Elvis Presley's sudden style change in the late
'60s led to many guesses as to why he started wearing jumpsuits. Here's what
the man who made the King's clothes had to say about the sartorial shift.
Elvis was famous for his velvety voice, hip-shaking dance moves,
charisma, and an outrageous lifestyle. He was also famous for his iconic,
instantly recognizable outfits. The black leather suit for his 1968 comeback special. The velvet
suit he wore when he was invited to the White House by Richard Nixon. And, of course, the
spangled jumpsuits he wore on stage. All of these outfits and more were designed by the same man.
Bill Belew was a graduate of New York's Parsons School of Design. He designed
costumes for performers including Lena Horne, Josephine Baker, and Ella Fitzgerald,
as well as for a variety of stage productions, including "Sweet Charity," "Funny Girl," and The
New York City Ballet's production of "Giselle." He also worked on several television specials
and programs, including the Emmys, the Grammys, and the American Music Awards.
Belew came to work with Presley when producers of The King's 1968 comeback special asked Belew to
submit some designs. Belew had worked with the same producers on another television special
featuring singer Petula Clark. Belew told Salon that his first idea came to him immediately:
"It always seemed like people assumed he wore black leather,
but he never did. [...] At that time, though, we were into denim, and I said,
'What if I just duplicate a denim outfit in black leather?' Elvis loved it."
That collaboration kicked off a nearly decade-long partnership in which Belew's designs helped
Presley create a new, flashier, more theatrical presence both on and off stage. Belew told Salon,
"I wanted the clothes to be easy and seductive and that was it. And I never
wanted anything to compromise his masculinity."
"I had to protect his image."
In 2008, costume designer and historian Butch Polston,
who owns the B&K Enterprises Costume Company and considered Belew a mentor, described to the Los
Angeles Times the design details Belew incorporated into Presley's jumpsuits.
Belew used high, Napoleonic collars to frame Presley's face, adding Edwardian pointed
sleeves and wide bell bottoms with kick pleats. Famous costumes included the Burning Love Suit,
which was red with a pinwheel pattern. There was the so-called Black Pyramid Suit covered in gold
studs and the Dragon Suit, which featured a dazzling rhinestone dragon motif. Presley's
favorite, said Polston, was the Peacock Suit, which featured embroidered peacocks with the
tail feathers running down each leg. It sold in 2008 for $300,000, USA Today reported.
The jumpsuits had some practical benefits outside of looking dazzling and outrageous. Reportedly,
the jumpsuits were made in response to Elvis' request for stage clothes that
were easy to move around in. At the time, the King had become obsessed with martial arts,
especially karate, and his stage moves in the '70s evolved beyond the hip-shaking of
his early years. So he was looking for a style of clothing that was both athletic
and fabulous. Belew's jumpsuits were the answer to Elvis' prayers, and proved to be
a secondary draw to his live shows. Elvis joked to the Los Angeles Times in 1970,
"If the songs don't go over, we can do a medley of costumes."
"So there was a lot of continuity that Elvis
thought of and the designers thought of when putting these outfits together."
Belew wasn't just responsible for Elvis' stage outfits. He was soon entrusted with
creative control of Elvis' entire wardrobe, and he showed a keen eye for the styles and
shapes that best suited the rock 'n' roll icon. He recalled to the Graceland blog:
"You could be daring as a designer and put anything on Elvis and he could make it
work. And the simplest outfits that didn't seem particularly remarkable on the rack transformed
into something spectacular when Elvis put them on. He was that beautiful and powerful a presence."
In an interview with Elvis Australia, Belew said he thought that Elvis Presley's favorite
outfit of his was the Aloha Eagle Suit, which he famously wore for his 1973 "Aloha from Hawaii
via Satellite" special. The costume included a cape and Belew explained that Elvis told him,
"Bill, I just want the suit to say America."
Belew had been in Europe, when there had been controversy regarding an eagle being
displayed on an American embassy. The eagle motif replaced his original idea
for an American flag-themed suit, and Elvis was on board.
The original cape, featuring an eagle with outstretched wings, was floor length, but the
full-length cape turned out to be too heavy for Presley to move in, actually causing him to fall
over when he attempted to rehearse in it. Belew replaced it with a short cape and later recalled,
"All these years I always carried this image in my head of Elvis making the step forward and
then bam. Laying there amongst all this cape. And I can see him howling with laughter, too."
Though Belew designed the outfits, much of the embroidery was designed and stitched
by his coworker, Gene Doucette. Doucette told The Guardian in 2010 that he sketched
the original eagle idea for the Aloha Eagle Suit and explained his costuming philosophy:
"I didn't just want glitter. I wanted a story."