Archive of shoes and clothing belonging to Iceberg Slim, circa 1970s-1980s

N.p. N.p., Circa 1970s-1980s. Archive of vintage shoes and clothing belonging to African-American pimp and pulp writer Robert Beck, better known as Iceberg Slim, circa 1970s-1980s.

Full provenance available.

Born Robert Lee Maupin in Chicago, Robert Beck (a.k.a. Iceberg Slim) briefly attended Tuskegee University in Alabama, but was expelled for bootlegging, and began pimping at the age of 18. His calm, unflappable demeanor and thin frame earned him the nickname "Iceberg Slim," and he quickly became a prominent figure in the Chicago street scene.

In 1961, after a ten-month turn in solitary confinement in a jail in Cook County, Slim, who was then 42, decided that he was too old to continue pimping, and moved to Los Angeles. There, he changed his name to Robert Beck (the surname of his mother's then-husband) and began working on his memoir. The resultant book, "Pimp: The Story of My Life," was published by Holloway House in 1967, becoming a runaway hit. The book remains notable today due to its unsparing, unglamorized depiction of street sex work and the brutality of pimping.

Beck continued working as a writer after the success of "Pimp," publishing seven novels (including "Trick Baby," adapted for film in 1972), a short story collection, and a second autobiography before his death in 1992. His work proved enormously popular, selling over six million books and making him one of the best-selling African-American authors of all time. He is today credited with having been an important influence on the hip-hop genre, and was the subject of a 2012 documentary produced by Ice-T, "Iceberg Slim: Portrait of a Pimp."

The clothing archive comes with a letter of provenance from Robert Beck's wife, Diane Millman Beck, to whom the clothes were left at Robert Beck's passing.

Collection includes:

- One pair of Jean Pierre Clemente brown leather faux-snakeskin lace-up shoes, size 10.5

- One pair of Aurelio Garcia blue snakeskin and leather loafers, size 10

- One pair of Giorgio Brutini yellow snakeskin lace-up shoes, size 10.5

- One red and black striped silk blouse, size XL

- One Cotler "Direzione" gray tweed suit with multicolor embroidered accents, size 42

- One Dorman Winthrop navy velvet suit, no size indicated

- One Dorman Winthrop brown velvet suit, no size indicated

Clothing and shoes housed together in a navy cloth garment bag.

[Book #169937]