‘Elvis: Dressed to Rock’ opens at Graceland
Features over 100 items worn by musical icon
In what Graceland archivist Angie Marchese touts as “the largest exhibit of Elvis stagewear ever,” more than 100 jumpsuits, tunics, capes, belts, pieces of jewelry and pairs of sunglasses worn by the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll from 1969 to 1977 went on display Saturday at Elvis Presley’s Memphis, the museum-and-entertainment complex across the street from the Presley mansion.
“The costumes were as big a part of his show as the songs,” said Marchese, basking, as it were, in the glow of the light bouncing off a few thousand socalled rhinestones. “They really define the Elvis image in those years.”
Titled “Elvis: Dressed to Rock,” the impressive exhibit gives off something of the majestic/celestial/far-out vibe of the theme music from “2001: A Space Odyssey” (Richard Strauss’ “Also Sprach Zarathustra“) that Elvis used as his opening fanfare in the 1970s.
The main exhibit hall contains some 60 mannequins dressed in Elvis jumpsuits. The mannequins are arrayed in illuminated. monolith-shaped, mansized, glass-fronted cases, stacked atop each other in rows, two or three levels high. The effect suggests the pods of hibernating space travelers seen in a science-fiction film, or an episode of Hollywood Squares that showcased headless Elvis dummies instead of Wally Cox and Paul Lynde.
The iconic Presley jumpsuit is regarded by some as a joke or a fashion mistake, and is almost always the costume of choice in parodies that exploit the image of the “fat Elvis.” But James Brown and David Bowie were among the performers who also wore jumpsuits onstage in the ‘70s, and nobody disputes their cool cred. “The Elvis jumpsuits are really works of art in themselves,” said Marchese, vice president of archives and exhibits at Elvis Presley’s Graceland (to give her full title its due).
The exhibit chronicles Elvis’ successful return to live performance, following the diminishing returns of his movie career and the success of the so-called
1968 “Comeback Special” on NBC. Designer Bill Belew, who created the famous black leather suit for the TV special, was recruited to be Elvis’ stage designer, and he became to Elvis what Bob Mackie was to Cher.
Assisted especially in the later years by embroidery specialist Gene Doucette, Belew (who died in 2008 at 76) designed all the costumes on display in the exhibit, and had them created by hand at this Los Angeles studio.
Like ice skaters’ costumes, the suits generally were made of stretchable wool/mixed-blend gabardine fabric, and most feature the “Napoleonic” raised collars and pointed cuffs that were a Belew/elvis trademark. The metal studs and “rhinestones” were added by hand; the stones are not made from plastic or from marbles but are semiprecious gems.
When Elvis returned to live performance, “He wasn’t going to go out there in a tux or a suit,” Marchese said. “He needed something special.”
To prove that point, the exhibit showcases numerous costume milestones.
Visitors will see Elvis’ first cape, from 1971; it’s known as the “Black Fireworks” cape, due to the pyrotechnical-like spray of stones across its surface.
They also will see Elvis’ last cape, from 1973, named “The Egyptian” for its vaguely pharaonic motif.
There’s also his heaviest cape, the 30-pound “Red Flame.”
Also on display are numerous significant jumpsuits, including the four that were seen in “Elvis: That’s the Way It Is,” the 1970 documentary about Elvis’ triumphant return to Vegas that really introduced the Elvis-in-a-jumpsuit concept to the world.
Visitors also will encounter Elvis’ first jumpsuit, a rather simple two-zippered 1970s number Presley wore in Las Vegas, accessorized with a long eyelet belt, as well as his final jumpsuit: The famous and much-worn “Aztec Sun” suit, which Elvis donned on June 26, 1977, in Indianapolis — his last concert before his Aug. 16 death that year at the age of 42.
The ambitious “Elvis: Dressed to Rock” exhibit is timed for Graceland’s ongoing recognition of the 45th anniversary of that sad date. The exhibit will be up through Labor Day, a timespan that includes the Aug. 9-17 celebration of “Elvis Week.”
Admission to the “Elvis: Dressed to Rock” and the other attractions of Elvis Presley’s Memphis are included with regular admission to Graceland. For more information, visit graceland.com.