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Costume worn by Flip Wilson as Geraldine

African American Museum

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    Object Details

    Created by

    William "Bill" Lewis Belew, American, 1931 - 2008

    Worn by

    Flip Wilson, American, 1933 - 1998

    Description

    This costume, a dress and matching shorts, was worn by Flip Wilson as the character Geraldine Jones. The dress (a) is crushed velvet, and is tie-dyed in orange, purple, pink, and red on an off-white background. The bodice and sleeves of the dress are decorated with silver and orange rhinestones that are affixed to the fabric with prong snaps. The dress has full-length sleeves, a sweetheart front neckline and a scoop back. The hem of the dress hits at mid-thigh. Long orange fringe is attached along the inseam of each sleeve, underneath the bustline on the front and back of the dress, and along the hemline. The fringe affixed to the hemline is floor-length. All of the fringe is further embellished with long strands of orange bugle beads strung onto cord and finished with clear, faceted round beads. The bead strings are stitched into the fringe at approximately 1-inch intervals, although some of the strands are missing beads. The dress closes in the back with a pink zipper running from the top of the center back bodice to the center back below the waist, and secures with two (2) hook-and-eye closures, one at the top of the zipper and one at the waist. A fabric label at the interior proper left back neck has handwritten text in black ink reading "BB 3834." A barcode label from the Palace Costume Co. is adhered at the proper right back next to the zip closure.
    Worn under the dress is a pair of matching 4-panel shorts (b) made from the same tie-dyed crushed velvet fabric as the dress. The shorts have a wide elastic waistband and are unlined. A fabric label at the interior proper right back below the waistband has handwritten text in black ink reading "BB 3834." A barcode label from the Palace Costume Co. is adhered to a piece of interfacing that is stitched to the center back seam.

    Credit Line

    Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture

    Date

    1972

    Object number

    2013.127.1ab

    Restrictions & Rights

    No Known Copyright Restrictions
    Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.

    Type

    ensembles (costume)
    dresses
    shorts

    Medium

    velvet, fringe, rhinestones, glass beads, metal, and elastic

    Dimensions

    H x W x D (Dress, on form): 59 × 21 1/4 × 9 in. (149.9 × 54 × 22.9 cm)
    H x W x D (Shorts, on form): 14 × 12 3/4 × 8 in. (35.6 × 32.4 × 20.3 cm)
    H x W (Shorts, flat): 15 1/4 × 11 3/8 in. (38.7 × 28.9 cm)

    Place used

    NBC Studios, Burbank, Los Angeles County, California, United States, North and Central America

    See more items in

    National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection

    Classification

    Clothing - Costume

    Data Source

    National Museum of African American History and Culture

    Topic

    African American
    Clothing and dress
    Comedy
    Costume
    Television

    Metadata Usage

    CC0

    Link to Original Record

    http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/fd5a17f2319-97aa-4c72-8764-7c14803bdacf

    Record ID

    nmaahc_2013.127.1ab

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