of fashion and his commitment to making “women feel confident and empowered,” without regard for what was, at the time of his entry onto the fashion scene, considered ‘appropriate,’ has made him an icon. The name itself is today synonymous with sensuous style, and it was, in fact, he who reintroduced the world to the stiletto heel in the early 1990s, a style that has since dominated the Hollywood and award show scene.

It is no surprise that, in the early 2000s, Taylor chose Louboutin’s earliest bags (his first foray outside the world of shoe design) to compliment her trademark style. Though neither of the two was shy in their idea of how Liz should dress and their strong ideas prevented them from always seeing eye-to-eye, Elizabeth too refused to be ignored - not only in her undeniable star-power, but perhaps more importantly, in her work with the LGBT+ community (especially in the realm of AIDS research via the Elizabeth Taylor Foundation), a cause as close to Christian Louboutin’s heart as it was to hers.

Elizabeth Taylor’s 1961 Rolls Royce Silver Cloud II Drophead will be sold without minimum reserve on August 6th at The Pierre Hotel, 61st Street and Fifth Avenue in New York City. Preparations are being made for the car to be on display at The Pierre starting July 23 through the August 6th Auction date. For additional information about the auction including arranging to become a bidder, please contact us at 212-794-2280.

Guernsey's welcomes inquiries from the media regarding both past and upcoming events. Links to media coverage of our Elizabeth Taylor’s "Green Goddess" 1961 Rolls Royce are available below:

• "Rolls-Royce Elizabeth Taylor put up for auction" (Aif.ru - August 2, 2019)

• "Elizabeth Taylor's unique car goes to the auction. The price is said to climb up to $ 2 million" (Euro.cz - August 2, 2019)

• "Elizabeth Taylor’s Treasured ‘Green Goddess’ Rolls-Royce Is Heading to Auction" (Robb Report - August 1, 2019)

• "Rolls-Royce will be auctioned after Elizabeth Taylor. The price will go to millions of dollars" (Forbes Online - August 1, 2019)

• "Elizabeth Taylor's "Green Goddess" Rolls-Royce is going on sale at a New York auction" (CNN Online - August 1, 2019)

• "Elizabeth Taylor's "Green Goddess" Rolls-Royce could sell for up to $2M" (MSN - August 1, 2019)

• "Elizabeth Taylor’s Treasured ‘Green Goddess’ Rolls-Royce Is Heading to Auction" (Yahoo Lifestyle - August 1, 2019)

• "You Could Be the New Owner of Elizabeth Taylor’s Rolls-Royce" (InsideHook - August 1, 2019)

• "Elizabeth Taylor's Rolls Royce is up for sale" (The World News - August 1, 2019)

• "Elizabeth Taylor's 'Green Goddess' Rolls-Royce for sale" (Crossroads Today - August 1, 2019)

• "Elizabeth Taylor's "Green Goddess" Rolls-Royce is going on sale at a New York auction" (KITV - August 1, 2019)

• "Elizabeth Taylor’s ’61 Rolls-Royce Is Heading to Auction at Guernsey" (Lugen Family Office - August 1, 2019)

• "Elizabeth Taylor's "Green Goddess" Rolls Royce Is Up for Auction" (House Beautiful - August 1, 2019)

• "Auctioned for sale is Elizabeth Taylor's famous green Rolls-Royce" (Economic.bg - August 1, 2019)

• "Elizabeth Taylor's Rolls-Royce is up for auction" (Att.net - August 1, 2019)

• "Elizabeth Taylor's "Green Goddess" Rolls-Royce could sell for up to $2M" (F3News- August 1, 2019)

• "Elizabeth Taylor’s ‘Green Goddess’ Rolls-Royce on the Auction Block" (The New York Times Online - July 31, 2019)

• "Elizabeth Taylor’s Rolls-Royce Is Expected to Fetch $2 Million at Auction" (Observer Online - July 31, 2019)

• "Elizabeth Taylor's Green Goddess 1960 Rolls Royce Silver Cloud II Is Up For Sale" (Sharp Middle East - July 31, 2019)

• "Elizabeth Taylor’s “Inexperienced Goddess” Rolls-Royce goes on sale at a Unique York public sale – CNN" (ATNews - July 31, 2019)

• "Elizabeth Taylor's Rolls-Royce to be auctioned in NY" (CarNews2day.com - July 31, 2019)

• "Elizabeth Taylor’s Iconic Green Rolls Royce is Being Auctioned, May Fetch $3.5M" (Masala - July 31, 2019)

• "Why Elizabeth Taylor Drove an Emerald Rolls-Royce" (Inside Edition - July 26, 2019)

• "Exciting Liz Taylor Auction Coming to Big Apple" (Times Square Chronicles - July 26, 2019)

• "Elizabeth Taylor's iconic Rolls-Royce up for sale" (Fox Business - July 23, 2019)