Men’s celebrity style icons Men’s style
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This is a 1968 NBC TV special. There is a small stage, surrounded by formally dressed women in large puffy dresses and men dressed like accountants. On the stage is a man with a raven mane, who occasionally sits on the stairs and blends in with the crowd. But it’s clear he’s not one of the common folk – especially since he’s dressed head to toe in black leather. He is the embodiment of rock’n’roll. He is, of course, Elvis Presley.
Unless you’re a rock’n’roll legend or a TT racer, it’s not a look you can easily pull off. But for Elvis, it doesn’t just mean a famous return, it also marks a pivotal point in his wardrobe. Later, throughout the 1970s, he embraced pure stagewear, with the waistline of a fried peanut butter sarnie, rhinestones, flares, capes, and a high-collared white jumpsuit designed by Bill Brew (perfect for a black belt in karate). I fell down. (moves), like Dracula vs. rotating his hips. This unfairly tarnished Elvis’ reputation as a style icon.
Even Elvis wasn’t much of a fan. That legendary $10,000 gold lamé suit from 10 years ago was commissioned for Presley by Colonel Parker from rodeo tailor Nudie Cohn, the very man who made Johnny Cash the “Man in Black.” Was it? He didn’t really like it either, often replacing his pants with plain black ones. In the end, I only wore a full suit three times. Presley was offered a new version for his comeback in 1968, but he declined. “I have to be honest,” Presley told Brew. “I always hated that suit.”
Through most of the 1950s, Presley’s early wardrobe was much more like him, and ironically, even more like him now. When you think of Elvis today, you might first imagine “Showtime” Elvis, all exaggerated hair and jumpsuits, but there are many things that define him as a true style icon. is an early dress sense. And it feels especially relevant today – Cuban collar shirts, wide-leg pleated trousers, blousons – these are all garments that populate the menswear world, but were also essential to Elvis’ style wardrobe in the 1950s. He did everything first.
Elvis in a Cuban collar shirt in 1955
He said he usually wears clothes “as flashy as possible” on stage. “[But] In public,” he added, “I like real conservative clothing, not too flashy.” In fact, in many ways Presley was dressed in the clothes of the time. As a young man, he used to shop at Lansky Brothers in Memphis. He was a loyal customer of Lansky Brothers throughout his life. So I learned to wear a collar and bought high-waisted pegged pants, two-tone shoes, or simple black loafers. , short-sleeved shirts, loose-fitting sack suits, skinny or bootlace ties: in other words, rockabilly.
One thing he never wore, no matter how fashionable they became, were jeans. Presley always associated workwear with the poverty of his youth as a sharecropper. He only wore them when required for roles in films such as Jailhouse Rock, for example. Or if you have money. Ironically, Elvis gave Levi’s the name for the first black denim jeans, the “Elvis Presley” style.
In 1956, he wore a Cuban collar shirt, black pants, penny loafers, and argyle socks.
“Although it’s a very fashionable version, he was very much a product of his time,” says Dennis Nossdorfft, a curator at London’s Fashion and Textiles Museum. What made him stand out was not his clothes per se, but because he was extremely attractive and had a vulgar personality that was reflected in the way he wore his clothes. What he wore didn’t seem to fit very well, which reflected the way he moved. I think it’s fair to say he wasn’t the first choice purely for sartorial reasons, but there was just something about him and of course he looked incredible in his return game black leather. It looked cool. ”
Appeared on an NBC special in 1968 wearing his famous all-leather outfit
In fact, even at his most ridiculous offstage, Elvis managed to pull it off. When Presley met with the straight-laced Richard Nixon at the White House in 1972, he wore a peacoat-style jacket with gold buttons over his shoulders, a shirt with a collar larger than the collar of Nixon’s jacket, and a belt tied into his belt. was. Adjust the size of his head. So what else would the king wear to meet the president? President Nixon is said to have commented, “That’s a bit of a strange outfit.” “Well, Mr. President,” Elvis is said to have replied. “You got your show, and I got mine.”
There was great attention to detail even when wearing what appeared to be mere contemporary clothing choices. When Presley started making money, he had his shirts made to order. We added elastic to the cuffs and elbows to give the sleeves a more puffed-out look. Unlike his more pedestrian male contemporaries, he had no qualms about wearing color. His favorite color for shirts and socks was bubblegum pink, which at the time was considered a decidedly feminine shade.
He happily let patterns collide. He had his grandmother embroider distinctive details on his shirts. Of course, his jewelry became increasingly over-the-top, starting with something delicate like his “TCB” (“Taking Business”) signet ring. This was a clever element of branding that was both personal and later profitable.
Elvis eating a military-issued lunch on his first day at work, 1958
And, of course, it was the hair, the long, unfashionable pompadour that topped it all off – inspired by Presley’s days as a truck driver, which were on the road by the early 1950s. It was the king’s signature “action” – and most definitely contrasted with the crew cut favored at the time. Presley knew how important what one disapproving child psychiatrist called the “badge of emptiness” was to his style, rebel image, and sex appeal. To ensure Presley’s natural sandy blonde jet-black hue, his hair was regularly dyed (at the time, it was unheard of for men to dye their hair), giving him the desired look. To achieve this, three types of hair wax were needed at the same time. He was doing scalp massages with jojoba oil and vitamin E every day.
Elvis was certainly aware of his image. He didn’t really realize the impact it would have on menswear as a whole. Although his performance costumes were never likely to be imitated, the enormity of Presley’s fame was such that he starred in 31 films in just 13 years, and in the process reinvented the true meaning of celebrity. Further heightened by definition, it inevitably meant that his more personal wardrobe was imitated.
John Harrison, creative director at Gieves & Hawkes, said: “Before most people think of Elvis, they think of Paul Newman or James Dean, for example, as pretty much the stylish men of their time. “I’ll do it,” he says. “But it’s different when you work in the fashion industry, for example. And Elvis embodies that ’50s look. He’s definitely a style icon.”
Elvis’s three main looks
chic workwear
In King Creole (1959), Elvis wore the most workmanlike costume of his career, in contrast to the prison uniform of his jailhouse rock stylist. A chambray shirt over a white T-shirt, wide flat-front pants, and a moleskin twin-pocket blouson. Elvis returned to a similar jacket style in the ’50s and beyond, and it’s easy to see why. Today, this style is easily replicated and has recently been highlighted by the likes of Prada x Mr Porter, Oliver Spencer and Burberry.
rebellious tailoring
In early performances around 1956, Elvis dressed in ways that both reflected and challenged convention. He wore black pants and loafers, and a white shirt under a loose, contrasting tailored jacket. It was smart, yet brash, even subversive. “I cannot overstate how shocking his appearance and impression were to me that night,” one Roy Orbison later recalled. Apparently the first thing Elvis did was spit gum onto the stage. The mothers who objected must have fainted on the spot.
mid-century comfort
One of the key appeals of Elvis’s early style was its ease. True, the way he dressed added to his insouciance, but the clothes themselves were simple and easy to wear. In today’s chaotic world of fluorescent streetwear and floss, this is a flattering way to dress. Use this look as a great example. It consists of straight-leg pants, an open-neck polo shirt, a bomber jacket, and white sneakers. It won’t change the world, but it’s a combo that anyone can easily recreate. No, he doesn’t floss.
