NYC October 16, 2012
On Wednesday, the African American Museum in Philadelphia announced that it will present a collection of Supremes fashion and memorabilia beginning in January in an exhibition called “Come See About Me: The Mary Wilson Supreme Collection.” The show will include many gowns that Ms. Wilson has maintained since the group begin in 1959. The image of the Supremes, originally called the Primettes, was always important to the group – Diana Ross (real name, Diane Ernestine Earle) briefly studied dressmaking, and the group’s first costumes were homemade. Ross describes their early dresses: ‘They were black and gold, and we had a string of gold fake pearls from the dime store… You remember those balloon dresses? We made some of these in a very bright flowered print. And we had these bright orange shoes with big flowers stuck on the front of them.’
While many of their gowns were lost over the years, Ms. Wilson has maintained a personal collection and said she acquired several pieces when they became available on Ebay.
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