White and silver costume worn on Soul Train by dancer Johnette "Suki" Dodson: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

This costume was worn by dancer Johnette “Suki” Dodson on the television show Soul Train in the early 2000s. The outfit is comprised of two (2) pieces, a hand-decorated bra (.1) and a pair of stockings (.2).

The hand-designed bra (.1) is a hand-decorated white store-bought strapless underwire bra with heavily padded cups and a double hook-and-eye back closure. The bra is decorated with white machine-made lace, white and silver ribbon, and silver metallic cord. The silver cord is adhered in rows along the bottom half of each cup, with one undulating row across the upper part of each cup where the ribbon meets the lace. The wide ribbon is adhered across the top of each cup, with a row of the white lace, which has a deep scalloped edge, below the ribbon across the center of each cup. A white sequin, bead, and rhinestone paillette is attached at the upper outer corner of each cup over the ribbon. The back portions of the bra are open. There are no labels in the bra.

The white sandal foot stockings (.2) are a fishnet style with an openwork net pattern, with the circular holes of the pattern larger at the top around the waist and much smaller on the foot. The waistband is made from white elastic. There are no labels in the stockings.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 2001-2004
• Created by: Johnette Dodson, American
• Worn by: Johnette Dodson, American
• Manufactured by: Unidentified
• Subject of: Soul Train, American, 1971 - 2006
• Type: brassieres
• Type: stockings
• Medium: bra: synthetic fiber, spandex, lace, cord, ribbon, metal, and adhesive;
• Medium: stockings: synthetic fiber and elastic
• Dimensions: H x W x D (.1 flat): 8 3/4 × 25 1/2 × 2 1/2 in. (22.2 × 64.8 × 6.4 cm)
• Dimensions: H x W x D (.1 on form): 8 × 14 × 2 3/4 in. (20.3 × 35.6 × 7 cm)
• Dimensions: H x W x D (.2 flat): 38 3/4 × 5 1/2 × 3/4 in. (98.4 × 14 × 1.9 cm)
• Dimensions: H x W x D (.2 on form): 44 1/2 × 15 1/2 × 11 in. (113 × 39.4 × 27.9 cm)
• Place used: Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, California, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Clothing and dress
• Topic: Costume
• Topic: Dance
• Topic: Design
• Topic: Fashion
• Topic: Music
• Topic: Popular music
• Object number: 2014.227.2.1-.2
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Johnette Dodson known by her stage name "Suki"
• 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.