Romeo costume doublet worn by Cab Calloway at the Miami Beach Cotton Club: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

A purple and gold doublet from a costume worn by Cab Calloway at the Miami Beach Cotton Club for a Shakespearian Romeo and Juliet themed routine. The doublet is primarily constructed from eggplant purple velvet. Gold patches that are roughly fish-shaped are sewn to the front and back shoulders and at the front waist. The patches are embellished with gold sequins, gold plastic disks and rectangles, and amber plastic gemstones. The doublet features gold lamé trim around the rounded neckline, at the waistline, and the sleeve cuffs. The sleeves are fitted along the forearms and wrists and the upper arm and shoulders feature gold lame puffs. The doublet has a silver tone metal zipper at the back center which runs from the neckline to the bottom of the waist. The neckline is secured with a silver hook and eye. The interior is lined with off-white cotton.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1957
• Manufactured by: Unidentified
• Worn by: Cab Calloway, American, 1907 - 1994
• Subject of: Cotton Club, American, 1956 - 1958
• Subject of: William Shakespeare, British, 1564 - 1616
• Type: doublets
• Medium: velvet and cotton (textile) with lamé , plastic , sequin and metal
• Dimensions: H x W x D (Flat): 30 11/16 × 28 9/16 × 3 1/8 in. (78 × 72.5 × 8 cm)
• Place used: Miami Beach, Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Band (Music)
• Topic: Clothing and dress
• Topic: Composers (Musicians)
• Topic: Conductors (Musicians)
• Topic: Costume
• Topic: Dance
• Topic: Jazz (Music)
• Object number: A2015.273.1.2.1
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Cabella Calloway Langsam
• 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.