Purse used by Alexandra Billings as Davina in <i>Transparent</i>
name: label: Associated Name
content: Billings, Alexandra
label: costume designer
content: Schley, Marie
notes: label: Description
content: Vintage beaded clutch, part of the costume worn by Alexandra Billings as Davina at Sarah and Tammy's wedding in the episode “Kina Hora,” episode one of season two of the Amazon streaming series <i>Transparent</i>. Alexandra Billings is a trans woman actress, singer, and teacher who has earned critical acclaim for her groundbreaking portrayals of transgender characters in American film and television. <p>
label: Description
content: In its five seasons streaming on the Amazon Prime platform, the comedy drama series <i>Transparent</i> followed the story of Maura Pfefferman’s (Jeffery Tambor), a retired college professor learning to embrace her transgender identity. The series explored the impact of Pfefferman’s coming out on her family, including supporting characters Sarah (Amy Landecker), Josh (Jay Duplass), Ari (Gaby Hoffmann), and Shelly Phefferman (Judith Light), and friends, including Rabbi Raquel Fein (Kathryn Hahn) and Davina Rejennae (Alexandra Billings). Showrunner Joey Soloway developed the concept for the show after one of their parents came out as trans late in life. Amazon Studios greenlit the series, which debuted on the Amazon Prime platform in September 2014. <p>
label: Description
content: <i>Transparent</i> was notable for its sensitive and complicated exploration of gender identity and trans issues, as well as its engagement of transgender cast and creative talent. Soloway employed a "transfirmative action program," favoring trans applicants and actors when possible, and hired over 80 trans people over the course of its production run. However, critics argued that the casting of Jeffery Tambor, a cisgender man, in the show’s most prominent transgender role was a step backward in transgender representation in entertainment. In 2017, co-star Trace Lysette publicly alleged that Tambor had sexually harassed and assaulted her on set, and in early 2018, he was dismissed from the series cast. The series’ final season was reduced to a single feature length musical episode in which it was revealed that Maura had died. <p>
label: Description
content: In 2015, <i>Transparent</i> won Golden Globe Awards for Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy and Best Actor in a Television Series – Musical or Comedy (Tambor) and Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series (Tambor) and Outstanding Directing in a Comedy Series (Soloway), among others. It is the first show produced by a streaming media service to receive these awards. <i>Transparent</i> is remembered as watershed moment in television history through its groundbreaking representation of transgender Americans’ lives, joys, and struggles in the early 21st century. <p>
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
topic: label: associated subject
content: Television
label: associated community
content: LGBTQ
label: wearer's community
content: Transgender
setName: label: See more items in
content: Culture and the Arts: Entertainment
label: See more items in
content: Popular Entertainment
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 2019.0304.04.06
label: accession number
content: 2019.0304
label: catalog number
content: 2019.0304.04.06
objectType: label: Object Name
content: Purse
label: Object Name
content: Clutch
label: Object Name
content: Costume
label: Object Name
content: purse
physicalDescription: label: Measurements
content: overall: 5 in x 9 in; 12.7 cm x 22.86 cm