Ramblin: Celebrity apparel goes to highest bidder

CEDAR RAPIDS - Cher's black rhinestone decorated boots are here. So are Goldie Hawn's cutoff jean shorts from the movie “Crisscross,” a Shirley Jones' suit worn to a Partridge Family fete at the White House and an autographed Farrah Fawcett night shirt.

If you're a fan of clothes and accessories worn by female celebrities ranging from Elizabeth Taylor and Barbra Streisand to Pia Zadora and Kathy Ireland, you'd be in luck beginning at noon Sunday. That's when more than 200 items go up for auction at Cady Auction Gallery in Cedar Rapids. (See www.cadyauction.com)

“We don't quite know what to expect out of it,” says Deb Cady. “It's such a specialty auction.”

“There could be 10 people in the house, there could be 200,” adds husband Mike.

What the owners of the auction gallery do know is that the clothing tastes of 38 women celebrities will be in the house.

The apparel was collected over a 20-year period by a Linn County couple who wish to remain anonymous. Most of it was purchased from Star Wares in Santa Monica, Calif., with certificates of authenticity.

Often, Deb says, celebrities donate clothes to a store with the stipulation that half the proceeds go to a designated charity. In this case, all money from the 16 items owned by Farrah Fawcett, who died of cancer, goes to the American Cancer Society.

“We're excited,” Deb says. “It should be fun.”

This is the third auction for the business which opened July 1 in a refurbish building damaged in the Flood of 2008 at 833 Shaver Road NE.

“We've wanted to do this for a long time,” Deb says.

The Troy Mills couple felt the stars all aligned properly in 2009 for them to take the plunge.

Deb, 53, in sales for 30 years, lost her director of sales job at StoneRiver in February.

Mike, 56, who sold computerized machining tools before losing his job in 2002, has bought and sold antiques since. He concentrated on high quality glassware and pottery, often bought locally and sold through eBay.

“We did OK with it,” Mike says. “We'd research a 300-mile radius for the best auctions.”

With help from the Kirkwood Development Center, the couple put together a flexible five-year business plan, signed a three-year building lease and held the first auction Sept. 19.

In an effort to maximize business, the Cadys give interested parties four ways to bid.

The latest is through the Web site, www.proxibid.com, where people from around the world can see a photo of each item, monitor the auction and submit bids. A computer operator on the auctioneering stand keeps Mike apprised of online bids.

Prospective buyers also can bid by telephone during the auction or submit absentee bids before it begins. (Previews of this auction are being held from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday and 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday.)

But, the Cadys agree, there's nothing like actually being there, watching about 80 items per hour end up in the hands of happy bidders.

Who will go home with a suit Catherine Oxenberg wore when she played Princess Diana in a 1992 movie, a Loni Anderson dress worn in “Partners in Crime,” a Rue McClanahan sweat shirt given to her by Randy Travis?

The list goes on with Jessica Walters leggings, Tina Louise sandals, a Joan Rivers suit, Lorretta Swit boots, Rita Moreno workout clothes ...