Lizard wingtip shoes for Ain't Misbehavin' costume worn by André De Shields: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

Lizard wingtip shoes from Ain't Misbehavin' costume ensemble for Act I worn by André De Shields in the 1988 Broadway Revival. The shoes have green/yellow snakeskin on the toe cap, the quarter, and heel cap of the shoe. The toe cap is in a wing shape, and along with the heel cap, has a strip of leather that separates the snakeskin from the green suede. The bottom heel is made of wood with rubber lining on the top and bottom. The shoe laces are a brown cotton thread.

The left shoe (.4a) has a plastic sticker on the top rubber section that reads [28 / 28]. It has large areas of loss on the heel and a large tear on inner right leather lining. The right shoe (.4b) has a large tear on the toe cap that goes through all the layers. There is loss on the heel rubber lining from wear.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1988
• Created by: Unidentified
• Worn by: André De Shields, American, born 1946
• Type: shoes (footwear)
• Medium: suede, snakeskin, leather, cotton (textile), wood and rubber
• Dimensions: H x W x D: 11 3/4 × 4 × 4 in. (29.8 × 10.2 × 10.2 cm)
• Place used: New York City, New York, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Actors
• Topic: Broadway Theatre
• Topic: Clothing and dress
• Topic: Costume
• Topic: Entertainers
• Topic: Musical Theatre
• Object number: 2018.1.1.4ab
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of André De Shields
• 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.