For the second act of Color Me Barbra, (1966), Streisand chose to wear a footed silver Norman Norell sequined bodysuit from her own closet. Costume designer Ray Diffen added a sheer orange chiffon overlay, made up of a flowing top and matching pants, finished with a vibrant pink curly ostrich-feather ruffle at the neckline. Even though Barbra was at the start of her career, her sharp instinct for style and how clothing would read on camera was already obvious. She would continue to incorporate pieces from her own wardrobe throughout her career into her TV specials, films, and concerts, blurring the line between personal style and performance costume.
Norman Norell was one of America’s most influential fashion designers. He is celebrated for his iconic “Mermaid” sequin gowns, a signature style that reflects his roots in Hollywood costume design, where he began his career in the 1920s. Originally created for the ready-to-wear market, these gowns are instantly recognizable for their sculpted waistlines and high collars; features that Streisand’s unique store-bought bodysuit shares.
In her 2023 memoir, My Name Is Barbra, Streisand recalled buying the silver bodysuit at Filene’s Basement for eighty-one dollars, joking, “No wonder it was discounted…I remember thinking, Who’s going to buy this thing? But it was perfect for the show. We paired twitch a pink ruffle around the neck and an orange chiffon top and pants. (This was before I decided I hated the color orange).” (p.214)
The same bodysuit also appeared in the photo used on posters promoting Streisand’s Newport, RI, concert, which took place on July 30, 1966.
Streisand’s Norell bodysuit has been sold twice at auctions. The first was during Julien’s Her Name is Barbra sale (lot 138), for $5,948. It was resold in 2013 as lot #574 at Nate D. Sanders Auctions. It was described as gold, though the color may have shifted over time due to aging and tarnished sequins. The auction site noted, “Glimmering suit is made of silk chiffon and zips up the back, with zipper closures at both cuffs, built-in footies, and self-belt style detail at the waist. A label within has the phrase ”Yvonne / 546” handwritten upon it. Some tearing to interior lining and loss of sequins to the soles and shoulder areas with scattered minor sequin loss throughout, else near fine.”
When researching this outfit, I came across a playful ad placed by Filene’s Basement in The Boston Globe in May 1964. The ad quoted a snippet from fashion writer Eugenia Sheppard’s column in the New York Herald Tribune, which mentioned this Norman Norell bodysuit. You can see from it that Streisand was well on her way to building the personal aesthetic that would define her image for decades to come.
It says, “Once she gets organized, Barbra Streisand is liable to become a real powerhouse in fashion….she’s aware too of all the American designers, “I love Norell. I bought something of his in Filene’s Basement. He’ll hate that, won’t he? She likes Bill Blass, Scaasi, and Rudi Gernreich. In Sirchio’s collection, she liked 20 of 23 numbers the other day. She has already been approached to give her name to a Barbra shop. “There’d be a barber pole outside, and kids would buy”.
Read the full 1964 ad below
Sources:
https://www.fitnyc.edu/museum/documents/norell-brochure.pdf
https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-boston-globe-barba-streisand-ad-for/187147213