UNITED KINGDOM: London auction house prepares to sell more than 400 costumes including Star Wars uniforms and various James Bond wardrobe items

From the stars' dressing rooms to the showroom floor, a London auction house is set to put hundreds of ionic costumes from film and television under the hammer on Tuesday (March 6). "With it being the largest auction of costumes in Europe and also with it being the star pieces from Angels, the costumier who are Europe's largest costumier - it means that you've got a range of costumes from across the last 50 years in film and television history," said Stephanie Connell, entertainment specialist at the auction house. Pride of place among the lots will be the Jedi knight cloak worn by Sir Alec Guinness as Obi Wan Kenobi in Star Wars. The brown hooded cloak is estimated to be worth between 50,000 - 60,000 British pounds (96,000 - 115,000 USD) but could go for much more. The cloak was designed not to be like a knight in shining armour, but rather a defender of people in simple flowing cloth. It was identified in an inventory of 1.5 million items of clothing on six miles of rails at Angels' headquarters in Hendon, north London. Angels, founded in 1840, is the world's longest-established supplier of costumes to the film, theatre and television industry. Its shop became popular with theatre actors who, at that time, had to purchase their own clothes and costumes for auditions and performances. Other costumes in the ultimate dressing-up box include wardrobe pieces from James Bond sets, Supergirl, Four Weddings and a Funeral and more. Interested customers who want the items for professional or personal use will have the opportunity to try on selected costumes. "Some of the items are quite reasonably priced and the items you can have for fancy dress are really interesting. So, there's a range of people that would buy the items," Connell said. Female costumes in the sale include items worn by Helen Slater, Andie McDowell, Kirsten Dunst, Ava Gardner, Jane Horrocks, Kate Hudson, Helen Mirren, Julianne Moore, Alanis Morrisette, Meryl Streep, Rachel Weisz, Kate Winslett and Catherine Zeta Jones among others. Male actors whose costumes are featured include Richard Attenborough, Orlando Bloom, John Cleese, Sean Connery, Robert De Niro, Johnny Depp, Colin Firth, Harrison Ford, Mel Gibson, Alec Guinness, Dustin Hoffman, Jude Law, Roger Moore, Laurence Olivier, Al Pacino and Peter Sellers.

ITN Source | March 8, 2007

Tags:. .jane. .flowing. .estimated. .orlando. .auditions