OUTview online; NEWS and VIEWS, What's your VIEW?: ELIZABETH TAYLOR

The record-breaking auction of Elizabeth Taylor's gems was followed by the record-breaking sale of part of her wardrobe, in bidding that proved to be just as fierce and racked up a staggering $2.6 million. All 67 lots, including designer gowns, feathery capes, and the wedding dress she wore for her second marriage to Richard Burton, were sold at the Christie's auction; some items fetched more than 60 times the auction house's estimates, Bloomberg reports.

Included in the auction was a 1964 Andy Warhol lithograph of the star, inscribed "To Elizabeth, with much love." It sold for $662,500, more than 10 times Christie's estimate. "To own a piece worn by Elizabeth Taylor, the last of the glamorous, great movie stars, is priceless,” said a fashion industry consultant who attended the sale. “There are people who buy it as collectors. Vintage clothing is like buying art these days, it will only increase in value."

The sale of Elizabeth Taylor's legendary gem collection shattered records—and estimates—at Christie's in New York last night. Amid competition so fierce that bids sometimes jumped by a million dollars, the $116 million sale of the late star's gems broke the world record for a private collection of jewels along with six other records, including the price for a pearl, Forbes reports. "La Peregrina," a pearl owned by a succession of Spanish kings between 1582 and 1808, sold for $11.8 million. A 33.19-carat diamond ring given to Taylor by Richard Burton—whom she married twice—fetched $8.8 million. Auctioneers had predicted that the entire sale of 80 lots would fetch only around $30 million. More of Taylor's belonging will be sold later this week, with part of the proceeds going to the Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation. The star died of heart failure earlier this year at the age of 79—and was fashionably late for her own funeral.