( CNN ) A dress worn by Vivien Leigh as she played Scarlett O'Hara in `` Gone With the Wind '' has fetched $ 137,000 at an auction . That 's a pretty healthy profit for the collector who bought the outfit decades ago for a mere $ 20 as it was on the verge of being tossed out . The outfit , a gray two-piece ensemble , was sold at an auction in Beverly Hills , California , on Saturday , according to Heritage Auctions . It was the most sought after item among roughly 150 pieces of `` Gone With the Wind '' memorabilia on sale in the auction . They come from the huge collection amassed by James Tumblin , who used to work at Universal Studios . Tumblin said he came across the Scarlett O'Hara dress in the early 1960s while doing some research at a costume company . `` I saw this dress on the floor and a docent told me not to bother to pick it up , because they were throwing it away , '' he said , according to The Telegraph . `` I asked if he would sell it to me , '' he said . `` I had noticed there was a printed label saying Selznick International Pictures and 'Scarlett production dress ' was written in ink . '' From that savvy purchase , his `` Gone With the Wind '' collection snowballed . Other standout items include a straw hat worn by Leigh in a number of scenes in the movie and a gray wool suit worn by Clark Gable as his character , Rhett Butler , kicks down the door of Scarlett O'Hara 's boudoir . The dress -- a jacket and full skirt ensemble -- was worn in several key scenes in the 1939 movie , including when Scarlett O'Hara encounters Butler and when she gets attacked in the shanty town . The outfit has suffered a little with age , however . When Leigh wore it in the movie , it was slate blue-gray . Over the years , it 's faded to light gray . But that did n't deter the winning bidder on Saturday .
Selznick International Pictures says he bought the outfit as it was about to be thrown away . Vivien Leigh wore it in several key scenes in the 1939 movie .