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One day, some of this could be yours: Angels' five-and-a-half miles of costumes

Now that hooded brown outfit is the prize lot in what is probably the most important auction of film and TV costumes ever, to be held at Bonhams on Tuesday March 6. The reserve price for this item alone is £50,000. More than 350 outfits have been selected for inclusion and they range from the ridiculous – Benny Hill’s beret – to the sublime – dresses once worn by Ava Gardner; 007 Sean Connery’s tuxedo from ‘Thunderball’; and Richard Attenborough’s blue prison jacket from ‘The Great Escape’.

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Waiting to go on display to the buying public for the first time, they are currently locked in an upstairs room at Bonhams, on crowded rails and protected by dry-cleaning shop-style plastic covers. In a big brown box on the floor marked ‘stars accessories’, a black feather and diamanté hair comb worn by Julianne Moore in ‘The End of the Affair’ lies next to a bejewelled cross and ring worn by Robert De Niro in ‘The Mission’ (1986). Less immediately impressive than the original ‘Star Wars’ and Bond costumes are everyday clothes that seem strangely familiar. The label tells you you’re holding Penelope Cruz’s flowered dress from ‘Captain Corelli’s Mandolin’ or Andie MacDowell’s white wedding trousers and sheer, ruffly shirt from 'Four Weddings and a Funeral’. Looking around, it’s strange to think who last wore the outfits. Chairman of the business Tim Angel says, ‘You don’t know what’s going to be iconic. You get told they’re doing another Disney and it’s called “Pirates of the Caribbean”, and that it’s named after a ride… And then it does what it does. The same happened with “Four Weddings and a Funeral”.’

Lose your head: splash out on a dress from 'Marie Antoniette' (2006)

The forthcoming auction at Bonhams is the first Angels has ever agreed to and comes after only six months of serious deliberation – and many years of rejecting similar offers. The reasons for its change of heart are twofold. Firstly, and practically, are the huge and spiralling costs of insuring so many precious pieces of history. The other is more sentimental: ‘I’d harboured a foolish notion of holding a huge exhibition that everybody could see,’ says Angel. Determined that the sale shouldn’t be the exclusive preserve of super-rich collectors, Bonhams will have prices starting around a palatable £100 – which might, for instance, bag you Jude Law’s flying jacket from ‘Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow’ (2004). The auction itself will be preceded by several dressing-up days during which members of the public who purchase a catalogue can see the costumes up close and possibly try on the less fragile pieces. This egalitarian attitude is extended less publicly, too. In conjuction with Skillset (the Government- and industry-funded training scheme for the UK audiovisual world), Angels has recently taken on six trainee costumiers – chosen for their enthusiasm over academic qualifications.

This venerable old London firm goes back to the early 1800s, when it was established by Morris Angel, Tim’s great-great-grandfather. The exact date trading began is long forgotten, but the company became limited in 1840. Morris Angel started selling secondhand clothes on Little Earl (now Earlham) Street, cheek-by-jowl with the dingy theatreland of Covent Garden, to impoverished actors, who in those days had to provide their own costumes. It’s believed that one day someone asked if he could borrow something for a week and the dress hire concept was born. Not nearly so much of Angels’ business comes from the theatre world now – TV, film and commercials, 30-40 per cent of them abroad, make up the lion’s share.