Tuxedo pants designed by Sy Devore and worn by Nat King Cole in St. Louis Blues: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

Tuxedo pants designed by Sy Devore and worn by Nat King Cole in his role as W.C. Handy in the Paramount Pictures produced 1958 film St. Louis Blues. The navy blue wool tuxedo pants have a black satin tuxedo stripe and are creased at the front and back sides of both legs. The pants have a zipper fly center front closure with a flat hook and eye at the top and an interior button tab that closes with a black plastic button. Eight blue wool belt loops are evenly spaced around the waist band. There are two black plastic buttons at the exterior back center waist and two sets of two black buttons on either front side interior of the waist for attaching suspenders.There is one inset pocket at each front side seam, with the satin stripe on top of the pocket openings.There is one inset pocket on each back side, the proper right pocket has no closure while the proper left pocket has a single black button closure.

Pants are not lined except at waistband with black twill. There is one additional pocket sewn into the lining at the proper right front, with the opening between the two suspender buttons. There is a hanger loop of black lining twill at the center back neck.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: September 30, 1957
• Designed by: Sy Devore, American, died 1966
• Worn by: Nat King Cole, American, 1919 - 1965
• Type: trousers
• Medium: wool and silk with plastic buttons
• Dimensions: H x W x D (flat): 44 1/4 × 14 3/8 × 3/4 in. (112.4 × 36.5 × 1.9 cm)
• Place made: Studio City, California, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Blues (Music)
• Topic: Clothing and dress
• Topic: Costume
• Topic: Costume design
• Topic: Design
• Topic: Fashion
• Topic: Film
• Object number: 2012.64.1.2
• 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.