White gloves for The Wiz costume worn by André De Shields: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

White gloves from The Wiz costume ensemble worn by André De Shields in the original 1975 Broadway production. Pair of white cotton gloves decorated with clear rhinestones. The fingers are lined and continue to create darts on the back of the palm. The wrist closes with a white plastic metal button. On the proper right glove, at the wrist, a moon and star beads attached. The star is missing one of its five points. Both beads are missing from the left glove. The fingers have been heavily repaired with white thread and there are multiple rhinestone losses throughout.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1975
• Worn by: André De Shields, American, born 1946
• Designed by: Geoffrey Holder, Trinidadian American, 1930 - 2014
• Type: gloves
• Medium: cotton (textile) with rhinestone, metal and plastic
• Dimensions: H x W (flat): 8 1/2 × 3 1/2 in. (21.6 × 8.9 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: Costume design
• Topic: Design
• Topic: Entertainers
• Object number: 2018.1.3.4ab
• 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.