Wrist cuffs from a costume worn by Nona Hendryx of Labelle: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

These wrist cuffs are part of a costume worn by Nona Hendryx of Labelle. The costume consists of a headdress (.1), a cape (.2), silver studded black leather collar, breast covers, and codpiece (.3a-d), wrist cuffs (.4ab), platform boots (.5ab), prop handcuffs (.6), and a prop riding crop (.7).

The wrist cuffs (.4ab) are alike, shaped to be wider at the forearm and tapering to the wrist. They are made from a single layer of three (3) pieces of black leather, including a gusset sewn at the center, with the edges turned to the reverse and hemmed. The forearm edge has an additional piece of leather wrapped around padding to form a three-dimensional detail. The cuffs are decorated all over with convex silver rounded metal nail head studs. They close with a silver metal zipper that starts at the wrist, with the toggle at the forearm when the cuffs are closed.

This costume is very similar to a costume worn by Hendryx during a performance at the Metropolitan Opera House on October 6, 1974.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1974
• Designed by: Dorian Blakely
• Worn by: Nona Hendryx, American, born 1944
• Subject of: Labelle, American, founded 1962
• Type: cuffs (costume components)
• Medium: leather, metal, and batting
• Dimensions: H x W x D ((a) On form): 7 1/2 × 4 × 4 in. (19.1 × 10.2 × 10.2 cm)
• Dimensions: H x W x D ((b) On form): 7 1/2 × 4 1/4 × 3 3/4 in. (19.1 × 10.8 × 9.5 cm)
• Place used: Metropolitan Opera House, New York City, Manhattan County, New York, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Clothing and dress
• Topic: Costume
• Topic: Costume design
• Topic: Design
• Topic: Disco (Music)
• Topic: Funk (Music)
• Topic: Rhythm and blues (Music)
• Object number: 2014.246.2.4ab
• 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.