Green coat worn by Oprah Winfrey as Sofia in The Color Purple: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

Green coat worn by Oprah Winfrey as the character Sofia Johnson in the film "The Color Purple." The full-length, long-sleeved, single-breasted coat is made from a dark green wool tweed plaid. The coat closes at the front with five (5) large round olive fabric-covered buttons that fasten using loops of black cord sewn to the edge of the proper right front. The front sides are turned open and stitched down near the and along the outer edges, making the button and loop closure non-functioning. A wide band of olive wool with stumpwork embroidery in olive rayon of a highly stylized leafy vine design is sewn around the front sides and around the collar, and is cut to follow the tapering of the turned front and the rounded notches at the turned collar. This same olive embroidered band is sewn around the cuff of both sleeves, which are also turned. The sleeves are slightly gathered using a length of the wool plaid attached at the exterior of each sleeve just above the cuff with two (2) round olive fabric-covered buttons, with the strips lined in green rayon. There are two (2) inset pockets, one on each exterior hip of the coat, with notched flaps made of the green plaid and light brown wool lining.

The coat is fully lined with a green cotton and rayon blend. There is a deep patch pocket made of the lining with an elastic top opening sewn to the interior proper right side of the coat. A long strip of black fabric is attached from shoulder to shoulder across the back neck of the coat, with long ends left loose. There is a barcode label adhered to the black strip at the center back neck with printed text above the barcode reading "PALACE COSTUME CO." and text below the barcode reading "37192643". A second label is sewn at the interior center back neck underneath the black strip made of off-white fabric with dark brown printed text reading "Palace Costume Co."

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1985
• Designed by: Aggie Guerard Rodgers, American, born 1943
• Manufactured by: Palace Costume Company, American, founded 1990
• Worn by: Oprah Winfrey, American, born 1954
• Subject of: Alice Walker, American, born 1944
• Type: coats
• Medium: wool, cotton/rayon blend, elastic, and plastic buttons
• Dimensions: H x W x D (On form): 55 3/4 × 26 × 19 in. (141.6 × 66 × 48.3 cm)
• Place used: North Carolina, United States, North and Central America
• Place used: California, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Actors
• Topic: Clothing and dress
• Topic: Costume
• Topic: Costume design
• Topic: Design
• Topic: Families
• Topic: Film
• Object number: 2014.184.1.2
• 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.