Black lace and rust satin cocktail dress worn by Billie Holiday
date: label: Date
content: early 1950s
name: label: Manufactured by
content: Andora, American
label: Worn by
content: Billie Holiday, American, 1915 - 1959
notes: label: Description
content: A black lace and rust satin cocktail dress worn by Billie Holiday. The black lace is overlay covers the rust-colored satin completely. The satin portion of the dress has a strapless bodice that is fitted through the waist and flares out into a full skirt. It is sleeveless. The black lace overlay has an all-over floral pattern. The lace portion of the bodice has a slightly open front neck and high back neck with lace carefully cut along the floral design so that the neck opening is edged in flowers. The lace is also used for three-quarter length sleeves with a slightly gathered shoulder. The bottoms of the sleeves are also cut into the floral lace pattern to create a flower edging. The higher front neck and back and the sleeves are sheer, extending beyond the rust satin underlay. The lace on the front bodice has three deep pleats on either side of the center bust with a triangular shaped piece between the bust and the waist seam. The lace flares out into a full skirt below the waist. The dress closes at the proper left with a metal zipper that runs from the underarm to below the hip. The back bodice has two darts on each side running from the shoulder to the waist seam. A layer of tulle is sewn between the lace and the satin from the hip to the hemline to create fullness in the skirt. Sewn into the interior near the zipper is an off-white label with black text reading [STYLED by / ANDORA / NEW YORK].
topic: label: Topic
content: African American
label: Topic
content: Blues (Music)
label: Topic
content: Clothing and dress
label: Topic
content: Fashion
label: Topic
content: Jazz (Music)
label: Topic
content: Music
label: Topic
content: Musicians
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: Exhibition
content: Musical Crossroads
label: On View
content: NMAAHC (1400 Constitution Ave NW), National Mall Location, Culture/Fourth Floor, 4 053
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: 2021.59.3.1
objectType: label: Type
content: dresses
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: Unknown – Restrictions Possible
label: Restrictions & Rights
content: Rights assessment and proper usage is the responsibility of the user.
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: lace, tulle, and satin synthetic fiber, metal
label: Dimensions
content: L x W: 49 3/16 × 50 3/8 in. (125 × 128 cm)
label: Dimensions
content: Chest: 18 1/2 in. (47 cm)
label: Dimensions
content: Waist: 14 15/16 in. (38 cm)