(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. 
 
 'They were throwing it away' 
 
 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. 
 
 Faded over the years 
 
 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 didn't deter the winning bidder on Saturday. ||||| DALLAS, April 18 A gray and black dress worn by Vivien Leigh in her role as Scarlett O'Hara in the classic 1939 film "Gone with the Wind" sold for $137,000 at an auction in California on Saturday. 
 
 The outfit, featuring black appliques, was one of more than 150 items from the film up for auction by Dallas-based Heritage Auctions in Beverly Hills. 
 
 The items were part of the private collection of James Tumblin, formerly in charge of the hair and makeup department at Universal Studios. 
 
 Tumblin began collecting onscreen costumes, props and behind-the-scenes artifacts from the film in the 1960s, amassing a collection of more than 300,000 pieces of memorabilia, according to Heritage Auction officials. 
 
 During a visit to the Western Costume Company he spotted the Scarlett O'Hara dress on the floor. He learned that the dress was about to be thrown away and negotiated a deal to buy it for $20, according to Heritage Auction. 
 
 Tumblin has "devoted his life and efforts to promoting Hollywood and this film, touring his items throughout the United States," Kathleen Guzman, managing director of Heritage Auctions in New York, said in a statement. 
 
 Other top selling items from the auction were a straw hat worn by Leigh that sold for $52,500; the trousers and jacket from a suit worn by Clark Gable as Rhett Butler, selling for $55,000; and a black bonnet worn by both Leigh and Olivia De Havilland as Melanie Wilkes, which fetched $30,000. (Editing by Jonathan Kaminsky and Clarence Fernandez) ||||| Gone with the Wind pretty much swept the board at the 1940 Oscars. 
 
 Now, 75 years later, an impressive collection of memorabilia from one of the most iconic films of the 20th century is up for sale. 
 
 The collection assembled by Jim Tumblin, who spent 22 years working at the Universal Studios hair and make-up department, could raise as much as $1 million (£668,000). 
 
 In all, more than 150 lots will go under the hammer at the sale being held by Heritage Auctions next month. 
 
 Most interest is expected to centre on a dress worn by Vivien Leigh, whose portrayal of Scarlett O’Hara won one of the film’s 10 Oscars. 
 
 Bidding will start at $60,000, rather more than the $20 Mr Tumblin paid for the dress in the early 1960s. 
 
 Scarlett's dress (Hertiage Auctions) 
 
 He spotted it while doing some research at Western Costume – a company which has served Hollywood since the days of silent cinema. 
 
 “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. 
 
 “I asked if he would sell it to me. I had noticed there was a printed label saying Selznick International Pictures and ‘Scarlett production dress’ was written in ink.” 
 
 Bonnie's blue riding suit is among the lots (Heritage Auctions) 
 
 This modest purchase sowed the seeds for what has become one of the most significant collections of Hollywood memorabilia, now numbering more than 300,000 artefacts. 
 
 “Word started going around the studios and people who had relatives who had worked on the film got in touch. 
 
 Ashley's Confederate suit is up for sale (Heritage Auctions) 
 
 "Then I started getting inter-office memos and phone calls," Mr Tumblin added. 
 
 “Hollywood was one big family. We all knew each other in the business. 
 
 “The collection grew, it was almost like rust – it just never went away.” 
 
 It has been something of a labour of love as he has travelled around the US with his collection. Visitors to his exhibitions have included the former US president, Jimmy Carter. 
 
 Vivien Leigh wore the dress in several key scenes and it is not the only evocative item up for auction. 
 
 There is also Clark Gable’s grey suit which he wore as Rhett Butler in the scene where he kicks down Scarlett O’Hara’s door. 
 
 Clark Gable in the suit (Heritage Auctions) 
 
 It is in pristine condition. 
 
 Also up for sale is Leslie Howard’s tattered Confederate uniform which he wore as Ashley Wilkes when he found his way back to the Tara plantation. 
 
 According to Mr Tumblin, in many cases the costumes were hardly cherished at the time, often being left unloved on racks once they had fulfilled their purpose. Others have since been restored, including two owned by the Harry Ransom Centre at the University of Texas, which were displayed at the V&A in 2012. 
 
 It is not only costumes from the film which are up for sale. 
 
 A presentation script, signed by David O Selznick and belonging to Hattie McDaniel, the first black actress to win an Oscar, is expected to fetch $25,000. 
 
 Then there is the typewriter used by Sidney Howard, who wrote the film’s screenplay – for which he earned a posthumous Oscar. 
 
 Hattie McDaniel in Gone with the Wind (Rex) 
 
 One thing which Mr Tumblin is keeping is Vivien Leigh’s Oscar. 
 
 Selling the collection will enable Mr Tumblin to share it with others, he said. 
 
 “I am really looking forward to walking through a museum and seeing something that I once owned. 
 
 Despite owning so much Gone with the Wind memorabilia, it is not his favourite film of all time – that accolade goes to Stella Dallas, starring Barbara Stanwyck. 
 
 “Gone with the Wind is in my all time top 10 films I would watch if I was stranded on a desert island with a generator.”
– James Tumblin's 300,000-piece collection of Gone With the Wind memorabilia started with a single gray dress with black appliques that lay crumpled on the floor of the Western Costume Company in Los Angeles in the 1960s. "A docent told me not to bother to pick it up, because they were throwing it away," Tumblin, who once ran the hair and makeup department at Universal Studios, told the Telegraph last month. But "I had noticed there was a printed label saying Selznick International Pictures, and 'Scarlett production dress' was written in ink," he said. "I asked if he would sell it to me." He ended up paying just $20 for the costume, worn by Vivien Leigh as Scarlett O'Hara in four scenes of the 1939 film—an incredible bargain considering the dress sold at auction on Saturday for $137,000. The outfit—really a jacket and skirt ensemble—was actually pale blue during filming. But some of the 150 Gone With the Wind pieces sold by Heritage Auctions this weekend remain in pristine condition, including a gray wool suit Clark Gable wore when he kicked down Scarlett O'Hara's boudoir door as Rhett Butler, CNN reports; it sold for $55,000. A straw hat worn by Leigh fetched $52,500, while a black bonnet donned by Leigh and Olivia de Havilland's character Melanie Wilkes sold for $30,000, Reuters reports. Tumblin seems happy to have been able to offer up his pieces, many of which have toured the country. "I am really looking forward to walking through a museum and seeing something that I once owned," he said. He still maintains the largest private collection of Gone With the Wind memorabilia, which includes Leigh's Oscar. (The film almost didn't make it to the screen.)