"The auction room was stunned into silence (apart from the gasps of disbelief from those attending) as the bids rose rapidly from the low hundreds (estimate £200-300) to the final hammer fall of £17,000.
The coat had been bought twenty years ago by the vintage-loving vendor as a present for her husband who had refused to wear it. It had been languishing in a wardrobe ever since, as her by now grown-up sons also refused to wear it. The owner, who lives in Cheshire watched the auction live over the internet with members of her family who were ‘jumping up and down’ as the gavel finally fell. She said that she was ‘stunned and still in shock’, and it was a good job her husband hadn’t liked it!"
