Tuxedo jacket worn by Ray Charles: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

Single-breasted tuxedo jacket made of cornflower blue and gold metallic brocade synthetic fiber in a floral vine design worn by Ray Charles while performing at Wrestlemania 2 in New York on August 7, 1986. The jacket is detailed with black moire synthetic fiber on the knotched lapel and on flaps on each front side waist that mimic pockets (there are no exterior pockets). The jacket has full-length straight sleeves with faux slit cuffs and three decorative black plastic buttons at each cuff. The jacket closes at the center front with one black plastic button front closure. It has a double-vented back and rounded corners at each front side opening.

The black moire fabric continues along the center front opening to the hem. The rest of the jacket is lined in ivory twill synthetic, including full sleeve lining. The underside of the collar is lined in dark blue felt. Each underarm has a triangular sweat pad made of the ivory lining material. There are three interior pockets, one at each interior breast, and one smaller inset pocket at proper left front interior waist. Shoulder pads are attached between the facing and lining fabrics. There is a black nylon tape hanger loop at the center back neck.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: April 7, 1986
• Designed by: Parkview Clothes, American
• Worn by: Ray Charles, American, 1930 - 2004
• Type: dinner jackets
• Medium: brocade synthetic fiber, moire synthetic fiber, and plastic buttons
• Dimensions: H x W x D (On form): 31 × 22 × 12 in. (78.7 × 55.9 × 30.5 cm)
• Place used: Nassua Veterans Memorial Colliseum, Uniondale, New York, United States, North and Central America
• Place made: Los Angeles, California, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Clothing and dress
• Topic: Costume
• Topic: Costume design
• Topic: Design
• Topic: Rhythm and blues (Music)
• Object number: 2012.64.2
• 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: Public Domain Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.