Cleopatra costume skirt worn by Lauren Anderson: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

The gold skirt of a costume for Cleopatra worn by Lauren Anderson for the Houston Ballet Company. The body of the skirt is gold and the back hem is longer than the front. The waistband features a gold appliqué with gold mesh and multicolored beads, pearls, and rhinestones. On either side of the front of the skirt are insets of pink fabric in accordion pleats. Along the hem is a design of large pink and orange tulips with embroidered green leaves and gold metallic threads throughout. Running along the top and bottom of the tulip hem and along each side of the pleats is a red border trim with gold metallic thread. A design of pink circles and dots has been dyed onto the top of the skirt. In the interior of the waistband are several black buttons and hook and eye fasteners. There are two white labels sewn into the interior waistband. One reads [Pittsburg Ballet Theatre] and the spaces on the label form for [Name], [Ballet], [Character], [Accessories] has not been filled out. The other label reads [HOUSTON BALLET] across the top. The body of the label is partially obscured by a black button, but [CLEOPATRA / Name RUG DRESS] is visble. Next to this label is one reading [K. Strasberg]. On the other side of the interior waistband are several name labels reading [ANDERSON], [BEARS], [SCANNELL], [HASSENBOEHLER], [GUMBINNER], [ROJAS].

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 2000
• Designed by: Judanna Lynn, American
• Worn by: Lauren Anderson, American, born 1965
• Used by: Houston Ballet Company, American, founded 1955
• Type: skirts
• Medium: dye on silk, tulle, pearl, metal thread, rhinestone, metal, plastic, and ink
• Dimensions: H x W (w: bottom of skirt): 30 × 52 in. (76.2 × 132.1 cm)
• Dimensions: Waist: 14 in. (35.6 cm)
• Place used: Houston, Harris County, Texas, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Ballet
• Topic: Clothing and dress
• Topic: Costume
• Topic: Costume design
• Topic: Dance
• Topic: Design
• Object number: 2019.19.1
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Houston Ballet
• 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.