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Elvis Presley was a very famous American singer, musician, songwriter, composer and actor. Since his peak, he has been known as the King of Rock and Roll and is one of the most influential artistic cultural figures of the 20th century. In this article, we want to examine Elvis Presley’s enduring style along with a short biography.
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Let’s get to know him more
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Elvis Aaron Presley was born on January 8, 1935, in Tupelo, Mississippi, USA. She was actually the second child of a twin pregnancy. The first child, who was a boy like Elvis, was stillborn; But Elvis was born healthy a few minutes after his brother. Although Elvis’ family was very weak financially; But their relationship with each other was very intimate and full of love. Despite their poverty, they did their best to ensure that Elvis did not lack in his life.
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Elvis was married once in his life. A romantic marriage with Priscilla Ann Wagner that ended in separation five years later. Ms. Priscilla has been known as Priscilla Presley ever since. Also, Elvis had a daughter from this marriage, named Lisa Marie, who died in January this year (2023).
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He started singing at the age of ten
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Elvis’ interest in music goes back to his childhood. His family was very fond of radio programs that played local music. Although they only followed the program as entertainment, listening to the songs had a profound effect on Elvis. As much as it made his talent and interest in music visible. Through these programs, he got acquainted with the Mississippi Youth Talent Contest and on October 3, 1945, he performed the song Old Shep in this contest and was able to win the fifth place among the participants. This performance was the first and most important public performance of Elvis as a child.
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Elvis’ fateful gift
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In 1946, Elvis received his first guitar from his parents for his eleventh birthday. Of course, this gift was not the desire of Elvis’ heart! At that age, he wanted to have a bicycle, but his family could not afford to buy one.
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Since this guitar provided Elvis with professional activities, it is very important in the history of music, and all its specifications, including the price, are included in the sources. Elvis’ parents bought the guitar for about $8 from a hardware service company in Tupelo, and thus Elvis began his musical training by playing the guitar. For example, when they were about to leave town, he performed the song Leaf On a Tree for them while saying goodbye to his friends at school. This performance was one of the most important memories of Elvis.
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Move to the city of eternal success
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Two years later, in 1948, the Elvis family decided to move to the state of Tennessee and the city of North Memphis in order to improve their economic situation. Maybe when they made the decision, they could never even imagine that in a few years their only child would become the most famous music artist of the century in that city! But it happened and the life of hard days was only 6 years.
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While in high school, Elvis worked at the same school to help support his family. He did whatever he could in school to earn money. They lived in the slums of Memphis and it was really hard to make ends meet; But Elvis kept trying and never lost sight of his beloved guitar and singing.
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Three elements influencing Elvis Presley’s music
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Elvis’ early musical influences were pop, country music, and the gospel tunes he heard nightly from church and often attended. Also, when Elvis first walked down Memphis’ historic Beale Street, he noticed a black man playing R&B songs. From then on, Elvis regularly went to watch the man perform and was influenced by him.
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Signing a contract with Sun Records
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At the age of nineteen, after participating in various competitions, Elvis finally managed to sign a contract with the prestigious Sun Records company. What happened at that age was like a dream; But it came true. In 1954, Elvis started his professional career by recording his songs in this company. But at the end of the following year, the contract was bought by RC Victor.
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Playing Elvis’ albums and songs made him become legendary in two years. Even movie directors and producers came to him. In addition to being active in the field of music, Elvis also acted in more than 33 movies. However, along with these two activities, Elvis was also discussed with his special style and taboo-breaking clothes.
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Elvis Presley style review
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At the very beginning, we must say that Elvis Presley’s style was truly influential in all aspects. Many fashion designers and famous people still use some of his style elements in clothes, dance and music. In general, Elvis Presley made vast changes in the landscape of American art and culture during his two-decade career. According to him, creating a style with different clothes and accessories is an art.
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Examining the important features of Elvis Presley’s style
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Although Elvis’s style has changed every decade since the beginning of his career; But he retained certain elements of his style as signatures throughout each decade. For example, puffy hair combed to the back, along with a long beard line, are an important signature of his style. But if we examine in more detail, his style features include the following:
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He was very fond of changing his hair style
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Elvis’ hair is one of the most prominent aspects of his style; So much so that during the 1950s and 1960s, all men of his age were doing their hair like his. In general, we can examine Elvis Presley’s hair in two dimensions:
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1. Color
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2. style
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Contrary to popular belief, Elvis’s hair color was light brown; But because he was very fond of color, he always dyed his hair black since the late 1950s.
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There are many implications to explain about her hair style. Because Elvis cared about changing his hair style more than anything else. Maybe this sentence seems a bit exaggerated; But Elvis had different hair styles for the number of times he appeared in public, which was very exciting for the fashion industry as well as his audience and fans. Although Elvis’ hairstyles were not very reasonable at that time; But he didn’t care what others thought and was always bold about his opinions (interesting to know that even Elvis’ parents didn’t like his haircut). Although Elvis’ own ideas about his hair styles were not without influence, it was actually Elvis’ hairstylist who designed lasting styles for his hair.
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Larry Geller was a barber who owned a men’s barbershop in West Hollywood. Because he designed special and new models for his clients, his fame reached the ears of famous people, and in a short period of time, his salon became a hangout for artists such as Marlon Brando, Steve McQueen and even Rock Hudson. But could Elvis Presley, who loved designing his hair, not know about this issue?! When Elvis put his hair in the hands of Larry Geller for the first time, he was amazed by his talent. Larry’s creativity was exactly what Elvis wanted. After going back and forth, he finally decided to invite him to continue as his personal stylist, and Larry, always eager to advance in his career, accepted Elvis’ offer. Fashion historians believe that Larry Geller’s collaboration with Elvis Presley was a historic event.
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Important actions of Larry Geller
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1. Larry was always with Elvis during his artistic activities and did his hair. Even when Elvis was in a movie, he wouldn’t let anyone but Larry touch his hair.
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2. Every day, he routinely washed Elvis’ hair with special ingredients and after finishing washing, he also massaged his scalp for long minutes.
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3. In order for Elvis’s hair color to be uniform, he dyed his hair once every two weeks.
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4. To condition Elvis’s hair, in addition to various herbal gels, he also used vitamin E and jojoba oil.
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5. He regularly changed the brands of products he used to find out which ones worked best for Elvis’ hair.
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According to the things we have explained, now we will examine his hair style in three decades of his working life:
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1950s, voluminous and moody
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In this decade, Elvis combed his relatively long hair back in a puffy state, and his hair was also long.
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1960s, black and low back
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Since the beginning of the previous decade, Elvis dyed his hair and shaved the hair on the sides of his head so that the hair in the middle of his head would attract more attention from the audience.
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1970s, tall and still black
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In the early years of the decade, which were unfortunately the last years of Elvis’ life, his hair was longer than in previous decades; His beard line was also longer; But he still preferred black.
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He chose his clothes according to the occasion
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Elvis attached great importance to matching the environment with his style and always tried to follow this principle. For example, in official situations, he must wear elegant formal clothes and casual clothes for informal situations.
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In normal situations, he preferred casual style
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In all occasions, if it was not a formal occasion, Elvis appeared in public with his casual style, preferring the comfort of his clothes above all else.
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He mastered the color blocking technique
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The bold combination of colors is one of the important features of Elvis Presley’s style. He knew well which colors were best to combine with each other.
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He was interested in clothes, clothing and leather accessories
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Elvis always tried to use leather fabric in his style. This choice could be in his clothes and shoes as well. Finally, if there was none, he would wear leather bracelets or wear a watch with a leather strap. For this reason, he often rolled up his sleeves so that his accessories could be clearly seen.
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You never wear jeans
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Before he became famous, Elvis lived a poor and hard life, and because blue jeans always reminded him of his hard times, he never wore them. He only wore jeans in some sequences of his films due to the requirement of the role.
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He did not match his jackets and pants
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Elvis did not like to wear matching suits. Of course, it was not always the case that he would buy a single coat. He buys different types of jackets and pants; But he did not match them together, but he combined them in different colors and models. He used the same method in making casual style.
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He was interested in printed fabrics
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In the 1950s, Elvis often wore patterned or printed jackets and shirts; It was possible to combine two different designs or to combine a printed fabric with plain fabric; In any case, you really like this style.
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Instead of a tie, he wears a handkerchief
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Elvis liked handkerchiefs more than ties. Of course, this did not mean that he never used a tie; Rather, most of the time, when the audience expected Elvis to complete his style with a tie, he wore a neckerchief!
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often wore eye make-up
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According to what we see in some photos, Elvis is wearing eye makeup while performing on stage in the 1950s. It is true that she occasionally wore eye make-up. Especially when she decided to dye her hair, she also dyed her eyebrows. This was fully proven when people saw the Elvis movie in theaters last year. The actor who played Elvis wore eye makeup and according to questions raised by the public, the film’s makeup artist confirmed in an interview Elvis Presley’s eye makeup when he was on stage. He used eyeliner, mascara and black pencil for his eyes and was very fond of this work.
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Even in the dark, he had smoked glasses
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Elvis Presley was the first person to popularize wearing sunglasses at night among rock and roll artists. Of course, he had a medical reason for this; Elvis was suffering from cataracts and wearing glasses was a kind of compulsion for him. He was wearing prescription sunglasses. However, over time, smoked glasses became part of his style.
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The latest models of men’s sunglasses
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He did not like beards
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During his more than two decades of career, Elvis was never seen with a beard. He was not interested in this type of styling and always shaved his facial hair completely.
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His beard was often long
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This item of Elvis’ style changed over the decades; But usually his beard line was long. As we said, the long beard line was his signature style. The above picture is related to his style in the early 1970s.
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Statement rings were her favorite jewelry
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She often preferred statement rings and was rarely without a ring in public or at a concert.
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See some models of men’s rings
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A review of Elvis Presley’s iconic styles
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Military style
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Elvis’ military uniforms while serving in the United States Army were controversial. Although he could find a way to not accept this heavy responsibility; But he loved serving his country, so he used this opportunity to both serve and design his military uniforms.
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Pink plaid coat
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The combination of this coat with black pants was not noticed by the audience when there was no color TV. Because no one recognized the true color of the clothes. Later, when photographic images finally revealed the color of the dress, this coat became one of Elvis’ classic and important styles.
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Costumes from the movie Jailhouse Rock in 1957
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While all of Elvis’ costumes in this film are timeless, this one is unlike any other. Because it was his first and last experience with jeans after starting his professional activity. Elvis did not like denim clothes and this was one of the important principles in his style. However, due to his role, he did not show so much resistance to wearing this dress.
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This style consisted of a black denim suit with a horizontal striped shirt. Also, simple stitches were sewn on the dress with white thread, which creates a beautiful effect on the dress. After the release of the movie, this style became the most popular clothes in the fashion industry.
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Costumes from the movie Loving You in 1957
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These clothes were designed for one of the important sequences of the movie Loving You. The material of Elvis’s shirt is satin. The red embroideries on the shirt with the pants and the red neckerchief of Elvis introduce an extraordinary image of his style to the audience.
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The gold jacket and pants from the 1957 Chicago concert
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Elvis’ golden monochrome style, made with gold leaf and sequin fabric, is part of his iconic ensemble. Also, a tie belt and golden shoes were attached to his clothes. Elvis only appeared on stage wearing this style once, at his concert at the Chicago International Amphitheater on March 28, 1957. After the concert, he wore the mentioned coat, pants and accessories in various events; But he never used the all-gold style again.
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Elvis Presley’s style in the TV show Comeback Special 68
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This program was broadcast on June 27, 1968 on NBC color television and had 42% viewers. This program is very important for two reasons:
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First; The unique costumes worn by Elvis during his performances had a major impact on the fashion industry.
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Second; In this program, after 8 years away from the stage and performing live, Elvis returned to the stage. The reason for this distance was his focus on film projects and serving the US Army. In this program, we examine three of Elvis’s most important costumes:
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1. Full leather style
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The most lasting style of Elvis in this program was his full leather style. For the first time, Elvis had designed all the components of his clothes with leather fabric and its combination with leather shoes and his new hair style recorded lasting images in the minds of the audience.
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2. White monochrome style
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Although Elvis was not very fond of monochrome style, this outfit of his got a lot of attention.
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3. Crimson coat and pants
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From the limited number of times that Elvis wore the same color jacket and pants, it was his style that was never repeated.
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Elvis Presley’s style in the White House in 1970
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On December 21, 1970, Elvis was invited to the White House after a letter he wrote to then-President Richard Nixon. Elvis’ purpose of this meeting was to participate in the fight against drugs and he wanted to share his decision and the actions he wanted to take in this regard with the president. His aubergine-colored velvet coat and pants, along with his belt and smoked glasses, are one of his iconic styles.
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The style of the last public concert in 1977
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Elvis had several of these jumpsuits that he wore at various concerts. These are his styles from the 1970s. After Elvis chose this type of dress, it became a medrose, and all the music groups, including the Jackson Five and the Osmons, also imitated him.
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Investigating the influencing factors of Elvis Presley’s style on fashion and music industry
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Elvis Presley’s influence on American society and culture is important in three ways:
First; His great contribution to creating a gap between generations in terms of clothing and lifestyle in the 1950s and 1960s. Something that the youth of that time had been trying to achieve for a long time.
Second; His influence on rock and roll music along with dance, performance and style.
Third; A fusion of different musical styles including country western, African American blues and rock and roll. He combined these styles in the most innovative way possible and presented a new style of music to the audience.
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The last scene of Elvis Presley’s life
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Music lovers around the world will never forget August 16, 1977. Because Elvis Presley died of a heart attack on this date, even though he was only 42 years old. Although his relatives had taken him to the hospital when he was unconscious at his home, the doctors could not save Elvis and his death was officially announced in the evening of the said date. This news plunged the world of music and art, and even more, Elvis’ fans, into a deep shock and sadness. Even though it has been more than four decades since his sudden death, his fans from all over the world come to his grave in Graceland every year on his birth and death dates to honor his memory.
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Today there are many lasting images of Elvis Presley; But one of his most important images is related to his last concerts in the late 1970s, when he said to his audience after the concert:
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As a child, I came to the conclusion that without a song day cannot be night; No one finds friends and the roads are very boring; So I decided to sing forever.
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final word
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In this article, we examined Elvis Presley’s style. He was one of the most important fashion icons in the history of the fashion industry, and fashion designers are still inspired by his special styles. If you are also a fan of Elvis Presley, share your thoughts about his style with us.
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