Pia Wurtzbach during her Miss Universe stint in 2015 (left) and the pageant sashes she has collected over the years (right). Wurtzbach/Instagram
Pia Wurtzbach is giving the public a chance to own a real Miss Universe sash.
The Miss Universe 2015 titleholder is set to auction the sashes that she has collected in her pageant journey — from the Binibining Pilipinas national stage to Miss Universe, where she made history as the country’s third winner.
These will be part of an auction at the Love Gala, an event by the HIV advocacy group LoveYourself, on December 3. Wurtzbach aims to help raise funds for LoveYourself’s youth center in Taguig.
“We’re just a little over a month away from the Love Gala! Sharing some pieces we’re auctioning… do you remember these?” the former beauty queen said in an Instagram post, which also showed the silver dress she wore when she was announced in the Miss Universe Top 15, as well as her old notebooks.
While many of her fans expressed excitement about the upcoming auction, some netizens questioned Wurtzbach’s latest move and wondered aloud if she no longer sees value in her beauty queen memorabilia.
She responded in the comments section: “Of course they are [important]! They’re actually more sentimental to me than anything I’m auctioning off.”
“All of my thoughts are in those notebooks,” she recalled. ‘All the struggles, the training, the doubts… everything! Letting them go doesn’t mean they don’t matter to me. They do. But I have a plan of turning them into something more memorable and lasting.”
Wurtzbach went on to share with her fans that letting go of her sashes was “not easy” and made her “tear up a bit.”
“But I’m ready. What’s meant to happen will happen,” she told a follower, adding that she is considering the idea of keeping one sash so it can be displayed at LoveYourself’s soon-to-be-built youth center.
