Costume gown for Glinda the Good Witch in The Wiz on Broadway: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

This gown with a full train is part of a costume worn by Dee Dee Bridgewater as the character Glinda in the Broadway production of "The Wiz". The gown has exaggerated medieval trumpet sleeves, and the train is heavily gathered in the back with a ruffled hem. The gown is made of a light pink chiffon sewn on top of flesh-colored netting, with appliquéed floral patches and pink rhinestones hand and machine sewn to the garment. A silver zipper runs down the center back. Flexible boning is sewn inside the hem to give the skirt and train weight and to shape the ruffles. There is a loop of the pink fabric sewn to the center back of the train hem to allow the wearer to hold up the train by the loop. The floral patches sewn on the breasts contain a small piece of cotton batting tucked into the patch. The gown is not lined.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1975
• Designed by: Geoffrey Holder, Trinidadian American, 1930 - 2014
• Created by: Grace Costumes Inc., American, founded 1961
• Worn by: Dee Dee Bridgewater, American, born 1950
• Subject of: Black Fashion Museum, American, 1979 - 2007
• Type: gowns
• Medium: synthetic fiber, net (textile), and chiffon
• Dimensions: On form - without train extended: 66 × 50 × 10 1/2 in. (167.6 × 127 × 26.7 cm)
• Dimensions: On form - with train extended: 66 × 50 × 28 in. (167.6 × 127 × 71.1 cm)
• Dimensions: On form - with hat (b) and train: 92 × 50 × 28 in. (233.7 × 127 × 71.1 cm)
• Dimensions: H x W x D (In box, padded out): 54 × 22 × 7 in. (137.2 × 55.9 × 17.8 cm)
• Place used: New York City, New York, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Actors
• Topic: Clothing and dress
• Topic: Costume
• Topic: Costume design
• Topic: Design
• Topic: Musical Theatre
• Object number: 2007.3.11.1
• 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: Unknown - Restrictions Possible Rights assessment and proper usage is the responsibility of the user.