Most people think of the Smithsonian as a place for moon rocks, presidential artifacts and dinosaur bones. Look a little closer and you’ll find capes, cowls and sequined shoes sitting in the same collections. Hollywood costumes have been entering the institution for decades, and a few of them rank among its best known objects.
The pieces below come from two museums, the National Museum of American History and the National Museum of African American History and Culture. Each one is documented in Smithsonian releases or catalog records, so this tour sticks to what those sources confirm.
Dorothy’s Ruby Slippers from The Wizard of Oz
These are probably the most famous movie shoes anywhere. The costume designer altered commercially manufactured shoes by dyeing them red, attaching red netting to the tops and heels, and covering them with red sequins. Plain pumps became a symbol of the film.
The pair belongs to the National Museum of American History. They were donated in 1979 and have been on almost continuous display since. That long run on the gallery floor says a lot about how much visitors want to see them.
The Scarecrow Costume Worn by Ray Bolger
The slippers aren’t the only Oz piece the museum holds. Adrian designed the many costumes in The Wizard of Oz, including Ray Bolger’s Scarecrow costume, which is also in the museum’s collection. So the same designer’s work is represented in more than one object.
The museum has shown parts of the outfit separately. When the slippers traveled to London for a costume exhibition, the hat and boots from Bolger’s Scarecrow costume were put on view. Costumes this old are fragile, so curators tend to show them in rotation.
Chadwick Boseman’s Black Panther Hero Costume
This one lives at the National Museum of African American History and Culture. The museum acquired several objects from Disney’s Black Panther, including the hero costume worn by Chadwick Boseman, a signed shooting script, two pages of spec script and 24 production photographs. It arrived in 2018, the year the film opened.
The catalog record gives more detail on the suit itself. It was worn by Boseman in both Captain America: Civil War and Black Panther. The record lists a skin suit, gloves, boots, a muscle suit and a helmet, and notes that the credit line reads Gift of Marvel Studios and The Walt Disney Company.
Christopher Reeve’s Outfit from Superman III
Superheroes have a place in the American history museum’s collections. In 2013, Warner Bros. gave the museum more than 30 movie artifacts. Among them was Christopher Reeve’s outfit from Superman III, which adds to the museum’s treatment of the superhero in American culture.
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The gift covered a lot of ground. The objects came from 13 Warner Bros. releases spanning 1942 to 2005. Reeve’s costume sits in that group as a reminder of how long the genre has run.
Halle Berry’s Catwoman Suit
Another piece from the same Warner Bros. donation is the suit from Catwoman. Halle Berry’s suit from that film was listed alongside Reeve’s outfit as part of the superhero holdings. It’s a different kind of costume from the capes of earlier decades.
The Smithsonian later confirmed the suit’s place in its collection. A 2014 release lists both Julie Newmar’s and Halle Berry’s Catwoman costumes among the museum’s superhero artifacts. That gives visitors a way to compare two very different takes on the character.
The Batman Cowl from Batman & Robin
The 2013 gift also included headgear. Warner Bros. presented the Batman mask and cowl from the 1997 film Batman & Robin. George Clooney wore it in the title role.
Press coverage of the donation noted that the new pieces would join a permanent entertainment collection that already held Judy Garland’s ruby slippers and a Kermit the Frog puppet. A rubber cowl now sits in the same company as those icons. Few curators would have predicted that a few decades ago.
Patrick Stewart’s Professor Xavier Costume from X-Men
The X-Men franchise entered the collection in 2014. In a donation ceremony, the National Museum of American History acquired objects from the 20th Century Fox franchise. The gift was presented by star Patrick Stewart.
It included Stewart’s Professor Xavier costume, along with Ian McKellen’s Magneto, Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine and Halle Berry’s Storm costumes, all designed by Louise Mingenbach. The museum’s director at the time said the costumes and props would expand the superhero story it can tell.
Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine Costume and Claws
Wolverine’s costume came in that same X-Men donation. The museum also received smaller pieces tied to the character. A set of resin claws and a Zippo lighter from the Wolverine costume joined the collections.
One more item came with them. A final shooting script from X-Men: Days of Future Past, then about to open in theaters, was also added. Together, the costume, claws, lighter and script give a fuller view of how one character was put on screen.
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