More than 500 Raquel Welch items go up for auction: bikinis, jewelry, dresses and her Golden Globe

Life as an erotic myth is full of frustrations.

This was revealed by Raquel Welch in more than one interview, such as when she spoke to Rolling Stone

magazine

in 1974, after starring in a suggestive campaign for Coca-Cola and being named

The Most Desirable Woman of the 1970s by

Playboy

magazine

.

“To the general public, I am America's walking, talking Coca-Cola bottle, the Marlboro woman.

I hate it.

I laugh because it's funny, but I hate it.

Let's face it, how do you live the life of a Coca-Cola bottle?

There is no tangibility in my image.

I doubt people believe my parts move.

Well, they do it,” defended the actress, who died in February 2023, at the age of 83, after a brief illness.

Welch considered beauty “a crutch” on which she had built her career.

It all started with her role as the cavewoman Loana in the movie

A Million Years Ago

.

She only had 33 lines of dialogue - not counting the grunts - but she wore a tiny

beige

bikini that catapulted her to fame in 1966.

Now, that bikini and other of the artist's most prized items are up for auction.

Welch, who participated in more than 30 films and fifty television shows, went from being virtually unknown to one of the greatest sex symbols of the 20th century in a matter of months, hailed by

The New York Times

as “a wonderful monument to women".

And almost with that same

leitmotif

, Julien's Auction has presented the exclusive sale

Bombshell:

The Raquel Welch Collection

, made up of costumes, awards and souvenirs of the performer that will be auctioned on April 12 at Los Angeles California).

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“Raquel Welch was that rarefied Hollywood star who had it all: grace,

glamor

and spunk in the body of a goddess, whose star appearance in

A Million Years Ago

became one of the most cinematic images in history and one of the best-selling

pin-up

posters of all time,” said Darren Julien, CEO and co-founder of Julien's Auctions, during the auction presentation, this Monday, February 19.

“She was adored not only for her stunning beauty, but for her legacy of groundbreaking depictions of strong female warriors who possessed the same ferocity and fierceness as her,” he recalled.

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Among the more than 500 items that make up the legacy of the actress for which her most fervent followers will now be able to bid, includes the Golden Globe for best actress in a comedy or musical, which she won in 1974 for her role as Constance. in

The Three Musketeers

.

It is estimated that bids for it will be between 3,000 and 5,000 dollars - between 2,700 and 4,600 euros.

Other of the most exclusive lots will be his Hollywood Walk of Fame plaque, estimated between 200 and 300 dollars - between 185 and 277 euros - or, in principle, the most expensive of all, his 2018 Mercedes Benz SL convertible, which It is estimated that it will reach 100,000 dollars - about 92,700 euros.

Raquel Welch in her 'Myra Breckinridge' costume (1970).Bettmann (Bettmann Archive)

As for the costume pieces, in addition to a replica of her iconic caveman bikini from

A Million Years Ago

, made of suede and synthetic leather and with an estimated price between 500 and 700 dollars - 460 and 648 euros -, also On sale will be a

flapper

-style dress that she wore in the film

Wild Party

(1975), a swimsuit with an American flag print inspired by the outfit she wore in

Myra Breckinridge

(1970) - where she became "a pioneering ally." of the LGTBI community” when playing a transgender woman, according to the auction house, or the sequin bikini she wore in the comedy

Bedazzled

(1967) to embody one of the seven deadly sins – lust, of course – .

Some more fabric has other custom-made outfits by the actress's favorite designers, Bob Mackie, Norma Kamali and Givenchy, which she wore in fashion shows and Hollywood events such as the Oscars.

Additionally, a handful of her jewelry pieces will be offered.

Her diamond and 14-carat gold wedding ring stands out, from her marriage to Richard Palmer - none of her four marriages lasted too long - which is estimated to reach between 10,000 and 20,000 dollars - 9,200 and 18,500 euros.

Added to this ring are a stainless steel and gold Rolex Oyster wristwatch, and several pieces from Tiffany & Co, among other jewelry.

A still from the comedy 'Bedazzled' (1967), where the actress played the sin of lust.Bettmann (Bettmann Archive)

Some of these items will be presented in a public exhibition at the Museum of Style Icons in Newbridge, Ireland, from February 23, and the auction will also be available

online

through the Julien's Auctions website.

An auction that arrives practically a year after her death, as a tribute to an artist who has left her mark.

Although as she herself insisted in the

Rolling Stone

interview : “I am not a phenomenon that exists outside of time, an anachronism of sociological importance.

I am a person".