Sometimes, the thing you are looking for turns up in the most unlikely of places. And in the instance of an iconic dress worn by none other than Judy Garland while starring in the film “The Wizard of Oz,” that very unlikely place may end up being a trash bag.

It was said that one of Garland’s original dresses had been stashed away for decades in the Hartke Building of the Catholic University of America in Washington D.C. The rumors proved true when the costume was eventually discovered by Matt Ripa, a lecturer and operations coordinator for the University’s Department of Drama. Ripa had heard rumors about the dress, but had begun to believe it was “a tall tale (of which many exist for Father Hartke),” the priest for whom the building is named.

But it turned out not to be a myth. On June 7, Ripa unearthed Garland’s famous frock, as the university reported. Cultural memorabilia experts from the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History confirmed that the dress was authentic, pointing to a secret pocket in the right side of the skirt for Dorothy’s handkerchief, a section of material in the pinafore blouse where it had torn while filming, and the name “Judy Garland” handwritten inside the label.

The dress was discovered inside a bag above the faculty mailboxes

Instagram/Catholic University