Carrie Bradshaw’s Bird Headpiece Is up for Auction
Carrie Bradshaw has worn many inspired, stunning, and, sometimes, downright strange looks over the years. The fictional sex columnist never shied away from style risks, and that’s one of the things Sex and the City fans love about her. She took the same chances in Sex and the City: The Movie, especially regarding her wedding look. While the wedding never happened, her bridal styling remains a topic of discussion for fans. Now, the bird headpiece Carrie Bradshaw wore to her ill-fated wedding at the New York Public Library is on the auction block.
‘Sex and the City’ fans can own a piece of movie history for the right price
Carrie Bradshaw’s bird headpiece is officially up for auction. Sotheby’s announced they would feature the iconic bird in its Fashion Icons lot this fall, and that auction is officially underway. The headpiece was famously worn by Carrie Bradshaw during her ill-fated wedding to Mr. Big in Sex and the City: The Movie.
In the movie, Carrie is gifted a Vivienne Westwood dress after she agrees to be featured in Vogue as the “40-year-old bride.” The dress, as she explained it, upped the “ante” and pushed her toward a large and ostentious wedding that Mr. Big refused to get out of the car for. The bird headpiece was coupled with a veil for a truly bridal styling.
Now, that piece of entertainment history will belong to one lucky bidder, but it comes at a high cost. Sotheby’s estimates the value of the headpiece at between $40,000 and $70,000. According to the famed auction house, high-net-worth individuals, investors, and museums are the intended audience. The headpiece features a real, taxidermied bird of paradise.
Where did Carrie Bradshaw’s bird headpiece come from?
The origins of Carrie Bradshaw’s bird headpiece are a bit of a mystery. Still, some information about the elaborate item is available. According to several sources, the headpiece came from a vintage hat, believed to have been made sometime in the 1800s.
During an interview with Vogue, Parker revealed that the bird headpiece almost didn’t make it into the movie. She said that she and the costume team “ambushed” Michael Patrick King with the look on the day of shooting. He signed off on the look but was rather skeptical. The infamous bird became a point of conversation in the film and feels intrinsically Carrie Bradshaw. It was so connected to the character that the costume department dug it out of storage for And Just Like That…, the Sex and the City reboot.
There are several other notable fashion pieces in the Sotheby’s lot
The headpiece is certainly the oldest piece in the auction lot, but it’s not the only iconic item currently up for sale. Carrie Bradshaw’s bird headpiece shares auction space with Princess Diana’s Warm and Wonderful black sheep sweater and her 1985 Murray Arbeid evening gown.
The auction lot also includes a vintage dress worn by Michelle Obama, a vintage wedding veil donned by Madonna and Kate Winslet’s iconic 1998 Academy Awards gown. Several Hermes handbags from the 1970s are also up for auction.
Princess Diana’s dress comes in as the most expensive item in the lot, with an estimated value of $80,000 to $120,000. The vintage headpiece worn by Carrie is the second most expensive item in the lot. The Fashion Icons lot will close on Sept. 14, according to Sotheby’s.
