Nudie Cohn

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Nudie Cohn (December 15, 1902 – May 9, 1984) was a Ukrainian-born Jewish-American tailor, known for designing rhinestone-covered suits and other elaborate outfits, to be worn by celebrities such as Elvis Presley, Porter Wagoner, Webb Pierce and Gram Parsons.^[1][2]

Contents 1 Early life 2 Opens own business 3 Publicity 4 Celebrities 5 External links 6 References

[edit] Early life

Cohn was born in Kiev as Nuta Kotlyarenko and emigrated to New York as a child. Initially moving to California to become a boxer, he instead worked as an extra and a costume designer. He moved to Minnesota for a while, marrying in 1934. Cohn and his wife Bobbie moved to New York City, where they opened their first store, Nudie's for the Ladies, which specialized in customized underwear for showgirls.

[edit] Opens own business

Nudie returned to California in the early 1940s, and together with his wife Bobbie started making clothes out of their garage. In 1947 he talked bandleader Tex Williams into auctioning off a horse to purchase him a sewing machine. Opening a store on the corner of Victory and Vineland in North Hollywood, Nudie began designing Hollywood western wear, a style promoted in films from the prewar era. His designs notable for even greater than usual ostentatiousness, including extensive use of rhinestones and themed images in chainstitch embroidery. One of his early designs, for singer Porter Wagoner, was a peach-colored suit featuring rhinestones, a covered wagon on the back, and wagon wheels on the legs. Nudie offered the suit to Wagoner for free, confident having his suit worn by a popular singer would act as a billboard for his designs. Outgrowing the original location, Nudie relocated to a larger facility in North Hollywood on Lankershim Boulevard in 1963. Cohn eventually dubbed his business "Nudie's of Hollywood".

[edit] Publicity

Nudie Cohn relentlessly publicized himself.^[1] He is reported to have driven to poorer sections of town and distributed dollar bills with a sticker of his face over Washington's. "When you get sick of looking at me," he'd say, "just rip it off and spend it." Nudie also customized many vehicles for GM between 1950 and 1975 with typical Nudie icons, such as silver-dollar-studded dashboards, pistol door handles, and longhorn steer horns on the hood of the car. These were called "Nudie Mobiles", and have become valued collector's items. Most of them were white Pontiac Bonneville convertibles. A Bonneville convertible designed for country singer Webb Pierce can be found on display in the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville, Tennessee.

[edit] Celebrities

Many of Nudie Cohn's designs became signature suits for their wearers. Included among Nudie's most famous creations is Elvis Presley's $10,000 gold lamé suit, worn by the singer on the cover of his 50,000,000 Elvis Fans Can't Be Wrong album. Nudie also designed Hank Williams' white cowboy suit featuring musical notation on the sleeves, and Gram Parsons' "Gilded Palace of Sin" suit, which featured pill bottles, pot leaves, naked women, and a huge cross. Many of Roy Rogers' film costumes were also commissioned from Nudie's of Hollywood.^[1] Rock icon John Lennon was a customer. ZZ Top wore them, and are seen on the cover of their 1975 album Fandango! The costumes of the Flemish Country and Folk entertainer Bobbejaan Schoepen were commissioned from Nudie's. On "An Intimate Evening with Eddie Stubbs", January 9, 2006, Porter Wagoner said he had 52 Nudie suits, which he became famous for wearing in performance. Wagoner stated his suits cost between $11,000 to $18,000 since he acquired his first suit in 1962. ^[3].

[edit] External links

• Nudie's Rodeo Tailors official site
• Made In Hollywood: A Tribute to Nudie - fashion film
• Picture of Nudie with Elvis
• Nudie's Rodeo Tailors Archive at the Autry National Center
• Nudie Cohn at Find a Grave

[edit] References