Bonhams Midtown, NYC: Cyndi Lauper's "Suitcase of Memories" Goes to Auction Tonight

Bonhams is holding the live sale of Cyndi Lauper: Suitcase of Memories, Part I, today, October 22, starting at 5 p.m. EDT at its U.S. flagship, 111 West 57th Street. A companion online auction under the same title stays open for bidding through October 23.

According to the auction house, the material covers four decades of Lauper's career and charts how her style evolved. Vintage and stage-worn pieces from Screaming Mimi's, the New York boutique she frequented early on, sit alongside designs by Vivienne Westwood and Alexander McQueen. The headline piece is the True Colors newspaper skirt ensemble. "To me, fashion is art, and these pieces represent that creative journey," Lauper says.

The Part I catalogue lists 21 lots. Among them are the leopard-print pajamas from the "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" video (US$500–700), the lunchbox from the "Time After Time" video (US$200–300), and the red plaid dress worn to the first-ever MTV Video Music Awards in 1984 (US$1,000–1,500). A green fringe "Wood Bark" ensemble from Westwood's Spring/Summer 1986 Mini-Crini collection is estimated at US$1,000–1,500, and the newspaper skirt look at US$1,000–2,000. The catalogue marks that lot as amended.

Not everything is clothing. There is a framed RIAA award for one million sales of "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" (US$1,000–2,000), two Billboard Video Music Awards (US$800–1,000), a tour-used disco ball in a stenciled road case (US$500–700), and a tour-used Fender '65 Super Reverb reissue amp (US$1,500–2,000). Lauper also made a "Time After Time" shoe assemblage mobile in 2026, estimated at US$1,000–1,500. Estimates across Part I run from US$200 to US$2,000.

Bonhams said on October 20 that the New York exhibition of the collection closes on October 22. Bidding is online, and registration through the Bonhams site is needed to bid. A printed catalogue can also be ordered.