Merlot velvet dress with lace bodice and sleeves designed by Peter Davy

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 merlot fitted velvet dress with black lace, and gold and black beading and sequin details designed by Peter Davy. The dress is made from the merlot velvet, with no waist seam, and a straight ankle-length sheath skirt with a thigh-high slit at the proper left side. The bodice has a high neckline, but the front has a deep scalloped v-shaped cut-out that is then filled in with machine-made black synthetic lace net with a woven design of small black dots. A strip of three rows of gold, black, and gold sequins trims the cut-out. The same lace is used to make the full-length fitted cuff-less sleeves. A standing collar is made from a double layer of the black net lace, with a strip of the three rows of gold and black sequins between the neck and the bodice.

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