Personal Effects From the Late Singer Whitney Houston

Fifteen gowns and dresses previously owned by Whitney Houston, some worn on-stage and others at events and galas, plus some of the late singing legend’s personal effects – such as pins, costume jewelry and other stage items – will be sold at public auction on Saturday, Nov. 21^st, by Stevens Auction Company, at the Gaylord Opryland Hotel & Resort.

Ms. Houston’s fifteen dresses and gowns are in pristine, like-new condition. All of them were important to the late singer’s career and the public will be viewing them for the first time since she wore them and they went into storage. Perhaps the most important one of the group is a gold and white dress designed by Bob Mackie. All the dresses, though, are seen as highly collectible.

The dresses and personal effects are from the late singer’s Bodyguard World Tour, launched on the heels of the hit movie The Bodyguard (starring Ms. Houston and Kevin Costner) and taking her to numerous countries on five continents, from July 1993 to November 1994. At the end of the tour, the items were placed into storage at a New Jersey facility, where they sat undisturbed.

For reasons that are still unclear, storage fees went unpaid and piled up over the course of many years. Finally, a court ordered that some of the items be sold at auction to satisfy that debt. In 2007, five dresses and three ensembles from Houston’s wardrobe were sold at auction. Then, in 2012, just weeks after the singer’s death, another auction was held, this time in Beverly Hills.

(Featured Image: Dwight Stevens holds up a photograph of the late Whitney Houston wearing one of the stage dresses he’ll auction in Nashville as part of a collection of tour material. Also pictured in the background is a bronze door that will be part of the auction./ Photo: monroecountyjournal.com)