The wardrobe of the Italian actress Claudia Cardinale is to go under the hammer in Paris next week, with the star saying her clothes show "the liberation of women."

She born in Tunisia, where she come to notice for the first time after winning a beauty contest in 1957. Cardinale was an outspoken advocate of women's rights.

The Italian actress featured in some classics movies such as "The Leopard", Fellini's "8 1/2" and Sergio Leone's "Once Upon a Time in the West" told AFP: "These dresses don't show just my story but a chapter in women's history."

She said "You can feel I think the liberation of women of my generation" through the clothes.

She wore the Nina Ricci haute couture gown to the Oscars in 1965 and this gown is expected to attract the most bidding at the Sotheby's auction on July 9.

"It's a mythic dress that she wore on several big occasions," the expert added.

Guillon said Cardinale's wardrobe shows how society changed during her time at the top, going from "rather sober evening dresses to a pyjama number emblematic of the new more relaxed lifestyle and the even freer dresses of the 1970s."

The star said that each piece has a memory for her, none more so than a black satin dress with pink sequins she wore to the premiere of the 1971 spaghetti western "The Legend of Frenchie King", in which she co-starred with Brigitte Bardot.

"Everyone thought we were rivals, but we were complementary. I came in the dress and Brigitte was magnificent dressed as a man," Cardinale added.

The wardrobe of French star Catherine Deneuve sold for more than $1 million at Christie's in Paris in January.

Agence France-Presse