Afghan vest worn by Jimi Hendrix: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

A quilted burgundy colored velvet cropped Afghan vest with applied decorations worn by Jimi Hendrix. The vest is heavily decorated with Afghani motifs, has no buttons or closure, and is fully lined with dark gray cotton. The applied decorations are made of cotton cord wrapped in metal thread, and are stitched onto the velvet with green and orange thread. Additional embellishments include small metal coils affixed with orange or gray thread, pink and gray two-ply yarn affixed with orange thread, circular paillettes made of green or pink plastic with a mirrored center, and gold brocaded ribbon. There are two (2) set-in pockets stacked on top of each other on both the proper left and proper right exterior fronts. The pockets on the left side are both sewn shut. On the interior, the vest is fully lined with a gray plain woven cotton that is quilted, but the quilting does not show through to the exterior. There is one set-in pocket made of the gray lining fabric on the proper left interior front side.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1960s
• Created by: Unidentified
• Worn by: Jimi Hendrix, American, 1942 - 1970
• Type: vests (main garments)
• Medium: velvet, braid, plastic, cotton, and metal
• Dimensions: H x W x D (On form): 19 × 14 1/2 × 11 1/2 in. (48.3 × 36.8 × 29.2 cm)
• Dimensions: H x W (Flat): 19 × 17 3/4 in. (48.3 × 45.1 cm)
• Cultural Place: Afghanistan, Central Asia, Asia
• Place used: United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Clothing and dress
• Topic: Musicians
• Topic: Rock and roll (Music)
• Object number: 2014.97.2
• 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 underlying object's rights statement is: No Known Copyright Restrictions Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.