When the senior vice president of business development at Christie’s, George McNeely, traveled with the American fashion and social icon Nan Kempner, an international representative to the auction house for more than 20 years, he marveled at what she packed.

In Cambodia, Kempner brought one tiny suitcase, yet she’d appear night after night looking splendid. On a tour of Europe, she brought five very large Louis Vuitton suitcases, which carried, among other things, three fur coats. “We were headed out of the hotel in Budapest, and I stopped in her room to pick her up,” Mr. McNeely said. “One of the maids was sitting on the bed — on top of a suitcase — trying to get it closed.”

Kempner’s clothes traveled the world during her lifetime, and their dispersal since her death two years ago may ensure their jet-setting ways continue. Next week, Christie’s will sell a few hundred couture and ready-to-wear items to benefit Kempner’s favorite cause, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. The location of the sale at the Rockefeller Center offices holds significance in itself: It was the location of her memorial service, coordinated by the Christie’s staff.

The auction comes on the heels of two museum exhibits, and a thrift shop sale and auction — all featuring the items from the legendary clotheshorse’s closet. Two hundred pieces went into the permanent collection at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, which mounted an exhibit of Kempner’s wardrobe last winter. A smaller version of that show is at the de Young Museum in San Francisco until November 11. In the spring, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Thrift Shop sold hundreds of items, and the Lighthouse also held an auction; both drew large crowds.

The sale comprises 60 outfits assembled as Kempner would have worn them, mixing designers and adding accents, and 10 lots of accessories, such as boots, gloves, and turbans, all in “very good condition,” according to the auction house.

Vintages range between 1960s and 2005, and designers include Europeans — Valentino, Chanel — and many Americans, including Bill Blass, Calvin Klein, Michael Kors, Carolina Herrera, Oscar de la Renta, and Levi’s (if one pair of jeans counts).

Most of the lots carry estimates in the $400 to $700 range, yet no reserves have been set by the auction house, so the price at the podium is anyone’s guess. Auctions of personal objects can be unpredictable. At Christie’s, bidding was frenzied during a sale of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis’s belongings, and less so a year later for a sale of items from the homes of Pamela Harriman, the late ambassador to France.

“We’ve set estimates considering the condition, the collector, as well as the date and the style of the items,” a furniture and couture specialist in the house sales department at Christie’s, Laura Layfer, said, noting that bidding could be influenced by the fact that proceeds will go to Memorial Sloan-Kettering.

The owner of the vintage clothing store Petria Boutiq in Great Barrington, Mass., Petria May, who bought several items at the Kempner sale at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Thrift Shop, said Christie’s estimates are reasonable — considering many of the pieces have designer labels, and follow current trends.

Ms. May anticipates high bidding for the Yves Saint Laurent Rive Gauche coats. One is a red, black, and chocolate brown raincoat, and the other is a snakeskin trench. Her explanation is practical: Kempner was famously pencil-thin, and these coats have a better chance than other items of fitting slightly less slender figures. But this is only important for those that intend to wear them; collectors won’t care as much, Ms. May said.

One factor that isn’t noted in the catalog, but which can be determined upon personal inspection, is whether the clothes smell of Kempner’s cigarettes and perfume, such as the items Ms. May purchased in the spring. “I sort of liked that,” Ms. May said. “It added an air of authenticity.”

Christie’s selected the pieces after the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute had chosen theirs, and before the rest had been sent to the thrift shop and the Lighthouse. Items will be on view at the auction house Friday to Sunday, and the live bidding will begin Tuesday, October 2, at 2 p.m. Those not able to attend can participate via phone or Internet. More information is available at christies.com.