If you've lived as many lives as Cher, you've accumulated a lot of stuff. (And if, like Cher, you've been dressed for many of those lives by Bob Mackie, a lot of rhinestone-studded apparel.) After her farewell tour ended last spring, Cher, 60, returned to her Malibu home and yearned for a change: "For me, the only way to start new is to get rid of what I have." So, out with the old, via an auction to be held in Beverly Hills on Oct. 3 and 4. The sale, conducted by Sotheby's with Julien's Auctions, is expected to raise over $1 million; a portion will go to Operation Helmet (upgrading gear for U.S. troops) and other charities. But first, Cher sorted through "500 boxes, laid out in groups of movies, times or boyfriends," she says. "My Moonstruck dress, my Mask jackets—I had more than one, the other can go to someone new." She's keeping Sonny Bono's piano ("I wouldn't give up anything I could not live without"), but you could pick up a Cher-owned Hummer, an Egyptian daybed or an outfit that will lend serious credence to your next karaoke performance of "Believe." "The thing I like about this is whoever buys the odd piece will love it as much as I do," Cher says. "It will be taken care of."

1975
"It wasn't like I was walking to the market in these outfits," says Cher, who wore most only once. "I rarely dress up when I'm not working."

1973
"She was never intimidated by anything I put on her," says Mackie of his muse. As for the headdress? Cher says Mackie used "this milliner who made hats for Marlene Dietrich."

1972
"Can I tell you? I hated that dress! I thought it made me look fat." But Sonny liked it. "He teased me on [The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour], and the outfits were easy to say something about."

1975
"Bob [Mackie] is great mechanically—I never had to use gaffer tape," she says of this velvet gown from the Cher show.

1975
Cher (with Bette Midler and Elton John on Cher) says this gown was supposed to be seen alongside one more person. "Flip Wilson was also in this, but between the dress rehearsal and the shoot he walked off the set and we never saw him again."

1999
Cher wore these Dolce & Gabbana jeweled, embroidered pants—which are being sold with matching sling-back shoes—to an Oscar-night afterparty.

ca. 1970s
This concert ensemble showed up on a PEOPLE cover when Cher was dating Kiss rocker Gene Simmons. Did he influence her look? "Gosh no! If Genie had input, there would be a lot less dress."

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Accessories
SHOES "What's interesting is that the [Catalano] platforms [top row, third from left] are from the '70s," says Cher, noting that the similar pair to their left "are Hermès from last summer!" Among the 30 pairs for sale are Pradas and Manolo Blahniks.

AMETHYST BROOCH "I love crosses," Cher says of this piece, worn during the 2003 Stuck on You press tour. "The symmetry of a cross is beautiful."

DIAMOND HOOPS No story here, says Cher: "That's just a pair of earrings." About 2 carats of stones are set in white gold.

VOYAGE PURSE "Isn't that the best? I didn't buy it the first time I saw it; I had spent so much. One day the man [in the shop] said, 'You're a great customer. I want to give it to you.' "

Furnishings
MALIBU FAMILY ROOM These pieces range from the 17th through 20th centuries. "Antique furniture has this energy, because it has a past," says Cher.

SONNY, CHER, CHASTITY, 1971 The couple and daughter Chastity "didn't pose" for painter LeRoy Neiman, Cher says. "He had pictures of us and put it together."

PENELOPE AND THE SUITORS, 1900 Though she says she "was absolutely broke" at the time, Cher had to have this Victor John Robertson painting, and bought it in London. In Greek mythology, "Penelope was supposed to marry a man she didn't love, and she'd say, 'When this tapestry is finished, we'll marry.' Every night she'd undo the tapestry."