Posted: Sun., Sep. 11, 2005, 5:00am PT

A warm find for cold Jedi knights

1976 Guinness garb now on display at Harrods

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The brown, hooded cloak worn by Alec Guinness as Obi-Wan Kenobi in "Star Wars" has been discovered at a London fancy dress shop, 28 years after it disappeared.

Back in 1976, Guinness diligently returned the cloak to the Berman's costume firm after "Star Wars" wrapped the Shepperton and Elstree studios leg of its shoot. The cloak slipped into anonymity among the six miles of clothes at Berman's giant north London costume warehouse.

In 1992, Angels the Costumiers took over the Berman's inventory and the cloak wound up at Angels' flagship Shaftesbury Avenue five-floor fancy dress shop. With nobody wise to the item's unique place in sci-fi folklore, the cloak was inadvertently loaned out to other productions, including "The Mummy," (1999) and to the public for costume parties.

But during a routine stock check recently, an eagle-eyed staffer spotted Kenobi's cloak among a rail of monks' robes. "Star Wars" costume designer John Mollo has authenticated the finding.

The cloak went on display at Harrods on Sept. 6 alongside costumes from "Four Weddings and a Funeral," "Bridget Jones' Diary" and "Shakespeare in Love."

Star Wars memorabilia hunters mulling a bid shouldn't get their hopes up. An Angels spokesperson says there are no plans to sell the cloak -- though auctioneers have valued it at as much as $45,000.