Halloween is coming up quickly, so I thought it might be interesting to see what’s available in the way of Elvis costumes. www.amazon.com seemed like a good place to start, and indeed, it did offer many choices. Some of the same items were also offered on www.shopelvis.com, and many of them showed up repeatedly on other sites I checked out. The more unusual (and unflattering) selections avoided problems with Graceland by having generic titles, rather than anything Elvis-themed, but the idea that they were Elvis costumes was clearly evident.
Jumpsuits clearly dominated the choices, but Elvis had other distinctive performance outfits and these are available as costumes as well. Of course, there was a ’68 Comeback Special Black Leather Outfit, available from Amazon at just $59, marked down from $99. It is made of ‘faux leather,’ but it looks pretty good in the picture. How about the famous Gold Lamé Suit at $90. “Faux gold,’ we can assume. Then there is the Jailhouse Rock prison outfit for $40. You might have to wear an Elvis wig with that one to be sure everyone can figure out whom you’re trying to look like.
Serious Elvis jumpsuits are available at a number of websites. Prices on these quality items go up to $2000, so they are hardly feasible for the average Halloween party-goer. Amazon calls a gold-tone one the Adult Super Delux, and it can be yours for only $370. However, the red Hellvis jumpsuit is just $30 – and you can get a matching Mrs. Hellvis, too. A nice black jumpsuit with red cape is titled Rhinestone Rock Star and costs $75 (fake guitar extra).
One Elvis jumpsuit with a red-white-blue Eagle on the chest showed up in almost every website I checked out. It has the uncreative name of Elvis Economy Adult Costume and sells for just $38. The matching child and toddler versions go for slightly less. A matching cape is offered on ShopElvis.com at $30.
It comes as a big surprise that Amazon offers a $53 costume called Adult Fat Elvis. Other sites have it too but use code names like Rockn Roller. Either way, it is pretty lame, but some dumb fools will probably buy it to get a laugh at Elvis’ expense. The worst Elvis Halloween costume has to be one on Amazon called Parade Pleaser Rock Star. Certainly not an EPE pleaser. The costume is available on many other websites under different names, but to me it looks like Elvis Troll. What a waste of $149.
Google wasn’t as helpful when I searched for “Elvis Masks,” and most of the links were with English companies. www.escapade.co.uk offers a full-head rubber mask that doesn’t look much like Elvis, but what can you expect for $17? Only slightly better is an offering from www.chickenshop.co.uk at $19. I can’t believe there are so many products out there that do such a crummy job of capturing Elvis’ features. That’s certainly not the problem with an offering from the Forbes Magazine’s website. For absolutely no cost, you can print a life-sized color photo of Elvis, and cut it out to make a quickie mask. I might have to try that one.
Elvis wigs come in dozens of models ranging in appeal from poor to absolutely stupid. One ShopElvis.com model with simulated hair sells for $20. Of course, it works best with the imitation Elvis sunglasses and fake sideburns ($13). But, if you want something really outrageous, you can get the Elvis Conehead (my name for it) for $25.
The worst Elvis wig is another freebie. An English website enables you to print out the pattern and knit it yourself. I love the weird stuff in Elvis world. Have a Happy Halloween.
(C) 2007 Philip R Arnold All Rights Reserved www.elvisblog.net
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