It’s 1968, an NBC TV special. There’s a small stage, surrounded by primly-dressed women with big bouffant dos and men dressed as though they might be accountants. A raven-maned gentleman sits occasionally on the steps of the stage to appear among the crowd. But he is clearly not of the people – not least because he is in head to toe black leather. He’s the embodiment of rock’n’roll. Elvis Presley, of course.
It’s not a look that would be easily pulled off unless one was a rock’n’roll legend, or perhaps a TT Race rider. Elvis’s comeback is not only a pivotal moment in his career, but also his wardrobe. The 1970s saw him lapse into stagewear, with his peanut butter sarnie-fried waistline. He wore rhinestones and flares. He wore capes. And he wore those high-collared, white jumpsuits designed by Bill Belew (perfect for black belt karate moves). This, unfairly, tarnished Elvis’ reputation as a style icon.
Even Elvis wasn’t such a fan of it. That legendary, $10,000 gold lame suit of a decade earlier, which Colonel Parker commissioned for Presley from the rodeo tailor Nudie Cohn – the very man who made Johnny Cash the ‘Man in Black’? He didn’t much like that either – he’d often swap the trousers out for something plain and black. He only wore his suit the three times. When it was suggested a new version be created for his ’68 comeback, Presley declined. “I have to be honest with you,” Presley said to Belew. “I always hated that suit.”
Presley’s earlier wardrobe, throughout most of 1950s, was much more him, and ironically, much more Now. Think of Elvis today and you might first imagine ‘showtime’ Elvis – all exaggerated hair and jumpsuited up – but it’s his earlier dress sense that marks him out as a true style icon. And it feels particularly relevant today – Cuban collar shirts, wide-legged, pleated trousers, blousons – these are all garments making the rounds on the menswear circuit, but they were also integral to Elvis’ 1950s style wardrobe. He did all of it first.
Elvis wearing a Cuban shirt in 1955
On stage, he said, generally he’d wear clothes “as flashy as you can get them”. “[But] in public,” he added, “I like real conservative clothes, something that’s not too flashy”. Presley did indeed wear the clothing of his time. As a young man he’d shop at Lansky Bros in Memphis – to which he was a loyal customer all his life – where he learned to pop up his collar and where he bought high-waisted pegged trousers, two tone shoes or simple black loafers, short sleeve shirts, loose-fitting sack suits, skinny or bootlace ties: rockabilly, in other words.
One thing he wouldn’t wear, no matter how fashionable they became: jeans. Presley was always linked to sharecropping poverty in his youth by wearing working clothes. He’d only wear them if, say, a film role the likes of Jailhouse Rock If money did. Or, if you had the money. Ironically, Elvis lent his name to Levi’s for their ‘Elvis Presley’ style, the first black denim jeans.
In 1956 wearing a Cuban-collar shirt, black pants, penny loafers, and argyle sock
“He was very much a product of his time,” argues Dennis Nothdruft, curator at London’s Fashion & Textiles Museum, “albeit a very fashionable version. What made him stand out was less his clothes as him – because he was extremely attractive and he had this louche quality about him, which shows in how he wore the clothes. The clothes were less fitted and more draped, reflecting the way he moves. I think it’s fair to say he wouldn’t be a first choice for purely sartorial reasons but he did have a certain something about him and, of course, he did look incredibly cool in that black leather for his comeback.”
Wearing the legendary all-leather costume, NBC featured the singer in a special on February 28, 1968.
Elvis pulled it off, even in the most absurd of situations. When he met with a strait-laced Richard Nixon in the White House in 1972, Presley wore a gold-buttoned pea coat style jacket draped over his shoulders, a shirt with a collar bigger than the lapels on Nixon’s jacket, and a belt with a buckle the size of his head. What else would you expect a King to wear when meeting a President in 1972? “You dress kinda strange,” Nixon is said to have commented. “Well, Mr. President,” Elvis is said to have replied, “you got your show, and I got mine”.
There was a lot of detail in his clothing, even if it seemed like he was wearing the same clothes as everyone else. When he started making money Presley had his shirts made bespoke – he had elastic added at the cuffs and the elbows to give the sleeves a more billowing look. Presley, unlike other men in his time, was comfortable with colour. His favourite color for socks and shirts was bubblegum, which was then considered to be a feminine shade.
He’d happily clash patterns. He’d get his grandmother to embroider his shirts with some distinctive detail. His jewellery, of course, became increasingly excessive, but started with subtleties the likes of his ‘TCB’ (‘taking care of business’) signet ring – a deft bit of personal, and later profitable, branding.
Elvis ate a packed lunch provided by the army on the day that he reported to duty in 1958
And then, crowning it all, of course, was that hair, a long, unfashionable pompadour – inspired by Presley’s time working as a truck driver, that being the signature ‘do for the kings of the road through the early 1950s – and most definitely counter to the favoured crewcuts of the period. Presley knew just how important what one disapproving child psychiatrist called that “badge of emptiness” was to his style, his rebel image and to his sex appeal. His hair was regularly dyed to ensure Presley’s naturally sandy blonde colour achieved that jet black shade – men dyeing their hair was unheard of at the time – and required three different kinds of hair wax, at the same time, to achieve the desired look. He’d have a jojoba oil and vitamin E scalp massage daily.
Elvis knew his image. He was unaware of its impact on menswear. While his performance attire was never likely to be emulated, the sheer magnitude of Presley’s fame – enhanced by his starring in 31 movies over just 13 years, genuinely redefining celebrity in the process – meant that his more personal wardrobe inevitably would be.
“I think most people would think of, say, Paul Newman or James Dean as stylish men from roughly that era before they’d think of Elvis,” as John Harrison, the creative director of Gieves & Hawkes has it. “But it’s different if, say, you work in the fashion industry. Then Elvis embodies that whole ’50s look. He’s definitely a style icon.”
Three key Elvis looks
Workwear Chic
You can also find out more about the following: King Creole (1959) Elvis wore the most workmanlike outfit of his career – even against the stylist prison uniform of Jailhouse Rock. A chambray top over a white t-shirt with wide-legged pants, a moleskin blouson, with twin pockets. Elvis returned to similar jacket styles throughout the ’50s and beyond, and it’s easy to see why. This look can be easily copied today and has been promoted by brands such as Prada x Mr Porter and Burberry.
Rebellious Tailoring
Elvis dressed differently for an early performance, circa 1956. He wore black pants and loafers with a white t-shirt under a loose fitting tailored jacket. It was sassy, but also smart. “I can’t over-emphasise how shocking he looked and seemed to me that night,” one Roy Orbison would later recall. Elvis reportedly spit gum on the stage as his first act. Mothers who disapproved of Elvis’ actions probably fainted.
Mid-Century Ease
One of the key attractions of Elvis’ early style was the ease of it. Elvis’ style was easy and simple to wear. Yes, his way of dressing added to the nonchalance he exuded, but the clothes themselves were also very comfortable. This is a great way to dress in today’s world of streetwear with fluorescent colors and flossing. Take this look as a case in point – it’s made up of straight leg trousers, an open neck polo shirt, a bomber jacket and white sneakers. It’s not going to change the world, but it’s an effortless combo that anyone can recreate. And no, he’s not flossing.
