Purple dress designed by Oscar de la Renta and worn by Whitney Houston
date: label: Date
content: 1986
name: label: Designed by
content: Oscar de la Renta, American, founded 1965
label: Worn by
content: Whitney Houston, American, 1963 - 2012
notes: label: Description
content: A purple Oscar De La Renta gown with beaded cuffs worn by the singer Whitney Houston during the performance of the song "The Greatest Love of All" at the Americana Concert in New York City on July 4, 1986. This dress is an evening-length dress in a straight sheath style, with a bateau collar, full-length sleeves, a high slit at the proper right front, and a deep cowl back. The dress is made from a vibrant purple silk which is pattererned throughout with repeating ovals of a darker purple in varying sizes. The sleeves are in a very full peasant style, with pleated shoulders and stiffening sewn into each cap. The sleeves end in 5-3/4 inch long heavily ornamented cuffs that are covered in black velvet and adorned with beads in varying sizes. Large oval- and teardrop-shaped cabochon glass beads of blue, garnet, amber, and green set in 4-prong settings are centered on the cuffs in a floral design. This central cluster of larger cabochons is surrounded by a swirling pattern of individually stitched pearls, strands of strung gold bugle beads, and strands of strung gold seed beads. The swirling pattern of stitched gold beads continues around the inside of the cuff, wrapping around additional pearls and 4-prong set clear and garnet-colored cabochons. There is a set-in zipper on the inside of each cuff.
label: Description
content: Inside the dress, on the verso, at the lowest point of the cowl in the back, is a 1-1/2 inch wide purple grosgrain ribbon attached at the inside hem. The ribbon has two (2) hook-and-eye fasteners for fastening around to the front waist. The dress is not lined.
place: label: Place used
content: Liberty State Park, Jersey City, New Jersey, 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: Popular music
label: Topic
content: Singers (Musicians)
label: Topic
content: Women
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
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, Gift of the Estate of Whitney Houston
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture
identifier: label: Object number
content: 2014.161.1
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: silk, velvet, glass, metal, and synthetic fiber
label: Dimensions
content: H x W x D (On form): 58 1/2 × 19 1/2 × 12 in. (148.6 × 49.5 × 30.5 cm)
label: Dimensions
content: H x W x D (Flat): 32 1/2 × 23 × 3 1/2 in. (82.6 × 58.4 × 8.9 cm)