IT IS a treasure trove of lace, leather, glitter and feathers that evokes a time when clothes truly did make the man, woman or in some cases, the drag queen.

Today, hundreds of costumes and vintage items made and acquired by Cliff Brunton, the veteran designer of stage shows including the Lion King and Priscilla: Queen Of The Desert , will go under the hammer at the Lawson's auction house in Annandale.

The collection features pieces made for theatre productions or fancy dress hire: intricate showgirl headpieces, heavy velvet Elizabethan pantaloons and leather gladiator vests.

But it also includes glamorous evening wear from the 1980s, which Brunton's business of 30 years, The Costume Design Centre, hired out to women who wanted to look like a star for a night. "A lot of those glamorous, beaded evening frocks have been worn by a lot of well-to-do eastern suburbs ladies," he said.

It was an era of audacious fashion that Brunton is nostalgic for. "We've become pretty ordinary, I think," said the designer, who worked in some of Sydney's premier drag venues in the 1970s. "We tend to dress down. Style is something only left for the few, whereas a long time back we used to dress for a lot more."

The 61-year-old decided he needed to downsize his business, and is moving from his old premises in Chippendale to a smaller building in Marrickville. The move has meant much of the old collection has to be sold.

Simon Hill, general manager of Lawson's, says the collection has already received plenty of interest. "The main people interested so far have been theatre companies and schools which participate in eisteddfods," he said.

He expects prices will range from $5 to $8000 for some of the rare vintage items, including costumes from a 19th-century Chinese opera, decorated with gelatine sequins and monkey fur.