Ferris Bueller’s iconic sweater vest is hitting the auction block 40 years after everyone’s favorite fictitious teenager cut class to romp around Chicago with his girlfriend and best friend.
Now is your chance to grab the perfect outfit to sport the next time you play hooky to hit up the Art Institute of Chicago, catch a Cubs game at Wrigley Field and, of course, make a cameo appearance in a downtown parade to do your best rendition of “Twist and Shout.”
Bidding begins today in an online Sotheby’s auction and goes through June 24. The vest is currently on view at the auction house’s New York galleries. Pre-sale estimates put the value of the vest somewhere between $300,000 and $600,000 — so, owning a piece of 1980s teen movie history is going to cost you.
The camel-and-chocolate brown vest with a geometric pattern is an instantly recognizable part of 1980s movie memorabilia. The vest was worn by Matthew Broderick throughout the entirety of the Chicago-set John Hughes film, which was first released nearly 40 years ago, in 1986. (Although, some eagle-eyed sleuths say Ferris’ actual skip day took place on June 5, 1985, which makes today the 40th anniversary.)
In a release on Thursday, Sotheby’s New York said the screen-worn vest was photo tested to ensure its authenticity and personally inspected and declared legitimate by the film’s costume designer, Marilyn Vance.
“Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” was Vance’s fourth collaboration with Hughes, the Chicago filmmaker who died in 2009. Vance also dressed Hughes’ iconic teen characters in “The Breakfast Club” and “Pretty in Pink.”
Vance knew early on she wanted to put Ferris in a vest. She thought it gave the charismatic leading teen a style that contradicted the mainstream trends of the day, perfect for a cool character who is beloved by his peers at his North Shore high school.
But Vance struggled to find the right style. And actually, Ferris’ vest wasn’t initially a vest at all. Vance found a sweater at the once-dominant Chicago department store Marshall Field’s and cut off the sleeves, according to Sotheby’s.
“With that single decision to chop the sleeves off a ready-to-wear cardigan for Broderick’s Bueller, Vance created an indelible film style moment for one of the most beloved American comedies of all time,” Sotheby’s said in a release.
The vest up for sale comes from the personal collection of Darren Rovell, a sports business reporter and robust collector who founded cllct, a website that covers the world of collecting. The winning bidder will also get other ephemera from the film, including a baseball ticket from the Cubs scene in the movie.
“As we approach the anniversary,” Rovell said in a statement, “I feel this is the perfect moment to pass this legendary vest on to another passionate fan and devoted collector.”