Light blue knit dress and jacket with piano brooch: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

A light blue knit dress (a), jacket (b), and metal piano brooch (c). The light blue knit dress features a rounded neckline, and an A-line, sleeveless silhouette. There is one panel for the front and two panels for the back, sewn together at the side seams. There is a dark gray decorative beaded trim around the neckline, forming a series of upside-down crescent moon shapes that creating a subtle sweetheart shape. Gray glass bugle beads form the outline of the beaded trim, which is filled with gray glass seed beads, and small groups of blue plastic beads. The front panel of the dress has two horizontal bust darts and two shaping darts. The dress has a light lavender synthetic knit base with a powder blue machine knit overlay made from synthetic yarn (acrylic yarn and monofilament thread) that covers the entirety of the dress. The dress hem is turned under machine sewn to a synthetic satin blue ribbon which was then hand stitched to the inside of the dress hem. Two panels of lavender synthetic knit with a blue knit overlay make up the back of the dress, bisected by a 16” metal zipper with a metal zipper pull. Above the zipper is a metal hook and thread eye closure. Three panels of light gray synthetic faille line the inside of the dress near the upper neckline. A white woven fabric label sewn to the interior proper right reads [FRANK R. JELLEF INC. / WASHINGTON, D.C.] in blue script.

A light blue cropped knit jacket (b) with three-quarter length sleeves. A lavender synthetic knit covered with a light blue machine knit forms the jacket fabric. There are two panels for the jacket front that features two 6” shaping darts (one on either side). The center front of the jacket closes with a metal hook and thread eye. The bottom hem curves at the waistline and features the same decorative beading featured on the dress neckline. Gray glass bugle beads create a beaded outline that is filled in with gray seed beads and small groups of plastic blue beads. Each sleeve is one panel seamed at the inner arm at the top of each sleeve is one 3” shoulder seam dart.

There is one panel for the back of the jacket, which features two 8” shaping darts (one on each side) starting at the waistline and ending at the mid back. The inside is self-faced along the opening and neckline (roughly 3”) and is sewn to three panels of lavender synthetic faille lining (one for the back and two for the front). Each sleeve is also lined with one panel of lavender synthetic faille. All the lining is machine sewn along the top and sides of the interior and handsewn along the bottom with a slip stitch. There is slight metal rust at the proper left opening of the jacket, where the metal piano brooch used to be.

A metal grand piano brooch (c). The piano is at 3/4 view with an open lid and the surface is covered with silver glass rhinestones. There is bar pinback closure with a safety catch. The letters [DRA] are engraved on the back of the pin.

This project received Federal support from the Smithsonian American Women’s History Initiative Pool, administered by the Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1960s
• Manufactured by: Jelleff's, American, 1910 - 1979
• Subject of: Black Fashion Museum, American, 1979 - 2007
• Type: brooches
• Type: dresses
• Type: suits
• Type: jackets
• Medium: synthetic yarn (acrylic and monofilament) syntehtic faille lining, plastic and Glass bead, and metal
• Dimensions: a: dress
• Dimensions: Length (a: shoulder to hem): 40 1/2 in. (102.9 cm)
• Dimensions: Width (a: shoulder to shoulder): 18 1/2 in. (47 cm)
• Dimensions: Waist (a: flat): 15 3/4 in. (40 cm)
• Dimensions: b: jacket
• Dimensions: Length (b: collar to hem): 19 1/2 in. (49.5 cm)
• Dimensions: Width (b: shoulder to shoulder): 15 1/2 in. (39.4 cm)
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Clothing and dress
• Topic: Design
• Topic: Fashion
• Topic: Fashion design
• Object number: 2007.3.333abc
• 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.