Green coat worn by Oprah Winfrey as Sofia in The Color Purple
date: label: Date
content: 1985
name: label: Designed by
content: Aggie Guerard Rodgers, American, born 1943
label: Manufactured by
content: Palace Costume Company, American, founded 1990
label: Worn by
content: Oprah Winfrey, American, born 1954
label: Subject of
content: Alice Walker, American, born 1944
notes: label: Description
content: Green coat worn by Oprah Winfrey as the character Sofia Johnson in the film "The Color Purple." The full-length, long-sleeved, single-breasted coat is made from a dark green wool tweed plaid. The coat closes at the front with five (5) large round olive fabric-covered buttons that fasten using loops of black cord sewn to the edge of the proper right front. The front sides are turned open and stitched down near the and along the outer edges, making the button and loop closure non-functioning. A wide band of olive wool with stumpwork embroidery in olive rayon of a highly stylized leafy vine design is sewn around the front sides and around the collar, and is cut to follow the tapering of the turned front and the rounded notches at the turned collar. This same olive embroidered band is sewn around the cuff of both sleeves, which are also turned. The sleeves are slightly gathered using a length of the wool plaid attached at the exterior of each sleeve just above the cuff with two (2) round olive fabric-covered buttons, with the strips lined in green rayon. There are two (2) inset pockets, one on each exterior hip of the coat, with notched flaps made of the green plaid and light brown wool lining.
label: Description
content: The coat is fully lined with a green cotton and rayon blend. There is a deep patch pocket made of the lining with an elastic top opening sewn to the interior proper right side of the coat. A long strip of black fabric is attached from shoulder to shoulder across the back neck of the coat, with long ends left loose. There is a barcode label adhered to the black strip at the center back neck with printed text above the barcode reading "PALACE COSTUME CO." and text below the barcode reading "37192643". A second label is sewn at the interior center back neck underneath the black strip made of off-white fabric with dark brown printed text reading "Palace Costume Co."
place: label: Place used
content: North Carolina, United States, North and Central America
label: Place used
content: California, United States, North and Central America
topic: label: Topic
content: African American
label: Topic
content: Actors
label: Topic
content: Clothing and dress
label: Topic
content: Costume
label: Topic
content: Costume design
label: Topic
content: Design
label: Topic
content: Families
label: Topic
content: Film
label: Topic
content: Gender
label: Topic
content: LGBTQ
label: Topic
content: Literature
label: Topic
content: Sexuality
label: Topic
content: Violence
label: Topic
content: Women
setName: label: See more items in
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
label: Classification
content: Clothing - Costume
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture
identifier: label: Object number
content: 2014.184.1.2
objectType: label: Type
content: coats
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: No Known Copyright Restrictions
label: Restrictions & Rights
content: Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: wool, cotton/rayon blend, elastic, and plastic buttons
label: Dimensions
content: H x W x D (On form): 55 3/4 × 26 × 19 in. (141.6 × 66 × 48.3 cm)