Fitted dress with rainbow sequins and beading designed by Peter Davy

Object Details

Designed by

Peter Davy, Saint Vincentian, 1944 - 1990

Subject of

Black Fashion Museum, American, 1979 - 2007

Description

A fitted floor-length dress with rainbow colored sequins and beading designed by Peter Davy. The dress has a high rounded front neckline and a plunging V-neck back neckline, with short cap sleeves and shaping at the natural waist and hips. The straight skirt has a rounded hem that tapers up at the proper left side where there is a thigh-high slit in the skirt. The dress is made from a light brown synthetic knit fabric, which can be seen between layers of heavy embellishment in beads and sequins. Rows of sequins are sewn to the light brown fabric in a diagonal beginning at the proper right shoulder and sleeve in green, blue, silver, orange, green, pink, silver, and blue stripes of varying widths. Some sections have additional embellishments. Two (2) green sequin and bead flower paillettes are attached at the proper right shoulder section. The orange section extends down to the hips, but the topmost diagonal portion runs over the proper left shoulder and sleeve. Four (4) orange sequin and bead flower paillettes are attached at the proper left shoulder section. Long strands of pink seed beads ending in a pink sequin are attached in the pink section on the skirt, left loose to dangle as fringe. The bottom section of the skirt has rows of blue sequins oriented vertically unlike the other horizontal or diagonal sections. A row of blue sequin and bead flower paillettes is attached around the hem and slit opening of the bottom blue section. Heavy clusters of beaded fringe extend approximately four (4) inches from each cap sleeve, with the beads being green on the proper right and orange on the proper left, corresponding with the sequin stripes on each shoulder. The dress closes at the center back with a light brown metal and plastic zipper.

The dress is fully lined in the light brown synthetic knit base fabric. The hem and side slit of the skirt are trimmed in light brown machine-made synthetic lace. There are no labels in the dress.

Credit Line

Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of the Black Fashion Museum founded by Lois K. Alexander-Lane

1980s

Object number

2007.3.90

Restrictions & Rights

No Known Copyright Restrictions

Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.

Type

dresses

Medium

synthetic knit fiber, sequins, and beads, with metal plastic zipper

Dimensions

H x W x D (flat): 54 3/4 × 23 × 1 in. (139.1 × 58.4 × 2.5 cm)

H x W x D (on form): 54 3/4 × 20 1/4 × 11 in. (137.8 × 51.4 × 27.9 cm)

Place made

New York City, New York, United States, North and Central America

See more items in

National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection

Collection title

Black Fashion Museum Collection

Classification

Clothing - Fashion and Historical

National Museum of African American History and Culture

Topic

African American

Clothing and dress

Design

Fashion

Fashion design

Record ID

nmaahc_2007.3.90

Metadata Usage (text)

CC0

GUID (Link to Original Record)

http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/fd5bd647809-2d5b-4a8a-a537-3e2a7e9d203c