Brown halter dress with gold music-themed embellishments designed by Peter Davy: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

A dark brown iridescent satin halter neck dress with gold sequin and beaded music-themed embellishments designed by Peter Davy. The bodice of the dress is made from a tube of gold sequin-covered fabric, with two wide strips of deep dark brown satin fabric sewn, one at each front side that reach up over the bust and fasten at the center back neck with two (2) self-fabric loops and two (2) round metal buttons. The gold sequin bodice has a shallow scoop in the back. Below the empire waistline is a full circle skirt with a back train made from the same deep brown satin as the halter neck bodice sections. Two (2) sets of three (3) rows of gold sequins spaced three (3) inches apart are sewn around the skirt, one around the thigh area and the other near the hemline. Several large-scale paillettes shaped as quarter and double-quarter music notes and treble clefs made from gold sequins and beads trimmed in black sequins are sewn over the rows of gold sequins, as if the rows are a music staff. The dress closes at the center back with a black metal and plastic zipper with one (1) black metal hook-and-eye at the top of the zipper.

The bodice of the dress is not lined. The skirt has an attached petticoat made from black tulle. Black lace hanger loops are sewn at each interior side seam. There are no labels in the dress.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1985-1990
• Designed by: Peter Davy, Saint Vincentian, 1944 - 1990
• Subject of: Black Fashion Museum, American, 1979 - 2007
• Type: dresses
• Medium: satin, tulle, sequins, and beads, with metal and plastic fasteners
• Dimensions: H x W x D (flat): 72 × 97 × 5 1/8 in. (182.9 × 246.4 × 13 cm)
• Dimensions: H x W x D (on form): 59 × 45 × 47 in. (149.9 × 114.3 × 119.4 cm)
• Place made: New York City, New York, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Clothing and dress
• Topic: Design
• Topic: Fashion
• Topic: Fashion design
• Object number: 2007.3.87
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of the Black Fashion Museum founded by Lois K. Alexander-Lane
• 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.