Hollywood’s history is peppered with anecdotes of celebrities “borrowing” iconic props from their sets. Bryan Cranston famously took Walter White’s pork pie hat from Breaking Bad, while Ariana Grande reportedly snuck away with prosthetic ears from Wicked.
Naturally, one would expect Mary Tyler Moore to claim the iconic hat from the opening credits of her beloved 1970s sitcom, The Mary Tyler Moore Show. This single, joyous frame—featuring her character, Mary Richards, exuberantly tossing her tam-o’-shanter into the Minneapolis skyline—is arguably one of television’s most famous and uplifting images. So ingrained is this moment in pop culture that it’s been parodied by shows like Scrubs and The Simpsons, and even cast in bronze at its original location. Through all the subtle changes to the opening sequence over seven seasons, that hat remained a cherished constant.
The question then becomes: How did she manage to hold onto such a cherished piece of history?
“You have to remember, she owned the company,” her husband, Dr. S. Robert Levine, chuckled, offering a simple explanation. “I believe someone simply placed it in an envelope for her.”
Indeed. As the “MTM” in MTM Enterprises, the production powerhouse responsible for all 168 episodes of her show from 1970-77, Moore certainly didn’t need to sneak into the costume department. Yet, this woolen cap wasn’t a showpiece; it wasn’t brought out for guests or displayed as a trophy.
“It certainly wasn’t something we’d just pass around,” Dr. Levine laughed, explaining that the famous hat remained tucked away in a file drawer in his wife’s office for years. “I only stumbled upon it when I began going through all her belongings.”
In the eight years following Ms. Moore’s passing at 80, this extensive “digging” has sometimes been by request—like when the director of the 2023 HBO documentary, Being Mary Tyler Moore, asked Dr. Levine to unearth personal items from his basement for the film. At other times, it’s been the more profound task of, as he described in a recent interview, “discovering what comes next.”
Just this past spring, he sold their expansive Greenwich, Connecticut estate—the cherished home where they spent 33 years—for a significant $16.9 million. This was followed in June by a Doyle auction, featuring 347 items from the actress’s estate, including the iconic golden capital ‘M’ from Mary Richards’ apartment in The Mary Tyler Moore Show. Lena Waithe, the HBO documentary’s producer, secured it for $35,200.
“It’s a significant loss, one I must acknowledge,” Dr. Levine, 71, shared. “Leaving that beautiful home we built together, and all the memories it held, is hard. But it was, ultimately, the right time.”
While the auction featured a glittering array of items—from Tiffany and Cartier bracelets to Leibovitz and Hirschfeld portraits, and a considerable amount of sterling silver—noticeably absent was Ms. Moore’s famous woolen tam-o’-shanter, along with any other pieces from her personal clothing collection.
This absence was no accident. Even as the auction was being organized, Dr. Levine had already envisioned a different future for his wife’s extensive wardrobe, featuring designers like Armani, Scaasi, and Issey Miyake.
Making It After All: A Legacy Beyond the Screen
A year after his wife’s passing, Dr. Levine, a retired cardiologist, embarked on a new mission: establishing the Mary Tyler Moore Vision Initiative. This nonprofit aims to combat diabetes-related vision loss and blindness, a cause deeply personal as Ms. Moore herself lived with Type 1 diabetes and faced significant vision impairment, becoming nearly blind by the end of her life.
Building upon his wife’s lifelong dedication—Ms. Moore had been the international chair of what is now called Breakthrough T1D, a powerhouse in Type 1 diabetes research fundraising—Dr. Levine started seeking sponsors for this new Vision Initiative.
This quest led him to Elyce Arons, co-founder of the Kate Spade brand and a lifelong friend of Kate Spade herself, who had been a devoted Mary Tyler Moore fan since childhood. Interestingly, Ms. Arons was then preparing her own memoir, detailing her three decades of friendship with Ms. Spade, aptly titled “We Might Just Make It After All”—a charming nod to The Mary Tyler Moore Show‘s theme song.
Arons first crossed paths with her future business partner, then Katy Brosnahan, in August 1981 at the University of Kansas. Both were pursuing journalism degrees, a path, Arons soon realized, they both chose because of Mary Richards, the fictional TV news producer.
“Mary was a truly modern woman,” Ms. Arons, 62, recently reflected in the Manhattan showroom of Frances Valentine, the second fashion brand she co-founded with Ms. Spade. “She was single, confident, and she inspired women of my generation to believe we could achieve anything.”
In a touching twist, Ms. Arons now finds herself in a unique business partnership with Mary Tyler Moore’s legacy.
To generate funds for the Vision Initiative, Ms. Arons and the Frances Valentine team are developing a special capsule collection for Fall 2026. The designs will draw inspiration from two of Moore’s most beloved early characters: Laura Petrie from The Dick Van Dyke Show and, naturally, Mary Richards.
The enduring confidence and spirit of Ms. Moore, which profoundly inspired both Ms. Arons and Ms. Spade, will now be accessible to contemporary women through this collection’s offerings, including chic cigarette pants, mock turtlenecks, plaid jackets, and ribbed knits. Dr. Levine confirmed that 20 percent of the net sales from this collection will directly benefit the Mary Tyler Moore Vision Initiative.
This March, Dr. Levine traveled from Connecticut to the city to evaluate the brand. Clearly impressed, he extended an invitation to Ms. Arons to visit Greenwich and explore his late wife’s closet. She didn’t hesitate.
“My immediate thought was, ‘When can I be there?’” she recounted with enthusiasm.
The day itself was a whirlwind of emotion for Ms. Arons, who, given unrestricted access to her hero’s wardrobe, reacted with the joyous excitement one might expect. Footage from the day captures her twirling in various outfits, reminiscent of a fashion montage. “It felt just like Christmas morning,” she said. However, the experience was also bittersweet, marked by the absence of the one person she wished most to share it with.
“I desperately wanted to call Katy and exclaim, ‘You would not believe where I am right now,’” Ms. Arons shared, acknowledging, “because she absolutely should have been there by my side.” (Ms. Spade tragically passed away by suicide in 2018.)
Ms. Arons then turned her thoughts to how she could extend this intimate experience with Moore’s clothing to a wider audience.
“Our team immediately suggested these pieces belonged in a museum,” Ms. Arons recounted. “They envisioned them at the Met, or F.I.T., or the Smithsonian—somewhere truly significant.”
The Quest for a Permanent Home: “Maybe It Was All a Little Naïve of Us”
The Frances Valentine showroom, a bright space overlooking Bryant Park, occupies what was once the Beaux-Arts Building—a historic turn-of-the-century structure that formerly housed the studio of Jazz Age artist Florine Stetteimer. On a recent Wednesday morning in late July, Dr. Levine and Ms. Arons sat together at a white table, surrounded by design sketches and photographs of Mary Tyler Moore’s iconic looks that served as their inspiration.
And there it was: The Hat. A modest, squat saucer of wool, adorned with concentric rings of black, indigo, and forest green, topped by a midnight blue pompom that, after decades tucked away in a Manila envelope, might have needed a slight fluff.
In an interview, Dr. Levine shared his vision for his late wife’s extensive wardrobe. While he couldn’t give an exact count of her garments, he did recall her insistence on 100 linear feet of closet space when designing their Greenwich home, quipping, “You can be assured that she had that all well filled.” Although Ms. Moore’s will didn’t specify the disposition of her clothes, Dr. Levine hopes to see them housed in a major institution, perhaps as a permanent exhibit. There’s a universal consensus that The Hat, above all, is a priceless museum artifact.
A Glimpse into Her Wardrobe: Iconic Attire
Among the treasures from Ms. Moore’s remarkable wardrobe are several memorable pieces:
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The elegant George Stavropoulos gown she donned to host the 1980 Tony Awards. -
A stunning beaded floral ensemble by Arnold Scaasi, showcased at a Museum of Television & Radio event in 1992.
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A dazzling shimmering Scaasi dress, a highlight from a 1994 literacy gala.
The elegant George Stavropoulos gown she donned to host the 1980 Tony Awards.
A stunning beaded floral ensemble by Arnold Scaasi, showcased at a Museum of Television & Radio event in 1992.
A dazzling shimmering Scaasi dress, a highlight from a 1994 literacy gala.Credit: Photographs by Hiroko Masuike/The New York Times and Ron Galella/Ron Galella Collection, via Getty Images (archival)
It’s safe to say that the journey to find a permanent home for these treasured items has unfolded at a more gradual pace than initially anticipated.
Upon contacting the Fashion Institute of Technology, Dr. Levine and Ms. Arons received a response from Valerie Steele, the museum’s director and chief curator, stating that F.I.T. was “not the right venue to accept MTM’s garments,” as she later explained in an email, citing their differing mission. She kindly recommended the Museum of the Moving Image in Queens or the Paley Center for Media as more suitable alternatives.
Ms. Arons also mentioned discussions with the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute, the esteemed fashion conservation wing known for its annual Met Gala. “We’ve been in touch with them quite recently,” Ms. Arons noted. “I believe they’ve shown interest in a few select pieces.” A spokesperson for the Costume Institute, however, declined to comment on these ongoing discussions.
Dini von Mueffling, a publicist collaborating with Ms. Arons, pointed out a significant challenge: leading institutions often schedule major exhibitions two to five years ahead. “Perhaps it was a bit naive of us to think, ‘Of course they’ll want it immediately—it’s Mary Tyler Moore!’” she remarked, acknowledging their initial optimism.
Was it naiveté, or simply a healthy dose of optimism? Dr. Levine observed that Ms. Arons’s infectious “positive, positive energy” mirrored his late wife’s own exuberance. This shared spirit likely made it easier for him to grant someone he had only met once before full access to his wife’s cherished closet.
“What other choice did I have?” he pondered. “Considering what truly would be the best for all of Mary’s belongings, it was clear that sharing them was the answer. It’s a beautiful way to share her essence and let the world discover another facet of Mary.”
While he has set aside a select few items for himself—including a grand Givenchy shawl—he has largely accepted that his wife’s wardrobe deserves a new life beyond the confines of a closet, destined for public display. “That’s precisely what it deserves,” he concluded. “It needs to live on.”