Bond Girl Bikini Fetches $60,000 at London Auction LONDON (Reuters) - A now grubby white bikini worn by Bond Girl Ursula Andress fetched a staggering $60,000 at a London auction held at Christie's Wednesday.
The costume, whose top was made from one of Andress's own bras covered with
ivory cotton, thrilled Bond fans when the curvaceous actress emerged from the sea
in the 1962 film ``Dr. No.''
By 2001 it had clearly seen better days and was more yellowy-brown than white, but the bidding was furious
nonetheless. A telephone bidder finally bought the bikini.
Andress has attributed her success to the outfit.
``My entrance...wearing that bikini on that beautiful beach seems now to be regarded as a classical moment in
cinema,'' she said in the auctioneer's program.
Other Bond fans were making the most of Valentine's Day (news - web sites). Some bought flowers, others
chocolates, but money was no object for Max Reid, who bought his wife one of 007's cars.
Reid, whose favorite Bond film is ``Goldeneye,'' paid nearly $230,000 for a silver Aston Martin DB5, driven in
a speedy car chase by Pierce Brosnan in the 1995 hit.
``It's Valentine's Day and I wanted to give my wife a bit of a shock but it's also going to be used for
promotional purposes with my business,'' the 36-year-old told reporters.
Reid, who lives in Sheffield and owns a computer leasing business, said this was his first auction.
``I'll probably be in shock tomorrow, but every boy or man dreams about being a James Bond character at
some time so it will give me a bit of a thrill at the weekends when I get to drive it,'' he said.
Pyjamas And Posters For Sale
The auction offered 291 lots of Bond memorabilia, from original film posters to annotated scripts to Roger
Moore's Rolex watch.
Fans who dreamed of recreating 007's bedroom success may have been tempted by a pair of lemon yellow
cotton pajamas and burgundy velvet slippers, all emblazoned with the initials JB. These went to a telephone
bidder for around 7,000 pounds.
But some fans questioned the authenticity of items on sale.
``If somebody wants a piece of Bond, then there should be some kind of safeguard where they really know
what they are getting is something that's completely, totally, obviously and honestly linked to those movies,''
Graham Rye, head of the James Bond International Fan Club, told Sky News.
The auction house was adamant that all lots met trading standards regulations.
``Our reputation is what we stand by -- we only put things in that we feel happy with. We only link them with
films if we know there's an association,'' said Carey Wallace of Christie's.
Before accepting bids for Lot 89, auctioneer Hugh Edmeades said that although the Walther PPK handgun had
been bought for Sean Connery to use in the film ``Never Say Never Again,'' it had not featured in the final cut.
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