Actress Vivien Leigh, as Scarlett O'Hara, is shown here in a scene from Gone with the Wind, with co-star Clark Gable. Leigh is wearing the burgundy ball gown that is now in dire need of repairs. (The Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas/Associated Press)

The gowns worn by Vivien Leigh in the 1939 Oscar-winning epic romance Gone with the Wind badly need repairs.

The Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas in Austin is trying to raise $30,000 US to restore the costumes for a 2014 exhibition to mark the 75th anniversary of the film.

They include the dress the struggling Scarlett O'Hara made out of green velvet curtains, the burgundy ball gown she wore to Ashley Wilkes's birthday party, her wedding dress, a green velvet dressing gown and a blue velvet peignoir.

"The costumes are in fragile condition and cannot currently be exhibited," the museum said in a statement.

Scarlett O'Hara's green velvet curtain dress also needs repairs. (The Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas/Associated Press)

"There are areas where the fabric has been worn through, fragile seams and other problems," Jane Morena, the museum's assistant for costumes and personal effects, told The Associated Press.

"Film costumes weren't meant to last," she added. "You won't find them to be as finished as something bought off the rack."

The green curtain dress, symbolic of O'Hara's determination to survive, has loose seams and needs structural reinforcement. Others have areas where the fabric is nearly worn through.

The Ransom Center acquired the costumes in the mid-1980s as part of the collection of Gone With the Wind producer David Selznick.

As well as repairing the costumes, the museum hopes to purchase custom-fitted mannequins and protective housing in order to ship them to exhibitions at other museums.

With files from The Associated Press