Costume dress worn by Diana Ross as Billie Holiday in Lady Sings the Blues
date: label: Date
content: 1972
name: label: Designed by
content: Bob Mackie, American, born 1940
label: Designed by
content: Ray Aghayan, Iranian American, born 1934
label: Designed by
content: Norma Koch, American, 1898 - 1979
label: Worn by
content: Diana Ross, American, born 1944
label: Subject of
content: Billie Holiday, American, 1915 - 1959
notes: label: Description
content: Teal twill wool long-sleeved mid-calf length dress worn by Diana Ross as Billie Holiday in the Paramount Pictures produced 1972 film "Lady Sings the Blues." The dress has a mock turtleneck and no waist seam, but center front and back seams. There are diagonal light green stripes of wool that angle in a point-up double chevron on the bodice and wrap around to the back. The dress closes at the center back from the neck to below the waist with eleven (11) self-covered teal buttons and self loops, and thirteen (13) hooks that attach to the loops. Additionally, there is one (1) black snap at the top of the neck and two (2) snaps at the bottom of the back closure. Thread-wrapped metal is sewn at the interior of the upper part of the shoulder seams to make the mock turtleneck stand out from the neck. The dress is not lined and is hand hemmed.
place: label: Place used
content: 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: Fashion
label: Topic
content: Film
label: Topic
content: Jazz (Music)
label: Topic
content: Motown (Music)
label: Topic
content: Musical films
label: Topic
content: Rhythm and blues (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
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: 2012.64.4.1
objectType: label: Type
content: dresses
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 twill with metal hooks
label: Dimensions
content: H x W (Flat): 48 1/2 × 19 in. (123.2 × 48.3 cm)