"Piano Keys" suit

Designer Jim Lapidus
Manufacturer JC Costume Company American
1973
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 199
On loan to The Met
This work of art is currently on loan to the museum.
We wear our passion for music on our sleeves, whether personal and private or professional and public. Liberace adorned himself and his pianos in crystals and sequins, as in this custom-made suit, merging artist and instrument into a single, larger-than-life entity. To critics who ridiculed his flamboyant persona, he declared, "Without the show, there would be no business."

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: "Piano Keys" suit
  • Designer: Jim Lapidus
  • Manufacturer: JC Costume Company (American)
  • Date: 1973
  • Medium: Velvet, sequins, bugle beads, glass, crystal, rhinestones
  • Dimensions: H: 72 in.
  • Classification: Costumes
  • Credit Line: Liberace Foundation, sponsored by Chloe Flower and Susan Houston
  • Curatorial Department: Musical Instruments