Black track jacket worn by Melvin Van Peebles: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

A Marty Grace tracksuit jacket worn by Melvin Van Peebles. The black tracksuit jacket features a high collar made from a 2.5” wide band of ribbed white elastic with two vertical black stripes. Two panels of black polyester fabric make up the jacket front and they close center front with a black faded and broken zipper pull with black plastic teeth. Embroidered across the front with white text is [MARTY GRACE] with [MARTY] on the proper right and [GRACE] on the proper left. There are two 5.5” wide slanted welt pockets, one on each side, and each sleeve is made from one panel of black polyester. Two 2.5” wide white ribbed panels of elastic are machine serged to the end of each sleeve and to the waist of the jacket. The back of the jacket is made from one panel of fabric, and [MARTY GRACE] is embroidered across the center back in white thread. The inside of the jacket is lined with black fleece. There is no label.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 2000 - 2010
• Designed by: Marty Grace
• Worn by: Melvin Van Peebles, American, 1932 - 2021
• Type: jackets
• Type: sweat suits
• Medium: polyester, fleece, elastic, metal, and plastic
• Dimensions: Length (collar to hem): 27 1/4 in. (69.2 cm)
• Dimensions: Width (shoulder to shoulder): 23 1/4 in. (59.1 cm)
• Place made: United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Actors
• Topic: Black Enterprise
• Topic: Clothing and dress
• Topic: Fashion
• Topic: Fashion design
• Topic: Film
• Topic: Musicians
• Object number: 2024.60.7.1
• 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.