Nudie Suits

[Tailor Tom]

Clothes & Cars too

I was asked to make a Nudie suit a few years back. Did all the research and did drawing, sourced stones, trim, etc. The client finally decided against it after I had put in numerous hours. Too bad, I kind of wanted to do it...maybe I'll get around to doing one for myself...just to say I did.

Nudie did a series of cars too... 18 total I think. They were quite wild, steer horns, tons of chrome, exotic skins for the seats, etc, etc. Think they are quite coveted now.

 

[Guttersnipe]

On of my favorite current country artists, Dave Gleason, is a fan of Nudie suits. He plays country music much inspired by Buck Owens' "Bakersfield Sound" and Gram Parsons' "Cosmic American Music" (both of whom were big proponents of Nudie themselves). Here's the cover of his latest album:

 

[Guttersnipe]

Gram Parsons:

Gram's infamous "pot leafs, pill, and cross" Nudie suit:

And here's Gram with the man himself:

 

[Guttersnipe]

Here's some more "traditional" Nudie suits

Buck Owens and The Buckaroos:

Porter Wagoner:

Spade Cooley:

 

[Viper Man]

I LOVE Spade Cooley! Tragic life there. I'm waiting to see if anyone here actually owns one. I'd be damned impressed. I do believe Jimbo Mathus (formerly of the Squirrel Nut Zippers) owns one. God Bless Mississippi and pass the antiseptic!

 

[Guttersnipe]

And the most fmous Nudie suit of them all...

...the King's gold tuxedo

 

[Guttersnipe]

I LOVE Spade Cooley! Tragic life there. I'm waiting to see if anyone here actually owns one. I'd be damned impressed. I do believe Jimbo Mathus (formerly of the Squirrel Nut Zippers) owns one. God Bless Mississippi and pass the antiseptic!

A green Nudie suit from the 40's that belonged to Cactus Soldi, who played in in Spade Cooley's band, sold on eBay a year or so ago. I came very close to bidding, but it wasn't my size, so I didn't. . . I'm still kicking myself for that!

 

[davestlouis]

Spade Cooley...hadn't even heard of him until tonight. Stomped his wife to death, then died of a heart attack at a benefit concert for the Sheriff's Dept while he was on furlough?! Truth is stranger than fiction...

 

[jetgirl]

Gram's infamous "pot leafs, pill, and cross" Nudie suit:

...and nudies on the Nudie suit. Oh how I love that man.

 

[Baron Kurtz]

That Hank Williams suit is pretty subdued, as these things go.

Ye sit is. That's the reason i like it so much, i think. I really can't stand the wilder of the Nudie creations. That Spade Cooley shirt is just my kind of thing too. I like the musical themes in that and the Williams suit.

bk

 

[Tailor Tom]

Wow

Buck Owens and The Buckaroos:

Those Buck Owens and the Buckaroos suits come very close to a Matadors coat/pant, what with all of the braid and ornamentation on the legs, sleeves, etc.

I have made several Matador outfits, all beaded, fringe, etc...they are a ton of work, huge man hours involved, along with the great expense of the crystals (Austrian / Swarovski shine the brightest under stage lights).

 

[davestlouis]

Tailor Tom, what sort of foundation does a suit like that need, to hold all those beads and whatnot? How heavy are those suits? Are they stiff? How on earth would you clean one?

 

[Guttersnipe]

Those Buck Owens and the Buckaroos suits come very close to a Matadors coat/pant, what with all of the braid and ornamentation on the legs, sleeves, etc.

I have made several Matador outfits, all beaded, fringe, etc...they are a ton of work, huge man hours involved, along with the great expense of the crystals (Austrian / Swarovski shine the brightest under stage lights).

They are basically mariachi or rodeo gaucho outfits, which probably were originally influenced by matador costumes. All the Bakersfield country stars used to wear Nudie suits with a definite Spanish flare. I've always thought it was sort of as a nod to California's Anglo-Latino melting pot heritage.

 

[Tailor Tom]

Tailor Tom, what sort of foundation does a suit like that need, to hold all those beads and whatnot? How heavy are those suits? Are they stiff? How on earth would you clean one?

A lot of those suits were made out of Polyester, sad to say. The colors were typically brighter and more varied in those years than wool, so it made for better stage/screen looks. And heavier poly at that, to hold the weight of all the stones...they are heavy.

A matadors jacket looks ...firm..(I guess is the best word) and it had to be beefed up with heavy interfacing and sometimes multiple layers to hold everything in place. I imagine the jackets in the pics are built similar.

Cleaning....don't even think about it haha ! usually they were spot cleaned only if necc. otherwise probably not. They try to clean things, best they can ( the vodka trick is used a lot) but not too much. Chemicals can damage the stones or the settings for the stones can rust, etc. Some others on here can most likely confirm that a lot of stage costumes simply smell.

 

[Dinerman]

$10 pickup.

Similar to some of Porter Wagoner's suits, but looks hand/home tailored- not as fancy or flashy as the genuine nudie article.

 

[Guttersnipe]

$10 pickup.

Similar to some of Porter Wagoner's suits, but looks hand/home tailored- not as fancy or flashy as the genuine nudie article.

But still, for ten bucks, and AWESOME find!

 

[AtomicEraTom]

I'm a big fan of Nudie Suits, being a big fan of classic country, it's my favorite kind of music! When I was young, I always wanted to be like the guys I saw on Hee-Haw in their flashy suits singing those great songs. Sadly, those days are over and I doubt country will ever be what it once was.

On a lighter note.

 

[Elmonteman]

This is only 80% off topic, but I just saw a documentary on the guys who made and still make the clothes Elvis wore on stage. It's called "Fit for a King." (DVD available from the Documentary Channel.) Here is the site for the clothes: http://www.b-k-enterprises.com Kinda "Nudie-like".....

 

[Dinerman]

I just got this from the seller about the suit:
It belonged to my uncle Robert Frost who passed away and had his own country/western band for some forty years. he played at the grand ole oprey of all places over the years. he was about 6' 3".

 

[Tiller]

It's a shame that modern country stars don't ever pay tribute to the classics. Their are plenty who don't even wear hats anymore, saddly.