Singin' in the Rain star Debbie Reynolds has announced she is to sell her iconic collection of dresses and other movie apparel.

The Hollywood actress will sell dresses from a number of leading pictures, including Marilyn Monroe's $2m valued windy outfit from The Seven Year Itch, which noted Monroe dress collector David Gainsborough Roberts told us was the "most famous film dress, probably of all time anywhere". Gainsborough Roberts's nephew Nick recently purchased Kate Middleton's now famous see-through dress for $105,000.

The gingham dress and ruby red slippers Judy Garland wore in The Wizard of Oz will also be among the lots.

Rudolph Valentino's 1922 Blood & Sand costume

It had been thought that Reynolds would open a museum with the pieces she has amassed over a 50 year period, but this change of heart is great news for collectors.

The first in a series of Profiles in History auctions will take place on June 18 in Beverly Hills and is sure to have movie memorabilia investors excited.

Reynolds calls it the "greatest auction of motion picture artefacts ever assembled".

Other items include Charlton Heston's ensemble from Ben-Hur and Richard Burton's eye catching get-up from Cleopatra, which certainly attracted Elizabeth Taylor's attention.

Julie Andrews' 'peasant dress' from the Sound of Music is also up for grabs.

Reynolds' collection comprises 4,000 costumes and 3,000 posters from the silent screen period to the 1970s. There are also 46,000 square-feet worth of props and equipment. It is not yet known how much of the assemblage will appear at future auctions but movie memorabilia collectors cannot wait to find out.