At the height of her career, Betty Grable was famous for having the most beautiful legs in Hollywood and a poster of her posing in a bathing suit made her the leading pin-up girl of World War II. Twentieth Century-Fox even insured her legs for $1m. with Lloyds of London.
Grable's signature film was the 1947 Mother Wore Tights, so as a huge Grable fan I was obviously very excited when I heard that a pair of tights belonging to her were to be sold at an auction of items of clothing worn by Hollywood stars.
I made the trip to the US to be present in person, but when I got to Christie's in LA to attend the pre-viewing of items going under the hammer, I was shocked to see a very sizeable pair of what looked more like bloomers belonging to an elderly and overweight matron than sheer nylon as sported by my beloved Betty.
"What are these?", I asked a representative of the auction house.
"Oh yes, Lot 27 Sir, tights belonging to Betty Grable," he said.
"That's not possible," I replied, "Betty had slim, shapely legs. Those would be far too big for her!"
"Ah, but you see Sir, these belonged to Betty in the late 1960s, when she was no longer a screen actress. She put on a fair bit of weight and was getting - shall we say - on the plump side."
"But I've come all the way from the UK to buy these. I thought these were the ones she wore in Mother Wore Tights!"
"I'm very sorry Sir, but if you check our catalogue you'll see quite clearly that is not what we are offering."
I opened my catalogue and, sure enough, it said: "Lot 27 - Tights of the Round Grable".
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