Did we ever get an explanation on Elvis's one-piece jumpsuit thing?

[underpants]

Even as a kid this struck me as odd. So did Freddie Mercury but that is a whole other story.

Anyway I was wondering if anyone ever figured out where that came from. Was it the case of a man alone with his thoughts in a crowd of YESmen?

For your listening and viewing pleasure Elvis still pictures set to Carl Douglas's "Kung Fu Fighting"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gxjmq0Cr0eg

[Hugin]

1. It was the style at the time...

Sort of a 'one piece polyester leisure suit'.

All the biggies had one, I assume it was 'E' who started the trend.

[blogslut]

2. Do mean why did he wear them?

I suppose because initially, jumpsuits were a popular fashion style in the late sixites-early seventies. Second, they showed off the butt and the package. Third, Elvis was a big Nudie Cohn fan:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nudie_Cohn
http://www.nudiesrodeotailor.com

[johnnie]

3. It was based on a Karate gi

Elvis was big into comic books as a child too and he wanted a comic book hero costume based on a Karate gi. That's pretty much it.

[ForrestGump]

8. Yeah, the comic-book superhero link...

Elvis acknowledged that publicly.

Captain Marvel:



Sergeant Elvis:

.html">Clieck here for Elvis...for some reason, some f***wit at Imageshack seems to have decided that directly linking an image is unacceptable...capitalist running dog lackey pig-dogs!

[redqueen]

17. running dog pig-dogs

i like the reiteration of their dogness. :hi:

[ForrestGump]

22. I felt I needed to distance them from cool cats,

the Hillbilly Cat included. :-)

Hi, Ms redqueen... :hug:

[Dukkha]

4. I imagine his hygiene had a role in it

He was really letting himself go then and a jumpsuit would be easier to get into. I saw it at the R&R hall of fame I was amazed at how big it was. He wasn't even bathing regularly,and was taking pills to regulate his body odor.

Regardless when was was all together he pulled off the look well. Despite his downward spiral he will always be the King! A title he earned, not self-proclaimed like a certain pedophile pop star.

[havocmom]

5. Spandex panel in the back adjusted to weight changes

Explains the cape too

[ForrestGump]

10. No spandex panel

And the capes were gone long before he began putting on significant weight and retaining fluids.

Some suits could be let out or taken in at the sides, but many of the stud or embroidery designs did not allow that, and they could also be adjusted at the front (one dart on either side of the torso) or back (two darts on each side of the midline) if the design allowed. many could not be adjusted because the studs, jewels, or embroidery were in the way. For some suits, like the eagle suit worn on the 1973 Aloha satellite-broadcast concert, Elvis had duplicates made, and sometimes the duplicates were a little larger.

[havocmom]

20. havocmom goes to check sign above door; yep, Lounge, not GD

jeesh, I was attempting humor. Guess it missed?

Thanks for all the info about letting things out or not due to ornamentation... I am a professional seamstress and have taught sewing, designed costumes and failed as a comedian:rofl: Also, never a real Elvis fan so never too concerned with when he wore what.

The cape thing always did puzzle me though.

[ForrestGump]

21. Forrest goes to check sign above door

It falls on him.

Forrest walks into room...


...and slips on banana peel.


Now, that is humor!

I know funny, and that's funny!



:P



But, seriously, ladies and germs, your post did quite handily fly right over my head...it's not you, and I say that with confidence 'cos it's most definitely me (I plead, as usual, sleep deprivation). On the other hand, you've given me a great idea for the next jumpsuit...the amazing ExpandoSuit!

Belated Forrest-getting-the-humor ---> :rofl:

I'm definitely way behind you in my sewing skills, but I think the ladies at JoAnn (who've kind of adopted me as their token helpless male) are impressed that I at least now know that basting is not just something that happens to turkeys. Pretty gratifying to make something from scratch and have it actually work, and fit well. :-)

The capes were kind of interesting because they probably really did come from Elvis' growing up reading the adventures of superheros (Captain Marvel was always the one he cited) and I guess he and his designer knew they'd add a unique flair to the stage look. And, like a lot of his stagewear (the high collars and wide, heavily ornamented and chained belts included), he was wearing capes offstage before they made their way to his performing wardrobe. Most of the capes' intricate detailing wasn't really visible to the audience unless he spread the cape all the way open and had his back to at least part of the audience (the capes were lined with contrasting satin, too) and that only happened at the very end of the show. The capes usually had more studwork or other designwork on them than did the actual jumpsuits...when he first started wearing them, he'd take the cape off after the first few songs and put it back on for the last few, but when he started wearing the capes that were heavily loaded with studs and stones he eventually ended up just donning them for the last song. For the 1973 satellite show from Hawaii, his people designed a floor length cape that was so heavy that it not only just about choked Elvis by pulling his collar back so far but almost pulled him over backwards.






The floor-length Aloha cape they didn't use

[havocmom]

23. Studded capes as armor?

I know he was upset about the Beatles and anybody who wanted to be J. Edgar's Junior G-Man might have had some paranoia issues beyond the norm ;)

I wonder if Ashcroft would be easier to deal with if HE had studded capes. Hey, at least when he sang
'Let the Eagle Soar' the audience would likely be looking at his back :D

[ForrestGump]

6. HE said it was based on a karate gi, but

it's not quite that simple.

The first ones, when he came back to the stage in 1969, were plain two-piece outfits (herringbone trim on the collar and chest vee) in black, white, and navy, and they were very much modeled on a karate gi, complete with a belt reminiscent of karate belts. They had godets (kickpleats) with satin inserts on the pants and French (I think) cuffs with buttons (some later jumpsuits skipped the buttons), but the collar was nowhere near as high as in later iterations. The basic design was probably Elvis' idea, strongly influenced by his background in martial arts. He also wore, for some of the shows, two-piece outfits based on the cut of the black leather suit he wore in his 1968 TV special that, in turn, was based on a Levi's denim jacket and jeans, though the 1969 stagewear had somewhat flared pants and he wore wide leather belts with studs and chains, and lionheads, with those suits (he was wearing these belts offstage at the time but they were the same kind of belts he'd come back to wear onstage starting in late 1971, the classic Elvis stage belt). He accessorized with designer silk scarves (Hermes, Bill Blass, etc) and, in later years when he began regularly throwing them to the audience, went from purpose-designed 36x36" silk scarves to less expensive satin.

Here's one of the 1969 karate-style suits:



When he returned to Vegas in January, 1970, he was wearing one-piece jumpsuits, all but one with the classic Napoleonic collar. I'm not sure who made the decision to go one-piece...Priscilla's claimed she designed the first suits, but she claims a lot of things and the more likely truth is that Elvis talked to his designer, telling him what he needed (based on the first season of live performing) and they came up with a solution. The jumpsuits eventually evolved into studded suits (with capes coming in late in 1971), then suits laden with studs and jewels (Austrian crystals and semiprecious stones) that were very heavy (and featured heavy capes) and, finally, intricately embroidered suits that were lighter but very expensive. The flares got bigger in 1971, bigger still in 1972 and beyond but, otherwise, the basic design of the suits (tight around the midsection and hips, loose in the chest and shoulders to accommodate movement) remained the same. These suits were an evolution of the 1969 design but Elvis liked the jumpsuits better because they tended to maintain their structural integrity during his onstage workouts...the material had some stretch to it and so offered support and freedom of movement. He had a problem with ripping pants, throughout his career, because of his moves, and the jumpsuits minimized that. When he went back to wearing pants and shirts onstage in 1972, for a while, he split so many pairs of pants that he went back to jumpsuits for the rest of his career.

I think the fact that his costumes were made by IC Costumes of Hollywood ('IC' standing for IceCapades) had something to do with it, too. After all, one-piece suits were not uncommon in skating and the material used for Elvis' suits -- wool gabardine -- was also what was used for skater's suits. That's something a lot of people assume wrong about, actually...Elvis never wore polyester jumpsuits (probably rarely, if ever, wore polyester at all, even in the '70s -- IC Costumes not only made his stagewear but made most of his offstage attire, too, designed by the same people who designed the jumpsuits); all of the material used on his suits was imported from Milan, a custom blended wool gabardine that included a bit of spandex for stretch. Add in the crystals and jewels he used later, some of them extra-expensive dichrotic stones, and it's easy to see where the materials cost of his suits came from. Some of the suits were allegedly as much as 40 lbs in weight, with cape. Elvis stopped wearing the capes in 1973 because they got too heavy and because they were a hazard (fans would grab them and almost pull him off the stage).

Example:



Had he lived, I think he'd have ditched the jumpsuits at some point, as iconic as they became in their own right. In the meantime, he influenced the dress of a lot of other pop, soul, and rock acts of the '70s (the Osmonds even went to the same designer -- Bill Belew, whose association with Elvis began with the 1968 TV secial -- for their outfits).



Hey...you asked. :D

[blogslut]

7. noice!

So he wasn't as much of a Nudie fan as I thought.

Great post. :)

[ForrestGump]

12. Thanks...

Yeah, Nudie designed at least a couple of movie costumes for him but Elvis definitely had his own thing going on, style-wise, in the '70s just as he did in the '50s...to have the same company make almost all his clothing (concert and street clothing, and casualwear) is not too typical, either.

Nudie's most famous contribution was that 1957 gold suit (Elvis hated it, especially with the pants and shirt -- he usually wore just the jacket with black pants and shirt -- and when the Colonel told him to be careful with it because it was expensive and inherently valuable Elvis made a point of sliding across the stage on his knees, leaving a trail of gold behind):



Elvis may have hated the suit -- he even resisted wearing a different gold jacket for the 1968 TV Special because it reminde dhim of the gold suit -- but it looked pretty cool on him.

[blogslut]

15. I'm loving the gold shoes

I'm no Elvis afficianado but the boy could sing. That's all I have to say.

[johnnie]

9. My explanation was easier to read..LOL

But you're right, it was asked.
How ya doin Gump?

[ForrestGump]

14. But yours doesn't have any pictures

And I only read Du for the pictures... :P

Howdy, partener! :hi:

Things proceed quite nicely, for the most part, though I'm not s'posed to be here (should've left an hour ago) and this hit-and-run perusal of DU got me mired in gabardine and brass studs (sort of like my room right now, actually...looks like an explosion in Elvis' trophy room)... :D

I hope that things proceed along at least as nicely for you, these days, despite the incursion of the glaciers and mammoths on your part of the world at this time of year. Rocketh on! :yourock:

[Hugin]

13. FYI...

Spandex *is* Polyester.

But, I agree... Only the best for the King.

I watched one of his live-on-TeeVee concerts and the total movement and effort he put
into the performance more than warranted one-piece and stretch.

[ForrestGump]

16. Well, yeah

:-)

...but it was probably only 4% of the stuff.

Nitpicker. :P

And dropping down into those 'splits' leg stretches with 100% wool gabardine would've had him singing like one of the BeeGees...ouch.

:hi:

[Hugin]

18. I forgive him...

Spandex was 'The Next Thing' at that time and he was one of the first to take advantage of it.

Polyester didn't gain it's notoriety until the fashion meltdown in the late '70s. The Disco Era
and cheap discount clothing stores took care of that... It was well after the King left the building.

I imagine doing a full concert in leather would chafe anyone.

[underpants]

19. I withdraw my original post. We DO now have an explanation

Thanks

[blogslut]

11. just for shits n giggles

nevermind :(

[MissMillie]

24. in the 70s you didn't need an explanation to wear something like that

people just used to wear that stuff.