London - (AFP) - A dress worn by actress Elizabeth Taylor when she won her first Oscar in 1961, after being packed for fifty years, will be auctioned in December in London.

Many believed that the dress, which was designed by Christian Dior and featured embroidered roses in its lower part with a red rose at the waist, had been carefully preserved for more than sixty years in the archives of the fashion house.

But in reality, the actress gave the dress and 12 other items of her clothing to her former assistant, Anne Sanz, who kept it in a plastic bag and placed it inside a room.

Elizabeth Taylor wore the Mark Bohan dress when she and her fourth husband, singer Eddie Fisher, attended the 33rd Academy Awards, at which the actress was convinced she would not win an award. During the three tournaments leading up to that version, Taylor was nominated three times without receiving any reward. Her marriage to Eddie Fisher, who was married to the famous actress Debbie Reynolds, caused an uproar, as it was considered that Taylor caused the family to break up.

"Elizabeth Taylor did not expect to win an Oscar because she had not previously received this reward and because of the negative news and articles that were dealing with Eddie Fisher at the time," says Kelly Taylor, the owner of the house that specializes in vintage collectibles.

Kelly Tyler hopes that the dress will be sold for between 40 and 60 thousand pounds (between 48.36 and 72.55 thousand dollars).

After winning the Oscar for Best Actress for her role in "Butterfield 8", the star considered that the dress "brought her a kind of luck" and she took it with her during her visits to several countries.

And Kerry Taylor notes that the actress "has been carrying the dress with her wherever she goes for ten years," adding, "She did not wear it on other occasions, she just liked to take it with her."

However, the number of items that Elizabeth used to take with her during her travels became very large and sometimes reached 40 large bags. During the 1960s and 1970s, she traveled the world with her fifth husband, Richard Burton, accompanied by Anne Sanes and her husband, Justin, who worked as the actress's driver and bodyguard.

Despite her attachment to the Dior dress, in 1971 the actress opened her wardrobe at the Dorchester Hotel in London and told Sans, "Take whatever you want."

She also gave her a short white dress and a short jacket, which she wore at her wedding.

The group, which will be auctioned, includes designs from the "Tiziani" haute couture collection designed by Karl Lagerfeld, and a black dress worn by Liz Taylor in the movie "Boom" in 1967, also designed by Lagerfeld.

Over the years, Anne Sans wore some of the pieces she had taken from Taylor, while others were gifted to friends and family members, without considering that these holdings had any value or importance.

"Anne must have worn the little white dress to her wedding, and she also wore a yellow and blue dress with a matching coat," says Kerry Taylor.

She points out that "what Ann acquired was just clothes that the actress wore on occasions, before the concept of fame witnessed the evolution it is."

Elizabeth Taylor (1932-2011) participated in more than seventy films in her artistic life, won several Oscars and Golden Globes, and was married eight times.