Admit it, U Want the Look. On Friday, May 18, Julien’s Auctions will be selling garments, artifacts, and objects from the life and career of Prince. In July, for true super fans, Premiere Properties will auction the musician’s five-acre, 10,000-square-foot Turks & Caicos Estate.
The icon passed away two years ago without a will, leaving his $200 million estate in probate hell, with entertainment lawyers charged with maximizing value before potential heirs step in. Graceland Holdings, which has overseen Elvis Presley’s Graceland since 1982, has taken control of Paisley Park, Prince’s home and production complex just outside Minneapolis. But not all of the pop star’s stuff is staying there.
Auction lots include a five-piece set of custom wedding china for his first marriage to Mayte Garcia (mother to Prince’s only children, neither of whom survived infancy), as well as many of his stage-worn bespoke ensembles, including a purple, long-sleeve turtleneck jumpsuit with purple glitter sequins. More wearable, perhaps, is a pendant in 14-karat yellow gold, topped with a round cabochon amethyst and ending in 19 pave-set full-cut round diamonds.
Part of the appeal is that Prince didn’t merely go shopping at luxury boutiques for his many glittery things. Minneapolis is home to one of the most robust theater communities in the world, and Prince took full advantage, hiring an army of world-class costume designers and fabricators that were just a purple motorcycle ride away.
“He never wore ready-made clothing,” says Prince scholar Karen Turman. Even his beach estate in Turks & Caicos was customized to have a purple driveway
Liz Bucheit, from Crown Trout Jewelers in Lanesboro, Minn., was a contractor for Paisley Park from 1991 to 1994, between the Batman and Love Symbol eras. She made shoe buckles and zipper pulls (such as Lot 46), plus most other jewelry that Prince and his performers wore during that time. “I cut so many Love Sexy Symbols out of brass in a lot of different sizes,” says Bucheit. “He put them on everything, and they took a lot of time to finish and polish.”
We asked her and Turman to give us an insider’s look at the parts of his legacy that are up for grabs.
How involved was Prince?
Bucheit: He was very hands-on with his wardrobe, and design revisions were always a given! As a metalsmith and jewelry designer, I was given the task to produce pieces (mainly involving metal decorations for his shoes, zipper pulls, etc.) based on drawings and specific directions from Stacia Lang [Prince’s head designer]. His ideas and vision for his many looks were manifested between himself and his designer. He would often send tear sheets of designs out of fashion magazines to Stacia, who would work with me on the technical aspects of honoring his requests.
Turman: He drew from everything, yet never seemed to be beholden to the trends; rather, he would set his own style that would constantly evolve. At one time, he was really into [Jean Paul] Gaultier corsets and netting. But if you look at the progression of his looks throughout his 40-year career, he has phases with both hair and fashion but would move on to an entirely different look in a short span of time. Most of the looks seemed to last about a year (or album-tour).