Black beaded dress designed by Zelda Wynn and worn by Ella Fitzgerald
date: label: Date
content: late 1940s
name: label: Designed by
content: Zelda Wynn, American, 1905 - 2001
label: Worn by
content: Ella Fitzgerald, American, 1917 - 1996
notes: label: Description
content: This black beaded full-length gown was designed by Zelda Wynn and worn by Ella Fitzgerald. The dress is made from black synthetic crepe fabric that is hand beaded with black glass seed and bugle beads, and black sequins in a floral vine design. The bodice is short-sleeved and has a scoop neck in the front and a V-neck in the back. There is a metal zipper in the center back that goes to the hip, and a hook-and-eye at the top of the zipper. The gown has a princess cut waist, but there is no seam at the waist. The gown has a column skirt with a slit on the proper right side that is 24 1/2" high and contains a rounded hem. At the top of the slit, there is a pre-tied black velvet bow that is sewn to the dress.
label: Description
content: The dress is fully lined with a black synthetic fabric, except at the bottom of the sleeves. The hem of the sleeves, the interior neck line, and the skirt hem are finished with black ribbon. The designer label on the interior proper left back of the bodice is cream with black embroidered text and reads: "Zelda Wynn / NEW YORK, N.Y."
topic: label: Topic
content: African American
label: Topic
content: Clothing and dress
label: Topic
content: Design
label: Topic
content: Fashion
label: Topic
content: Fashion design
label: Topic
content: Jazz (Music)
label: Topic
content: Singers (Musicians)
setName: label: See more items in
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
label: Classification
content: Clothing - Fashion and Historical
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of the Estate of Ella Fitzgerald
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture
identifier: label: Object number
content: 2010.20.1
objectType: label: Type
content: gowns
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: synthetic fiber, velvet, glass beads, plastic sequins, and metal fasteners
label: Dimensions
content: H x W: 46 x 20 in. (116.8 x 50.8 cm)