GUEST: I bought this in
an auction of jazz-related
memorabilia in New York
City about 12 years
ago. It belonged to the great
jazz tenor player Dexter Gordon.
He wore it for the Academy
Awards ceremony. He was
nominated for his role in "Round
Midnight" as the best male
actor. He didn't win,
but I got the suit.
APPRAISER: But he looked snazzy
going to the awards show.
GUEST: Oh, yes.
APPRAISER: So that's kind of the
obvious thing here. You, years
later, found this photograph
of him wearing it in
French "Vogue" magazine.
So he obviously liked
this suit, and one of
the most interesting
things about this suit--
beyond the fact that it
was Dexter Gordon's--
for me is, who designed it for
him and the fact that he had
a custom suit designed. And
the reason he had a custom suit
designed, apart from wanting
something fancy, is because...
(laughs): ...he's quite tall.
GUEST: My goodness, yeah.
APPRAISER: I think it's
difficult to find pants to fit
someone who's 6'5". Yeah. And
his nickname actually was
Long Tall Dex, because
he was known for his
great height, which added
to his larger-than-life
persona. But even beyond that,
Arthur McGee, the designer of
the suit, is a really important
figure that's not known as
much as he should be because
he was the first
African-American fashion
designer on Seventh
Avenue in New York. So
he essentially broke the color
barrier of American fashion
design, and did pave the
way for a lot of other people
who came up after him. He's
also very well-known among
a lot of African-American
entertainers. He designed
for Stevie Wonder,
Cicely Tyson, Dexter Gordon. I
think that's a really important
factor here. What did you
pay for it back
when you bought it?
GUEST: I paid $1,000 for it.
APPRAISER: Okay. Today, if it
were to come up for auction,
I would expect it should sell
for at least $5,000. We actually
had the great fortune in
Anaheim a few years ago to meet
his daughter. She came to the
Roadshow and she brought some
beautiful signed photographs.
GUEST: Oh!
APPRAISER: He had Billie Holiday
and a few other people he was
friends with-Sarah Vaughan.
She couldn't have been lovelier,
she was such a wonderful spirit
and personality.