Black velvet dress with glass bead embellishments

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.

A black sleeveless silk velvet dress with glass bead embellishments. The dress has a V neckline and is gathered at the top of the shoulders. The edge of the proper right side of the neckline is embellished with glass beads. Glass bugle beads, seed beads, and ovoid shaped glass beads are sewn in diagonal lines across the front of the dress. The lines converge inwards on the proper left side at hip level where the silk velvet is gathered. The dress has no side seam on the proper left side below the concentrated area of embellishments as the dress is left open below the hip. It has an asymmetrical scalloped hem which is shorter on the proper left side. A row of glass ovoid beads and two rows of glass bugle beads are sewn along the bottom of the hemline. The embellishments on the back of the dress mirror the front.

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