Cyndi Lauper’s Iconic Fashion Is Headed to the Auction Block
The legendary pop star has partnered with Bonhams for a sale of around 300 objects, including red carpet looks, jewelry, memorabilia, furniture, and more
Cyndi Lauper first visited the United Kingdom around the same time she made her grand debut in pop music with her 1983 album, She’s So Unusual. The New York-born singer was familiar with British humor and creativity through the television show Monty Python, but she had one priority the second she landed in London. “I ran to the Vivienne Westwood store and bought a skirt and shirt that was a collaboration with Keith Haring,” Lauper tells Galerie. “This was a special time when music, art, and fashion were melding, and this was inspiring everyone to look at themselves in the mirror in a different way.”
The fuchsia shirt, printed with Haring’s Devil Dog and Squiggle motifs, and a black pencil skirt ensemble from Westwood and Malcom McLaren’s Fall/Winter 1983-84 collection now sit in a new auction at Bonhams, “Cyndi Lauper: Suitcase of Memories.”
The sale features the Grammy-winning pop icon’s vast holdings, including memorabilia, musical instruments, jewelry, furniture, and, of course, clothing, some of which embody the highlights from Lauper’s journey into stardom while others offer a glimpse into her strong connection to the downtown fashion world. Ensembles from fashion houses such as Dolce & Gabbana and Ralph Lauren sit side by side with pieces that belonged to the singer’s mother or larger-than-life costumes designed for stage performances by Lauper’s friends and collaborators. Westwood’s green Mini-Crini ensemble from her 1986 spring/summer collection, for example, is paired with a thrift store find, a World’s Fair hat from 1936.
“It is nice to remember what it was like to be an individual character and express yourself through fashion,” adds Lauper at the auction house’s soaring Gensler-designed Midtown headquarters. The ground floor overlooking a busy 57th Street displays the “Time After Time” singer’s stage and red carpet looks. Take the red plaid dress that Lauper wore for her first MTV Video Music Awards appearance in 1984. She had left the Radio City Music Hall with a “Best Female Video” trophy, but the then-emerging pop star couldn’t have imagined that the same dress, which she decorated with rhinestone jewelry, would be on display in her auction sale a few blocks away from the venue 42 years later.
The presentation’s impact is, in fact, palpable to any music and fashion lover for this very reason. A DIY sensibility, which is often attributed to makers from the past decades and is even romanticized in the current highly commodified creative landscape, is apparent firsthand in Lauper’s belongings. Upstairs, a generous layout of posters, records, trophies, and props joins another large display of fashion items. The music board Lauper used for recording 1986’s hit album True Colors sits not far from a group of props, such as the seashells used on the same album’s cover art or the dolls in her iconic “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” music video.
“Cyndi Lauper is far more than an iconic artist; she is a cultural force whose music, style, and individuality have influenced generations,” Anna Hicks, Bonhams’s Head of Private & Iconic Collections in the U.S., tells Galerie. “These pieces trace an extraordinary career, and we’re honored that she has entrusted them to Bonhams.” The sale joins a line of similar outings that the auction house has presented from the collections of luminous public figures, such as the late Diane Keaton, Lily Tomlin, and Jane Wagner.
Furniture is another grouping offered among over 300 lots. A colorful Memphis Group-influenced vinyl loveseat in red, orange, and blue beams with the similar sonic energy of its owner. “I used to fall asleep on this couch when I was recording Shine,” remembers Lauper about her studio furniture. Similarly, each item speaks for its owner’s uncompromising creative persona. “I never wanted to look like someone else,” explains Lauper. She hopes the presentation will be inspirational for the new generation of artists of all genres. “You don’t always have to wear a top designer because you can invent it yourself,” she says, and adds for the young minds: “Just research art, research fashion history, and research where ideas come from so you have a good foundation to feel inspired.”
Cyndi Lauper: Suitcase of Memories is on view at Bonham’s through October 22, 2026, and bidding is open online through October 23, 2026.