The gowns worn by Vivien Leigh in the 1939 Oscar-winning film "Gone with the Wind" are in dire need of repair.

A museum, the Harry Ransom Center in Texas is attempting to raise funds to restore the iconic Scarlet O'Hara dresses. The center believes that it will cost $30,000 to repair the gowns and have them ready for the planned exhibition to mark the 75th anniversary of the film in 2014.

The center released a statement which said "The costumes are in fragile condition and cannot currently be exhibited."

Jane Morena, the collection assistant said "There are areas where the fabric has been worn through, fragile seams and other problems."

In the mid-1980s the Ransom Center acquired the gowns as part of a collection. Over the last six decades the dresses have been on display in theatres, museums and had been on load to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

Morena said "These dresses have been under a lot of stress. Film costumes weren't meant to last, they are only meant to last through the duration of filming."

Their collection includes that famous burgundy ball gown, the wedding dress and a blue velvet peignoir and a green velvet dressing gown. It also includes the green velvet dress that Scarlet O'Hara made from curtains before she asked from money from Rhett Butler.