Dwight Bowers, Curator, Division of Culture and Arts at the National Museum of American History, shows us a costume worn by American country singer Patsy Cline.
Smithsonian Artifact Featured in this Video
- Description
Made for country music star Patsy Cline by her mother, this Western-style performance outfit features record-shaped patches stitched with the titles of Cline's records. Cline began singing with gospel and country bands as a teenager in Virginia. With her 1957 breakout hit "Walkin' after Midnight," she became the first female country vocalist to cross over to the pop charts. In 1960, Cline achieved her childhood dream of joining the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville. Three years later, she died in a plane crash.
ink colored western-style shirt with black piping and adorned with hot pink rhinestones and black wool 'record discs' hand-stitched with the names of Patsy Cline's hit songs including "Come On In" [left shoulder], "Poor Man's Roses" [right shoulder], "Walking After Midnight" [back], "Stop the Worlds" [left leg]. and "Yes I Understand" [right leg]. This shirt was part of an outfit worn by Patsy Cline and made by her mother, Hilda Hensley.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
- user
- Cline, Patsy
- maker
- Hensley, Hilda
- date made
- ca 1958
- Physical Description
- fabric (overall material)
- rhinestones (overall material)
- Measurements
- overall: 22 1/2 in x 19 in; 57.15 cm x 48.26 cm
- Object Name
- shirt
