Black leather tapered pants worn by Melvin Van Peebles: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

A pair of black leather tapered pants worn by Melvin Van Peebles. The pants feature a 1.25” wide waistband with five .25” wide self-fabric belt loops sewn equidistantly around it. There are two 2” pleats on each side of the front of the pants and two 6” wide pockets at each hip. The pants close at the center front waist with a leather covered metal covered snap button and a 7” long metal zipper. it. Each tapered leg is made from four panels of fabric – an upper and a lower panel for each leg. The lower panel starts below the knee and all four panels are sewn together at the inside and outside seams. There is a 2.25” single fold hem at the bottom that is machine sewn into place. At the back of the pants are two 5” wide welt pockets and the proper right welt pocket closes with one round black plastic button. Black cotton fabric lines the inside of the pants and Sewn to the front, proper left waistband of the pants are two white fabric labels. The label on the far left interior is faded and illegible. The far right label reads [34] on the top and bottom. There is no brand label.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 2000 - 2010
• Manufactured by: Unidentified
• Worn by: Melvin Van Peebles, American, 1932 - 2021
• Type: trousers
• Type: pants
• Medium: leather and cotton (textile) with metal
• Dimensions: Length (waist to hem): 42 3/8 in. (107.6 cm)
• Dimensions: Waist (flat): 16 9/16 in. (42.1 cm)
• Place made: United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Actors
• Topic: Black Enterprise
• Topic: Clothing and dress
• Topic: Film
• Topic: Musicians
• Object number: 2024.60.5
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
• Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of African American History and Culture through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed. The displayed image also has an explicit CC0 designation. The underlying object's rights statement is: No known copyright restrictions Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.