Hip extensions for Bahamas Junkanoo Revue costume: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

The hip extensions of a man's costume for the Bahamas Junkanoo Revue, a junkanoo troupe in Miami, Florida.

The two hip extensions are an abstract curved shape to extend the costume out to the sides of the wearer. The inside edges of each piece are half red and half yellow, trimmed with blue and gold beads and clear and blue beaded decorative patterns. A triangular design in alternating white and blue trimmed with gold beading repeats around the outer edges of the curves. The white triangles have a red and gold decorative bead inside of them. The blue triangles have two small gold beads inside of them and three small red beads in the white border. There are three layers of feathers on the outer edge of each hip extension. The innermost layer is yellow with slightly longer red feathers behind the yellow feathers, and light blue ostrich feathers behind the red feathers. Gold sequins are placed throughout the layers of feathers. The back of each hip extension is red felt with a gold beaded trim. There are two small covered tube-like components under the red felt to attach the hip extensions to other parts of the costume.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 2015
• Designed by: Wilshire Dames, Bahamian
• Type: ceremonial costume
• Medium: cardboard, sequin, paper, feathers, paint, Glass bead, plastic, glitter, and glue
• Dimensions: H x W (a. left hip extension): 43 × 28 1/2 in. (109.2 × 72.4 cm)
• Dimensions: H x W (b. right hip extension): 43 × 28 1/2 in. (109.2 × 72.4 cm)
• Place made: Miami, Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States, North and Central America
• Cultural Place: Bahamas, Caribbean, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: African diaspora
• Topic: Clothing and dress
• Topic: Costume
• Topic: Costume design
• Topic: Dance
• Topic: Folklife
• Topic: Holidays and festivals
• Object number: 2015.140.5ab
• 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: Unknown - Restrictions Possible Rights assessment and proper usage is the responsibility of the user.