There are lots of photos out there showing Elvis as a fashion icon.
In fact, in March 2010, Graceland introduced a new exhibit called Elvis Presley: Fashion King. According to the press release at the time, it explores the fashion trends ushered in by the King of Rock & Roll.
The best fashion photos of Elvis came from his later years when he wore some stunning clothes. Even his casual wear during that period was notable.
But in the fifties and early sixties, when Elvis dressed casually, he wore a number of short sleeve shirts with no particular fashion statement.
Not only did he wear short sleeve shirts, he rolled up the sleeves.
The top few buttons were almost always open.
There are a lot of photos of Elvis wearing this shirt.
When Elvis first started getting into stylish clothes, he went to Lansky Bros. in Memphis. This custom made Lansky shirt from 1956 sold for $2,925 at a 2013 Gotta Have It auction.
Elvis wore this shirt while rehearsing for the Ed Sullivan Show in 1956. It shows another common Elvis preference – the collar turned up.
Elvis had all of his favorite early shirt features going in this shot from Girls, Girls, Girls – rolled-up short sleeves, open buttons, and turned up collar.
But, he doesn’t have them here. Looks pretty plain for Elvis, doesn’t it?
This is older Elvis in unusually conservative clothing. Still rolling up those sleeves, though.
Elvis looks like he could be just another tourist in Hawaii in this shot.
This looks like faux suspenders to me.
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Elvis did make attempts to get some fashion elements into his short sleeve shirts with so-so results
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However, there is one shirt that doesn’t look very sharp by itself, but it shines when a sport coat is added to the ensemble.
This is Elvis performing “Hound Dog” on the June 5, 1956 Milton Berle Show. If you don’t know all about how Elvis’ gyrations that night ignited a firestorm of protest, you need to brush up on your Elvis history
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I don’t know if the other parts of Elvis’ outfit from that landmark performance still exist, but the shirt sold for $51,000 at the Julien’s Music Icons Auction in June 2010. Not bad for an ugly short sleeve shirt.
© 2016 Philip R Arnold, Original Elvis Blogmeister All Rights Reserved www.ElvisBlog.net
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