Dress worn by Phyllis Diller
notes: label: Description
content: This yellow and brown full-length dress with white and orange daisy print was worn by Phyllis Diller. Diller (1917-2012) began her comedy career in the 1950s at the age of 37 and broke barriers in the comedy world to become the first solo female comic to be a household name. She developed a stage persona of an incompetent housewife and dressed in outlandish outfits with wild hair. Her material focused on self-deprecating jokes that tackled the idealized image of American mothers and homemakers. She also created many mythical personas for her stage act including her “husband” Fang, her “neighbor” Mrs. Clean, and her “mother-in-law” Moby Dick.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
topic: label: Subject
content: Humor
label: Subject
content: Comedians
setName: label: See more items in
content: Culture and the Arts: Entertainment
label: See more items in
content: Popular Entertainment
label: See more items in
content: Phyllis Diller
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of Phyllis Diller
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 2003.0289.04
label: accession number
content: 2003.0289
label: catalog number
content: 2003.0289.04
objectType: label: Object Name
content: Dress
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: synthetic fibers (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: nylon (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: silk (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: back: 47 in; 119.38 cm
label: Measurements
content: shoulder: 13 in; 33.02 cm
label: Measurements
content: sleeves: 16 in; 40.64 cm