Costume dress worn by Diana Ross as Billie Holiday in Lady Sings the Blues: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

Teal twill wool long-sleeved mid-calf length dress worn by Diana Ross as Billie Holiday in the Paramount Pictures produced 1972 film "Lady Sings the Blues." The dress has a mock turtleneck and no waist seam, but center front and back seams. There are diagonal light green stripes of wool that angle in a point-up double chevron on the bodice and wrap around to the back. The dress closes at the center back from the neck to below the waist with eleven (11) self-covered teal buttons and self loops, and thirteen (13) hooks that attach to the loops. Additionally, there is one (1) black snap at the top of the neck and two (2) snaps at the bottom of the back closure. Thread-wrapped metal is sewn at the interior of the upper part of the shoulder seams to make the mock turtleneck stand out from the neck. The dress is not lined and is hand hemmed.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1972
• Designed by: Bob Mackie, American, born 1940
• Designed by: Ray Aghayan, Iranian American, born 1934
• Designed by: Norma Koch, American, 1898 - 1979
• Worn by: Diana Ross, American, born 1944
• Subject of: Billie Holiday, American, 1915 - 1959
• Type: dresses
• Medium: wool twill with metal hooks
• Dimensions: H x W (Flat): 48 1/2 × 19 in. (123.2 × 48.3 cm)
• Place used: United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Actors
• Topic: Clothing and dress
• Topic: Costume
• Topic: Costume design
• Topic: Design
• Topic: Fashion
• Topic: Film
• Object number: 2012.64.4.1
• 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.