More than three years after Whitney Houston’s passing, her family has made the decision to put some of her most personal items up for auction.
Billboard reports that Houston’s estate has teamed up with Heritage Auctions to put on a two-day auction featuring things like her stage costumes, passport, childhood memorabilia and her iconic wedding dress. The auction house expects that the sales will rake in at least $500,000.
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“We gave [her family] some ideas, they gave us some ideas and we came up with this 119-piece collection that’s basically a retrospective of Whitney from the beginning, from when she first started singing after she left being a background singer for Chaka Khan and Lou Rawls,” said Heritage Auctions Director of Entertainment and Music Memorabilia Garry Shrum. “We have her passport from the beginning, all these various awards and outfits, all kinds of cool and groovy things.”
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Included in the auction is her passport, issued in 1985, as well as a Disney coloring book and a jacket given to her by her father embroidered with her childhood nickname.
“It’s a unique opportunity for her fans to actually get personal things that were very close to her coming directly from the estate,” Shrum said. “…When you get something from the estate, it’s so personal and it has such strong provenance and the backstories that the family has given us to put with the pieces are even more exciting.”
The auction will be held at the Heritage Auctions auction house June 24 and 25. Proceeds will go to an undetermined charity.