Costume dress for Lady in Purple from for colored girls... on Broadway

Source catalog description

This description refers to material held by Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. Visual details below describe the original material.

Sleeveless dress costume for the character Lady in Purple from the original Broadway production of Ntozake Shange's choreopoem "for colored girls who have considered suicide / when the rainbow is enuf." The dress is made from purple satin synthetic fabric with the crepe finished wrong side facing. The bodice has a sweetheart neckline, scooped back, and front shaping with princess darts, ending at the natural waistline. The neckline and armholes are edged with the purple satin, with the shiny satin side facing. There is a length of self-fabric piping around the waist, again with the shiny satin side facing. The full circle skirt falls at the knee and is hemmed with a chain stitch in purple thread that is covered with serged stitching in pink thread.

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