Gray jodhpur-style chaps worn by Nona Hendryx: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

This piece is part of a costume was worn by Nona Hendryx in the music video for her solo single of "Love is Like an Itch in My Heart" in the early 1980s. The costume consists of a yellow hooded headpiece (.1), a yellow bodysuit with a wide black belt (.2ab), and gray jodhpur-style chaps with a black leather waistband (.3abc).

Chaps (.3abc): The silver jodhpur-style chaps are a modified construction with two separate legs (.a, .b). Each leg piece is wide at the thighs and tightly fitted from below the knee to the ankle. The black leather waist band (.c) attaches around the inner side of the legs only, with the outer side of the legs left loose to drape down on the outside of the thigh. The inner sides of the fronts and backs of the legs are not seamed together, leaving them open on the inner thigh. Four (4) fabric tabs, two (2) on each leg piece, attach the leg pieces to the belt. Each tab extends from the top of the inner edges of the fronts and backs of each leg piece. The tabs wrap around, and attach to, the waistband with convex silver round metal nail head studs. Nail head studs also are used to decorate the outside seam of each leg. The waist band closes at the center front with three black metal snaps. The legs are self lined with the silver stretch material.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1981-1982
• Designed by: Ronald Kolodzie, 1940 - 2010
• Worn by: Nona Hendryx, American, born 1944
• Type: chaps
• Medium: synthetic fiber, leather, and metal
• Dimensions: H x W x D ((abc) on form): 43 3/4 × 28 × 9 1/2 in. (111.1 × 71.1 × 24.1 cm)
• Dimensions: H x W ((ab) flat): 42 3/4 × 35 in. (108.6 × 88.9 cm)
• Dimensions: H x W x D ((c) flat): 1 × 28 1/4 × 1/4 in. (2.5 × 71.8 × 0.6 cm)
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Clothing and dress
• Topic: Costume
• Topic: Costume design
• Topic: Design
• Topic: Disco (Music)
• Topic: Funk (Music)
• Topic: Rock and roll (Music)
• Object number: 2014.246.4.3abc
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Nona Hendryx of Labelle
• 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.