Orange dress with mermaid silhouette and rhinestone straps worn by Mable Lee

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.

An orange dress with a mermaid silhouette and rhinestone straps worn by Mable Lee. The dress was possibly worn for the 1976 Broadway production of, “Bubbling Brown Sugar”. The satin dress features a v-neckline and the upper bodice is made from two panels that encompass the bust and the front sleeve. There are two bust darts, each measuring about 2.5” and two shaping darts measuring about 3”. Each sleeve has a lose dolman style that features a cold shoulder and tightens at the wrist. A strap made from glass and metal rhinestones strung on a thin string of cotton twill tape is hand sewn to each sleeve. There is a 4.5” metal zipper at the end of each sleeve. The dress bodice starts at a center point between the two bust panels and extends down to hip level, creating a downward center point.

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