{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O1775265"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1775265/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2025PE6975/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2025PE6975/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"low","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2025PE6975","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2025PE6976","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2025PE6977","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2025PE6972","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2025PC7954","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2025PC7952","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, 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stripes.","artistMakerPerson":[],"artistMakerOrganisations":[{"name":{"text":"ASOS","id":"AUTH377476"},"association":{"text":"designed and made","id":"x28674"},"note":"Jumper"},{"name":{"text":"All Saints","id":"A27708"},"association":{"text":"designed and made","id":"x28674"},"note":"Jeans"}],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"merino wool","id":"x33589"},{"text":"cotton","id":"AAT14067"},{"text":"denim","id":"AAT14068"},{"text":"metal","id":"AAT10900"},{"text":"paint","id":"AAT15029"},{"text":"leather","id":"AAT11845"}],"techniques":[{"text":"machine sewing","id":"AAT257463"},{"text":"machine knitting","id":"AAT252068"},{"text":"painted","id":"x39976"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"<b>Part 1: Jumper</b>\nMachine-knitted and hand-painted merino wool with cotton tags.\n\n<b>Part 2: Jeans</b>\r\nMachine-sewn and hand-painted denim and leather with metal buttons.\n\n<b>Parts 3 and 4: Socks</b>\r\nMachine-sewn and hand-painted cotton.","categories":[{"text":"David Bowie Archive","id":"THES394093"},{"text":"Entertainment and leisure","id":"THES48959"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"T&P","id":"THES48602"},"images":["2025PE6975","2025PE6976","2025PE6977","2025PE6972","2025PC7954","2025PC7952","2025PC7953","2025PC7951","2025PC7955"],"imageResolution":"low","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"002","id":"THES360715"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"005","id":"THES311606"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"005","id":"THES311606"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"005","id":"THES311606"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"Jumper","id":"THES271574"}],[{"text":"Jeans","id":"AAT209918"}],[{"text":"Socks","id":"AAT46087"}],[{"text":"Socks","id":"AAT46087"}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"China","id":"x29398"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":"Jumper, 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Group","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"67","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"Jumper","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"37.8","unit":"cm","qualifier":"Shoulder to shoulder","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"Jumper","note":""},{"dimension":"Length","value":"68.9","unit":"cm","qualifier":"Sleeve","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"Jumper","note":""},{"dimension":"Length","value":"98","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"Jeans","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"41.7","unit":"cm","qualifier":"Waist","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"Jeans","note":""},{"dimension":"Length","value":"37.5","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"Socks","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[{"content":"ALLSAINTS\r\nCIGARETTE FIT W32\nMADE IN TURKEY","inscriber":{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""}},"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"description":"","interpretation":"","language":"","medium":"","method":"","position":"","script":"","translation":"","transliteration":"","type":"","note":"Label on inside of jeans waistband"},{"content":"ALLSAINTS SPITALFIELDS NN9 1-11-607","inscriber":{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""}},"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"description":"","interpretation":"","language":"","medium":"","method":"","position":"","script":"","translation":"","transliteration":"","type":"","note":"Engraved on button on waistband of jeans"},{"content":"ASOS","inscriber":{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""}},"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"description":"","interpretation":"","language":"","medium":"","method":"","position":"","script":"","translation":"","transliteration":"","type":"","note":"Black label on neckline of jumper"}],"objectHistory":"David Bowie first appeared as the character referred to as 'The Somnambulist' (French for 'The Sleepwalker') in a 1975 photoshoot with Steve Shapiro. Bowie's Somnambulist character was allegedly inspired by the silent 1920 German Expressionist horror movie<i> The Cabinet of Dr Caligari</i>, of which Bowie was a fan. The film  features a sleepwalker called Cesare, who, controlled by the sinister Dr Caligari, emerges from a cabinet and kills at his bidding. Cesare wears a tight-fitting, dark high necked sweater and trousers with hand-painted white stripes. \n\nIn the 1975 Shapiro photoshoot, Bowie wears a dark coloured costume painted with diagonal white stripes. He stands in stiff, tense postures, clenching his fists by his sides. An image from this photoshoot was ultimately used for the back cover of the album <i>Station to Station.</i> The photographs from this shoot can be found in archive file DBA/5/13/17.\n\n40 years later, Bowie resurrected the character of the Somnambulist for the music video of his single 'Lazarus'. Purposefully self-referential, in the video Bowie wears this costume, which is a recreation of his original, and strikes the same stiff, clenched-fist pose. Bowie sketched an idea for this character and costume in preparation for the video, which can be found in DBA/2/1/36/3. Still photographs of the 'Lazarus' msuic video are held in DBA/5/50/5 and DBA/5/50/7. \r\n","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Hand-painted costume worn by David Bowie as the character 'The Somnambulist' for the 'Lazarus' music video, filmed 2015","bibliographicReferences":[],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[{"text":"Album: Blackstar (2016)","id":"AUTH401629"}],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["S.500:1-2024","S.500:2-2024","S.500:3-2024","S.500:4-2024"],"accessionNumberNum":"500","accessionNumberPrefix":"S","accessionYear":2024,"otherNumbers":[{"type":{"text":"David Bowie Archive Number","id":"THES394108"},"number":"2016.2042.0003"}],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2026-07-04","recordCreationDate":"2024-03-19","availableToBook":false}}