Through a grant-funded project awarded by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC), the Autry sets out to process approximately 2,000 linear feet of archival material over the next two years.  Every third week of the month, the Autry Libraries blog will feature collection gems brought to light by NHPRC Processing Archivist Holly Rose Larson.

Nudie and his famous silver dollar-studded car. Autry National Center; 97.148.24

Nudie Cohn (December 15, 1902–May 9, 1984) was a poor Russian immigrant who became one of the most famous and successful American Western wear designers of the twentieth century. Born Nuta (pronounced Noot-yah) Kotlyrenko to a Jewish boot maker and his wife in Kiev, Nuta was a tailor’s apprentice by age eight. At age eleven he was sent to America with his older brother to take up residence with relatives in Brooklyn, New York. At Ellis Island, his first name was misunderstood by immigration officers as “Nudie,” and the two brothers gave Cohn as their surname, to match their relatives in Brooklyn; thus Nudie Cohn was born.

Nudie tried his hand at many vocations, but the majority of his successful ventures were in tailoring. As a young man, he bounced between Los Angeles and New York City, and on one of these trips met his wife, Helen Barbara Kruger, in Minnesota. He nicknamed her “Bobbie,” and they married on September 4, 1933.

In New York City they opened Nudie’s for the Ladies, a boutique near Times Square that catered to burlesque dancers. It was here that Nudie started exploring the use of rhinestones and fanciful costumes. The couple returned to Minnesota in 1936, then moved with their two-year-old daughter Barbara to Los Angeles in 1940.

After a few false starts, Nudie and Bobbie eventually opened their own custom boot and Western wear shop in North Hollywood in 1963. Nudie’s Rodeo Tailors and Western Equipment on Lankershim Boulevard—complete with a horse statue out front—became a landmark in the San Fernando Valley. The workshop employed Manuel Cuevas, a top name in today’s Western couture world, shirt and pants maker Jaime Castaneda, who is still in the tailoring business in North Hollywood, and master embroiderers Viola Grae and Rose Clements.

Nudie is famous for outfitting Roy Rogers in rhinestone-studded fringe, creating the gold lamé suit Elvis wore in 1957, and the light-up suit donned by Robert Redford in The Electric Horseman. Nudie’s Rodeo Tailors’ clientele list is impressive, boasting such stars as Rex Allen, Gene Autry, Johnny Cash, Patsy Cline, Pee Wee King, Dolly Parton, John Lennon, Mick Jagger, Janis Joplin, Gram Parsons and the Flying Burrito Brothers, Roy Rogers and Dale Evans, and John Wayne. Nudie was also known for his cars, including a 1950 Hudson, which were embellished with steer horns and silver dollars, and for wearing mismatched boots—a nod, he says, to his impoverished childhood, when the only pair of shoes he had was mismatched hand-me-downs. Although Nudie never met with success as a musician, he also recorded and released his own album, Nudie and His Mandolin, in 1975.

Sketch of jacket design. Nudie’s Rodeo Tailors Archives, 1950-1994, Autry National Center, Los Angeles; MSA.30; Box 35, Pee Wee King folder, undated.

Sketches and swatches for Pee Wee King. Nudie’s Rodeo Tailors Archives, 1950-1994, Autry National Center, Los Angeles; MSA.30; Box 35, Pee Wee King folder, undated.

Nudie retired from Nudie’s Rodeo Tailors in the early 1980s, but his wife Bobbie and their granddaughter Jamie kept the business running until 1995. Nudie’s creations are celebrated today by museums, collectors, and fans of his clothing. Permanent exhibitions at institutions such as the Autry National Center, the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, the Opryland Museum, and the Smithsonian Institution include pieces by Nudie’s Rodeo Tailors. Nudie’s designs are sought after as collector’s items and are still worn on stage by such performers as Beck and Emmylou Harris.

The Nudie’s Rodeo Tailors and Western Equipment Archives were donated to the Autry National Center in 1994. These records document the business’s activities from 1950 through the early 1990s. Documents include boot patterns and boot records and extensive customer clothing files. Many of Nudie’s custom clothes and boots have also been added to the Autry National Center’s collection.

Johnny Cash order. Nudie’s Rodeo Tailors Archives, 1950-1994, Autry National Center, Los Angeles; MSA.30; Box 26, Johnny Cash folder 1, 1977.

Sketches for Johnny Cash. Nudie’s Rodeo Tailors Archives, 1950-1994, Autry National Center, Los Angeles; MSA.30; Box 26, Johnny Cash folder 1, 1977.

Note from the Johnny Cash file. Nudie’s Rodeo Tailors Archives, 1950-1994, Autry National Center, Los Angeles; MSA.30; Box 26, Johnny Cash folder 1, 1977.

Black shirt design. Nudie’s Rodeo Tailors Archives, 1950-1994, Autry National Center, Los Angeles; MSA.30; Box 26, Johnny Cash folder 1, 1977.

Black pants design. Nudie’s Rodeo Tailors Archives, 1950-1994, Autry National Center, Los Angeles; MSA.30; Box 26, Johnny Cash folder 1, 1977.

Johnny Cash shirt design with tailoring notes. Nudie’s Rodeo Tailors Archives, 1950-1994, Autry National Center, Los Angeles; MSA.30; Box 26, Johnny Cash folder 1, 1977.

The Customer Clothing Files for Individuals section, which represents the bulk of the collection, often contains actual fabric swatches as well as drawings of individual items of clothing that Nudie was asked to design. Customers on file in the Autry’s Nudie’s Archives include Gene Autry, Cher and Sonny Bono, David Byrne, James Caan, Johnny Cash, Dick Clark, James Coburn, Tony Curtis, Cutter Bill, John Denver, Bob Dylan, Clint Eastwood, Chris Ethridge, Jerry Garcia, Elliot Gould, Merv Griffin, Gene Hackman, George Harrison, Chris Hillman, David Hockney, Mick Jagger, Janis Joplin, Pee Wee King, Louis L’Amour, k. d. lang, Lash LaRue, Cloris Leachman, John Lennon, Gordon Lightfoot, Audie Murphy, Mike Nesmith, Harry Nilsson, Nick Nolte, Phil Ochs, Graham Parsons, Dolly Parton, Bill Paxton, Slim Pickens, Elvis Presley, Robert Redford, and Porter Wagoner. Studio accounts include CBS, Columbia Pictures Corporation, Disneyland/Walt Disney Prod., KTLA TV, MGM, NBC, Paramount Pictures, 20th Century Fox, Universal Studios, Viacom, Warner Brothers, and Western Costume.

Keith Richards intake order form for bellbottoms. Nudie’s Rodeo Tailors Archives, 1950-1994, Autry National Center, Los Angeles; MSA.30; Box 42, Keith Richards, undated.

Sketches for designs for Keith Richards. Nudie’s Rodeo Tailors Archives, 1950-1994, Autry National Center, Los Angeles; MSA.30; Box 42, Keith Richards, undated.

Sometime this summer, the museum will unveil a case in the Imagination Gallery that explores the legacy of Nudie the Rodeo Tailor and the Nudie Archive housed at the Autry. The case will feature artifacts related to country-western singer Porter Wagoner, one of Nudie’s best and most visible clients.  The research and production of this exhibit is helped by the finding aid created for this collection under the NHPRC grant.

Nudie’s Rodeo Tailors was also frequented by every day folks, as I learned from co-workers as I processed this collection.  Our Exhibitions Project Manager Andi Alameda shared her story with me of visiting Nudie’s shop—where everyone in the county went for the best moccasins in the late 1960s.  If you have memories of Nudie, please share them in the comments section below!

THESELVEDGEYARD

Below are a few images that we pulled from the site, couldn’t agree more on the H.I.D tip!

EMILIO PUCCI, Designer

MR. MCQUEEN, needing no introduction

NUDIE COHN, Country Musics own designer of tasteful fashions

(Nudie suits have been worn by just about everyone who is anyone in the world of Country/Rock music. Simply put, he made Country cool with his one-off original creations that bedazzled a long list of diverse celebs– John Wayne, Gene Autry, George Jones, Elvis, Cher, John Lennon, Ronald Reagan, Elton John, Robert Mitchum, Pat Buttram, Tony Curtis, Michael Landon, Glenn Campbell, Hank Snow, Porter Wagoner, Hank Williams Sr., and groups such as, America, Chicago, ZZ top, and the Flying Burrito Bros (Gram Parsons’ “Gilded Palace of Sin” suit is considered the Sistine Chapel of Nudies).  To own a Nudie is to own something special; collected by fashion and music hounds alike– Dwight Yoakam, Ben Harper, Lenny Kravitz, Perry Farrell, Jeff Tweedy, and other A-list Rockers of today keep the Nudie flame burning, and even inspired a few of them to create their own line of signature clothing.)

Images+Text taken from the ever talented Jon-Patrick at The Selvedge Yard.

Go check out his work, nails it.

L’arrivée a été quelque peu laborieuse: 45 minutes juste pour entrer dans la ville et trouver un parking – nous ne le savions pas encore, mais Saint-Nicolas avait eu la même idée que nous. Il faisait sa grande entrée le même jour à Anvers. Bref, il y avait foule, ce qui n’était pas particulièrement agréable pour beaucoup flâner.

Premier arrêt: le MOMU, ou Musée de la Mode où se tenait une mini-exposition sur les costumes de Nudie Cohn ayant appartenu à Bobbejaan Schoepen. J’avais prévenu Ingrid que ce serait très kitsch mais elle a bien voulu me suivre ! Quelques tableaux explicatifs avec photos et documents d’époque et une très grande vitrine montrait différents vêtements de style cowboy et avec plein de broderies et paillettes assez voyantes. J’aime beaucoup ce côté décalé ! Un détour par la librairie où j’ai embarqué le catalogue de l’expo qui rejoindra dans ma bibliothèque un premier livre sur le couturier.

Deuxièmes arrêts sur le thème beauté: trop de monde chez MAC, de jolies choses mais rien que je n’aie déjà. Personne chez Shu Uemara, mais des prix fort élevés et sans doute la possibilité de trouver les produits moins chers à Bangkok, des vernis Muppets chez Cosmeticary mais je n’arrivais pas à choisir une couleur sur les quatre ou cinq que j’aimais et pas de miniatures en vue, donc pas d’achats. Un peu plus loin, des vendeurs très entreprenants pour vendre des produits pour les mains et le corps, avec tests et tout. Je ne me suis pas laissée tenter. Ingrid oui !

Troisième arrêt chez Kings & Queens, magasins de vêtements néo-rétro. Vu les dépenses faites à Copenhague dans le même genre de magasin, je me suis abstenue.

Quatrièmes arrêts sur le thème sac à main: d’abord chez Annelies Timmermans qui avait de très jolis sacs mais pas assez pratiques pour moi (pas de tirettes, pas de poches internes), puis chez Alex Schrijvers, un créateur belge dont j’avais adoré un des sacs il y a deux ans. Il l’avait encore mais uniquement en blanc et noir. Il était magnifique, mais un peu trop petit et le blanc, ce n’est pas pratique. Je demande quels sont les prix; le vendeur me répond entre 250 et 400 euros. J’essaie plusieurs sacs pour finalement me décider sur le modèle “Brussels”, un sac qui me semble pratique pour la vie de tous les jours. J’ai cependant un peu peur du prix. 195€ me dit le vendeur… J’ai juste hésité un moment sur la couleur – rouge ou noir ? – pour finalement l’acheter en noir. J’ai enfin trouvé un sac à main en cuir qui remplacer mon sac Hedgren en tissu bien pratique mais un peu moche !

Entretemps, la nuit était tombée – retour maison avec tous nos achats et un repas pour raconter nos aventures à diane. Une bien belle après-midi !

Photo source: GAC via CMHFM

The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum is holding a Nudie Cohn exhibit through November of 2012 called “Silver Threads and Golden Needles: Nudie’s Rodeo Tailors.”

The exhibit traces Nudie’s journey across America from designing burlesque costumes in New York to opening his shop in North Hollywood. Gene Autry, Elton John, Gram Parsons, Elvis Presley, Roy Rogers and Hank Williams are among the  artists who wore Nudie’s designs.

If you’re a fan of fancy westerns, check out the Vintrowear collection.  Purchase via Google Checkout on the Vintrowear site or Pay Pal through our Etsy store.

Come get your photo taken with the Nudie Cohn’s car!

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An exhibition of designs by Nudie Cohn, curated by fashion historian Mairi MacKenzie and designer R. Cerimagic, opened this past weekend at the Mode Museum in Antwerp, Belgium.

The exhibition features the collection of Belgian entertainer Bobbejaan Schoepen and his wife Josée, lifelong friends and collectors of Nudie. This is the first European exhibition to examine the work of the Ukranian born tailor who revolutionized the clothing of Country & Western music. In addtion to the clothes, there will be screenings of films by Craig McDean and Alice Hawkins.

That’s not all! A pas de chance title is featured in the show! Western Suit, by Derek McCormack. WS is an exerpt from a book I designed for ECW Press, Haunted Hillbilly, which also makes an appearance.

Western Suit includes a shirt pattern designed by Grant Heaps, with full instructions so you can make your own western shirt!

Derek’s work is further examined in the exhibition catalogue, Dreamsuits: The Wonderful World of Nudie Cohn, written by Mairi MacKenzie, to be released by Lannoo Publishers.

Haunted Hillbilly, by Derek McCormack, illustrated and designed by Ian Phillips, published by ECW Press

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Dreamsuits runs from October 28th to February 12th, 2012
at ModeMuseum
Nationalestraat 28
Antwerp, Belgium

Western Suit is available in my online store.
For more information visit Momu.

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Sorting through the boot tips got us in a western kinda mood and we got to thinking about great western wear, and the fantastic suits created by Nudie Cohn… The embroiderys and motifs created by Nudie on his famous suits are a huge inspiration to us here at Route 66, we thought we would share some of our favorite pics of Nudie suits with you all…

Nudie Cohn and the ‘Nudie Mobile’

Nudie and Gram Parsons, Gram wears the infamous suit for the cover of the Flying Burrito Brothers 1969 album The Gilded Palace.

Want more? check out this fantastic blog here: www.theselvedgeyard.wordpress.com they’ve got a great post about Nudie Cohn amoung other things and If you’ve now got the urge for a little western embelishment yourself, head on down to the garage and check out our vintage boot tips and western wear!

-Mr Kicks

Nuta Kotlyarenko immigrated to America from Kiev at age 11, and bought into the American Dream big time.  After kicking around the country as a shoeshine boy and a boxer (and indeed, he claimed, as a companion of Pretty Boy Floyd), Kotlyarenko– by then, “Cohn”– and his wife opened a New York lingerie store, Nudies for the Ladies, specializing in custom-made undergarments for showgirls.

In 1947, after relocating to Los Angeles– and taking “Nudie” as his given name– Cohn persuaded a young, struggling country singer named Tex Williams to buy him a sewing machine with the proceeds of an auctioned horse; in exchange, Cohn made clothing for Williams.  The creations were so popular that Nudie opened a North Hollywood store to feature his chain-stitched and rhinestone-studded creations.

Over the years, Nudie gave dozens of performers their signature looks, from Elvis’ $10,000 gold lame suit to the costumes of Roy Rogers and Dale Evans.  But his specialty was country (and country rock) singers: e.g., Porter Wagoner (a peach-colored suit featuring rhinestones, a covered wagon on the back, and wagon wheels on the legs), Hank Williams (a white cowboy suit with musical notations on the sleeves), and Gram Parsons (the suit he wears on the cover of the Flying Burrito Brothers album The Gilded Palace of Sin, featuring pills, poppies, marijuana leaves, naked women, and a huge cross).  John Lennon was a customer, as were John Wayne, Gene Autry, George Jones, Cher, Ronald Reagan, Elton John, Robert Mitchum, Pat Buttram, Tony Curtis, Michael Landon, Glenn Campbell, Hank Snow, and numerous musical groups including “that little band from Texas,” ZZ Top.

Nudie with The King in “the Suit” (source)

Nudie died in 1984; the store (which remained open under the management of his daughter) closed in 1994.  But his work remained prized–  Porter Waggoner reckoned, just before he died in 2007, that he had 52 Nudie Suits, costing between $11,000 and $18,000 each (and worth by then much, much more).

And Nudie’s legacy remains strong.  His glittering garments were a bright stab at the conformity of their times… and set the precedent (if they didn’t in fact lay the foundation) for the Culture of Bling that has erupted out of Rap and Hip Hop into life-at-large.

For more wonderful photos of Nudie, his creations, and his cars visit Nudie (“the official site”) and check out the wonderful pictorial essay at The Selvedge Yard.

As we smile at the irony of a clothier named “Nudie,” we might wish a tuneful Happy Birthday to James Henry Neel Reed, better known simply as Henry Reed; he was born on this date 1884, in the Appalachian Mountains of Monroe County, West Virginia.  Reed was a master fiddler, banjoist, and harmonica player whose repertoire consisted of hundreds of tunes, performed in several different styles.  But beyond his importance as a performer, he became, in effect, the Ur Source for academic research into the history of U.S. fiddle music.  (Learn more about Reed, and hear him play, at the Library of Congress’ Henry Reed Collection.)

Henry Reed (in street clothes), 1967 (source)

Gram Parsons with his tailor, the legendary Nudie Cohn.

For many, including Hudspeth County Attorney C.R. “Kit” Bramblett, Willie Nelson is revered, a hero of sorts. Others, like Texas judge Becky Dean-Walker, say he’s a criminal like any other, and to Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, he’s a threat to society who should be locked up in jail.

It’s been all over the news that prosecutor Bramblett offered Willie a plea deal, saying that if he sang a few bars of “Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain” in the courtroom, he’d be let off his latest misdemeanor marijuana possession charge for a mere $100.

Willie didn’t publicly respond before trial judge Dean-Walker threw out the offer, saying “not in my court” and everyone retroactively  contended it was all a big joke. Meanwhile, Nelson, 77, was busy entertaining the world with his friend Snoop Dogg on Letterman, doing their latest duet “Superman”, which Willie wrote. Here’s an early version they did in Amsterdam, in 2008. Note Snoop’s beautiful suede fringe jacket and very western red bandana.

As minority Prime Minister, Stephen Harper has already increased penalties for pot possession, which in Canada, in Willie’s case, would have him facing minimum five years in jail. And if Harper’s Conservatives win the upcoming election, new mandatory sentence laws will fill up the new billion dollar mega jails he’s planning with potsmokers, the mentally ill, and petty offenders.

Typical Harper low-grade electioneering was at the forefront this week, when he attached himself to a young Winnipeg girl whose Lady Gaga cover video went viral, and in a moment basically unbearable to watch, usurped John Lennon’s “Imagine” for his right-wing political purposes.

John Lennon, an advocate of legalizing pot (and Nudie customer) was one of many pacifists, activists, singers and potsmokers made a target by President Richard Nixon.

After activist  and MC5 manager John Sinclair was sentenced 1969 to ten years in jail for two joints, Lennon and Yoko Ono put on The John Sinclair Freedom Rally, and the mass outcry and star power succeeded in getting him released. While writing my recent post about Phil Ochs’s Nudie suit, I saw this video of Phil at the 1971 rally, doing an anti-Richard Nixon rewrite of his 1964 civil rights song “Here’s To The State of Mississippi”.

Weeks before Harper’s galling theft of “Imagine”, it occurred to me that in Canada, forty years later, Stephen Harper’s name could easily replace Nixon’s in Phil’s song.  The fact is, Phil Ochs and John Lennon would detest Stephen Harper as much as they detested Richard Nixon, and on his side, Harper would want to shut them up and throw them in jail, along with Willie Nelson and his 85 year old friend Ray Price, who was charged with pot possession back in 1999. And Canadians will all be familiar with the 2004 clip of 84 year old journalist, writer, and historian emeritus Pierre Berton instructing the nation on how to roll.

Inspired by Phil, and Bob Dylan, and Willie and John and Ray, with Harper’s scandal-ridden government about to fall, I made a video. It might fit better here if I had worn my Nudie shirt.  But being Canada, it was too cold.

Voting day is May 2. elections.ca

update: What great news. Lenono Music removed the version of “Imagine” by Stephen Harper and Maria Aragon that was posted with this article. Not so great is that there are still many other versions on YouTube, so I just replaced it with another one.

April 30: After several weeks, I see the second version of Harper’s “Imagine” has also been removed. The election is two days away. The results are quite unpredictable. What’s clear is that with Harper at 35% in the polls, the vast majority of Canadians don’t want him. Even worse, is that 35% puts him in first place.

Anders Drerup and Kelly Prescott as Gram Parsons and Emmylou Harris
in the theatrical concert Grievous Angel: The Legend of Gram Parsons.

Produced and directed by Michael Bate.

The theatrical concert has been touring around the United States and Canada for the past several months and the group made a stop in Oregon to perform at the Alberta Rose Theatre in Portland on October 23rd. I was looking forward to seeing the concert back when I read about their tour along the west coast over a month ago. I have a small connection to the play in that I designed the suit Anders is wearing as well as embroidered the jacket and applied all those sparkly rhinestones. You can read about the process and see the progression of embroidery here.

To say the least, I was very excited to see the suit in action. Trust me when I say, I took hundreds of photos of the jacket during the production, and after it was made; Laying it out on tables and putting it on the mannequin didn’t do the suit justice, like seeing it on Anders in person did.

I spoke to a couple after the concert and they told me they had been remarking to each other before the performance that the Nudie Suit had better be good. Needless to say, they loved it and thought it was beautiful work. I told them I don’t want to toot my own horn but it does look amazing on him.

I love the way the play was written in that Gram (Anders) explained the relevance of each image on the jacket and explained how the suit really told his story.

Kelly Prescott, playing Emmylou Harris, gave a great performance, complimenting Anders quite well. I had watched videos of the two of them performing together prior to seeing the show, but much like looking at the suit on a mannequin, it’s just not the same until you hear them in person.

The lighting in the theater was very dark overall and the stage lights really made the suit pop against the dark background, making it hard for me to take my eyes off Anders in the suit. Despite the it’s quality of being addictive eye-candy, Al Bragg, Chris Breitner, Pat McLaughlin and Tom Martel no doubt need mentioning for their outstanding execution of Gram’s music. The whole group meshed extraordinarily well.

I hung out for a few minutes after the show because I wanted to see if I could get my picture taken with Anders while he still had the suit on. I was incredibly nervous about introducing myself, but I figured I’m here and I’m probably not going to see the suit again. So, I went up to him and introduced myself as the suit’s designer. He was very enthusiastic to meet me and immediately gave me a hug which threw me for a loop because I tend to be very shy so, having a complete stranger hug me was shocking (in a good way). It was really awesome to meet Anders and Michael, and to see the suit up close one more time. I was impressed by the show and definitely recommend people go see it. The shows in Portland are the last listed on their site’s Tour page, but I really hope they continue with it.

Myself posing with Anders Drerup

Nudie fitting Roy Rogers, one of a group of photos of Nudie and Roy, and of Roy in Nudie outfits. Estimated at $300-500, the photos sold for $1188.

Three pairs of cream gabardine pants with rhinestone embellishment by Nudie, belonging to Roy Rogers. Estimated at $300-400, the lot sold for a much more realistic $2000.

You may remember the story about how I got my cowboy hat. Well, yesterday I received another sartorial gift from a Texan, equally cherished and most definitely destined for good use.

Yessiree, you got that right, those are genuine, original, vintage Nudie Cohn boots in that thar photeau above.

In case you don’t know Nudie, he was one of the great designers of the 20th century: he designed “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’” (see the Wiki) and he also created Gram Parsons’s “Gilded Palace of Sin” suit, now in the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville.

They were given to me by one of the most beloved folks in the Texas wine biz, Joe Pat Clayton (do you remember how Tracie P and I met Joe Pat, thanks to Cousin Marty, at a James Burton show in Austin?).

He bought them on Ebay but they didn’t fit him. “I just wanted to make sure they’d go to someone who’d know what they were and would appreciate ‘em,” he said when he surprised me yesterday. Well, I’m here to tell you that he found the right guy!

Man, Joe Pat, I cannot thank you enough. I’ll wear them for sure next week at my show with The Grapes.

In other news…

I am hoping that the Prince of Puns, Thor, will appreciate a paranomasia I concocted yesterday for a new client in Austin: ]]> http://nicelifeapparel.wordpress.com/2010/03/07/yes-thats-awesome-5/ Sun, 07 Mar 2010 17:41:37 +0000 Mr.NiceLife http://nicelifeapparel.wordpress.com/2010/03/07/yes-thats-awesome-5/

Oh, what’s that? You don’t know who Nudie Cohn is? Well I suggest you Google it partner cause he’s a pretty important figure in American history. I mean if you’re into country music and western gilded suits this is your man!

Nudie and Teddy Pendergrass

The Legendary Country Western tailor to the stars — Nudie Cohn.

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Circa 1970′s, Los Angeles, CA– Hands of Nudie Cohn the Rodeo Tailor  –Image by © Jeff Albertson

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Nudie suits have been worn by just about everyone who is anyone in the world of Country/Rock music. Simply put, he made Country cool with his one-off original creations that bedazzled a long list of diverse celebs– John Wayne, Gene Autry, George Jones, Elvis, Cher, John Lennon, Ronald Reagan, Elton John, Robert Mitchum, Pat Buttram, Tony Curtis, Michael Landon, Glenn Campbell, Hank Snow, Porter Wagoner, Hank Williams Sr., and groups such as, America, Chicago, ZZ top, and the Flying Burrito Bros (Gram Parsons’ “Gilded Palace of Sin” suit is considered the Sistine Chapel of Nudies).  To own a Nudie is to own something special; collected by fashion and music hounds alike– Dwight Yoakam, Ben Harper, Lenny Kravitz, Perry Farrell, Jeff Tweedy, and other A-list Rockers of today keep the Nudie flame burning, and even inspired a few of them to create their own line of signature clothing.

The man behind the amazing rhinestone-studded, hand-embroidered suits was none other than Mr. Nudie Cohn– arguably, the larger-than-life 5-foot-7 Russian Rhinestone Cowboy is the most influential and innovative fashion designer and tailor to ever bless the world of Country music.  And he couldn’t stop at clothing– he put his Midas Touch on everything around him– especially his customized fleet of Nudie-fied GM cruisers that he used to promote his LA based Nudies Rodeo Tailors shop on Lankershim Blvd.  Of the original 18 cars, the whereabouts of only 9 are known today.

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Circa 1970′s, Los Angeles, CA– Nudie costomized each of his many cadillacs, protecting his work with plastic. This one is decorated with silver dollar coins and 14 various guns. –Image by © Jeff Albertson

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Pontiac Bonnevilles were the car of choice, Mr. Cuevas said, partly because they were among the longest cars on the road. “We took the seats out and did the upholstery in hand tooled leather,” he said. “We put guns and bullets and silver dollars all over it.”

Mr. Cuevas recalled that guns were cheap and easy to buy in Los Angeles. The Winchesters, Colts and derringers were sent to be plugged and silver-plated. When returned, the guns were holstered or became gearshifts and door handles. Silver dollars were strategically added.

“I thought it was fantastic,” Mr. Cuevas said. “The more things we had to hang on the car, the better.”

–Via The New York Times

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Circa 1970s, Los Angeles, California– Nudie costomized each of his many Cadillacs, protecting his work with plastic. This one is decorated with guns & silver dollar coins. –Image by © Jeff Albertson

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In the early 1960s, for promotional purposes, Cohn began receiving a free Pontiac every year. Typically, he’d drive the cars for a while and then sell them or give them away. While Mr. Cuevas said he recalled a few going out the door at prices up to $35,000, Nudie gave his ’63 Bonneville (adorned with more than 100 valuable coins, including Morgan silver dollars) to his friend Roy Rogers.

Today, that car is hooked to a Nudie-customized covered-wagon trailer in the Roy Rogers museum in Branson, Mo., not far from Trigger, the world’s most famous stuffed horse. Dave Koch, a museum spokesman, said Rogers drove the car regularly near his Apple Valley, Calif., home, until souvenir hunters began prying off coins.

“It was such a long vehicle with that extended rear bumper, that it was very difficult to drive on hills,” Mr. Koch said. “You had to enter driveways at a major angle.”

–Via The New York Times, read more here

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Circa 1970s, Los Angeles, California– Nudie the Rodeo Tailor with photographs of the many stars and their suits he’s made over the years –Image by © Jeff Albertson

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May 26th, 1973, Los Angeles, California– Nudie Cohn, George Jones and Tammy Wynette. Nudie Cohn outfitted many Country & Western stars in custom suits & shirts. — Image by © Michael Ochs Archives

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Circa 1970s, Los Angeles, CA– Merle Haggard choosing fabric for a new Nudie suit. –Image by © Jeff Albertson

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Circa 1970s, Los Angeles, California– Nudie the Rodeo Tailor in his Shop –Image by © Jeff Albertson

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Alright, I get it.  How can you NOT have color pics of something as beautiful and COLORFUL as a Nudie suit–

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Nudie Cohn  –photo by Mike Salisbury via

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(Right) Nudie Cohn– The Man, The Suit, The Legend.  (Left) Gram Parsons and Nudie Cohn.

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Nudie Cohn, in a glorious Nudie suit, atop a Nudie customized cruiser = Nudie Heaven.

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Gram Parsons in the infamous “Gilded Palace of Sin” Nudie Suit.

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Nudie Cohn and Gram Parsons.  Gram was visiting Nudie’s Rodeo Tailors workshop.

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Buck Owens’s snap shirt was a bargain at $188

Dale Evans’s vest and chaps, attributed to Nudie, went for $1188,

and this Roy Rogers Nudie estimated at $1500 went for $16,250.

The other Roy Rogers lace-ups went for $2500-5000. Nudie did well even with more modern pieces, getting $3500 for Porter Wagoner’s 1975 denim jacket

Not everything met the estimates, like this hat Hank Williams wore in the 30s, estimated at $2000-$3000, which went for a mere $1750.

You can see all the results at

http://www.christies.com/lotfinder/searchresults.aspx?intSaleID=22491#action=sort&intSaleID=22491&sid=343f81ba-0f47-4dcb-9df4-a28c522d87e8&sortby=lothttp:

Hank Snow and Tommy Hunter c. 1975

There’s several Roy Rogers Nudie shirts in the auction, like these

The lame shirt comes with matching pants.This next picture has three lots, all listed as Roy’s although I’m guessing the middle outfit belonged to Dale Evans.

The cream suit is by Rodeo Ben, with an estimate of $800-1200  and the other two outfits are by Nudie, estimated at $2000-3000. To me, the Rodeo Ben suit is the nicest, so if you’ve got a little extra money around, there’s a westernwear bargain waiting for the gavel to come down.

You can see all 150 lots up for bidding at

http://www.christies.com/lotfinder/searchresults.aspx?intSaleID=22491#action=refine&intSaleID=22491&sid=a313710a-e0b2-4612-abb4-9a7ef3fd5f0d

Memorabilia is big business. There’s a guitar in this auction that someone got from Hank Williams back in the 40s and went on to use themselves for many years. There’s no record of its significance to Williams, how long he owned it, where he got it.  The estimate is $100,000-150,000.

Many artists bequeath large volumes of memorabilia to museums like The Country Music Hall of Fame. The museum can only show a fraction of their vast collection, and is always striving to display the most significant things possible. In 2004, the Hall of Fame waged a public campaign in order to finance the purchase of Mother Maybelle Carter’s 1928 Gibson L-5 guitar and Bill Monroe’s 1923 Gibson F-5 mandolin. Private donor Bob Maclean came forward with two million dollars and with much fanfare the instruments were enshrined as revered relics of American music.

But when MacLean committed suicide in 2007, it was revealed that most of his money had been made fraudulently, with Ponzi schemes and other scams. The Hall of Fame was ordered to pay trustees of the bankrupt estate a reported $750,000 in order to keep the instruments. At last report in June 2009, they were still trying to come up with the money.

Je suis parti de Las Vegas le matin et je me suis dirigé vers Death Valley (Californie).

J’y suis arrivé peu avant midi. C’est un endroit immense et désolé. Engoncée entre de très hautes montagnes (plus de 4500 pieds), la vallée qui se situe au niveau de la mer s’étire à perte de vue. C’est vraiment incroyable comme endroit. De la pierre jaune, rouge, orange, noire. Du sable jaune ou blanc (du sel). On se croirait sur une autre planète.

En fin d’après-midi, je suis sorti de la vallée à l’ouest et je suis arrivé à Lone Pine. Cette ville a servi de lieu de tournage pour de nombreux films depuis les années 20. En particulier les westerns de série B ou pour la télévision (Lone Ranger, Bonanza, Rawhide…). Et plus récemment GI Joe, Transformers et Iron Man. Le décor, très similaire à Death Valley (puisque c’est à côté) se prête parfaitement à ce genre de films tout en étant à une distance raisonnable d’Hollywood.

J’ai visité leur petit musée qui rend hommage aux films tournés dans la région. Plutôt sympathique.

Il y avait une mini section dédiée à Nudie Cohn. L’homme responsable de beaucoup de costumes de cowboy dans les films d’Hollywood. Et c’est aussi lui qui faisait les costumes de scène de beaucoup de chanteurs. Elvis en particulier et le fameux costume d’Hank Williams avec les notes de musique dessus.

Finalement j’ai roulé une partie de la soirée vers le sud pour me rapprocher de San Diego. Puis je me suis arrêté à Moreno pour dormir.

Position : Moreno (Californie)
Température : 15 celcius
Distance du Jour : 812 km
Distance totale : 5976 km

Nudie Cohn's sewing machine at the Country Music Hall of Fame

Nudie had a store in Hollywood and clothed all of the country stars in everything from everyday shirts and pants to the most elaborate rhinestone-encrusted stage outfits with theme embroidery. Other western tailors had worked before Nudie, but he was the biggest, and his own unusual character and enthusiasm for westernwear is always evident in his designs, as is his background as a formally trained tailor in Ukraine.

Hank Snow was one of Nudie’s most prominent customers, and this suit embodies Nudie at his best.

Hank Snow’s frog suit by Nudie

Nudie made perhaps the most iconic of all western suits for Hank Williams. He had several, this one is in the Hall of Fame.

There is a big Hank Williams exhibit at the Hall of Fame, with many Nudie suits owned by him, Hank Jr, his ex-wife Audrey and grandson Hank III.

Another of Nudie’s highly visible customers was Roy Rogers, below with the always well dressed group he co-founded, Sons of the Pioneers. The embroidered shirt in this 1943 picture was probably by one of  Nudie’s predecessors, Rodeo Ben or Nathan Turk.

top-Tim Spencer, Hugh Farr, Karl Farr, Ken Carson. bottom-Bob Nolan, Roy Rogers, Pat Brady

When Nudie set up shop in Los Angeles in the late forties, Roy and his wife, cowgirl extraordinaire  Dale Evans, became steady customers. Here’s a later one of them  in full Nudie glitter:

Roy Rogers and Dale Evans

Most country singers in the 50s wore Nudie suits.  I’ve heard oldtimers call the outfits their “uniform”. Another in the Hall of Fame belonged to Ray Price, the Cherokee Cowboy.

Ray Price's suit by Nudie

Ray wears another of his many Nudie suits on the steps of the Ryman Auditorium in the 50s.

Ray Price

With the country singers, the embroidery often related to a particular song or nickname. This less flashy suit refers to Hank Snow’s many train songs.

Hank Snow train suit by Nudie

And this one to Hank Thompson’s run at The Golden Nugget in Las Vegas.

Hank Thompson

Little Jimmie Dickens was a big Nudie’s customer. This jacket refers to his hit and signature song, “May the Bird of Paradise Fly Up Your Nose”

Little Jimmy Dickens' Nudie jacket

One of Nudie’s single most famous garments was Elvis’s gold lame suit, shockingly priced at $10,000

Nudie and Elvis

I am just starting to work with embroidery, and hopefully will get a machine soon.

Hank Snow

Among them was a letter hand-written by Patsy Cline to Nudie’s Rodeo Tailors in 1963, when it was still at its original location at Victory and Vanowen.  It contained her own drawing of a stage costume she wanted Nudie to make, along with her measurements and lots of details.  Tragically, she died in a plane crash a few weeks after the letter was sent.  

Imagine the impact this coat had on stage.

Here’s another pic from the exhibit’s many highlights. If this show comes to a city you’re in, don’t miss it.

Et en quatrième de couv, cette photo :

Johnny Cash, Elvis (le fameux costumé doré), John Lennon, Gram Parsons, George Jones et beaucoup d’autres doivent à Nudie Cohn leurs costumes flamboyants et kitchs.

A voir : un site consacré à Nudie Cohn.

En faisant des recherches sur le Net, j’ai découvert qu’il existe un groupe néo-zélandais qui s’appelle The Nudie Suits. Ils ont même ouvert pour Cat Power et The Magic Numbers. A l’écoute de leurs titres sur Myspace, ce qu’ils jouent a l’air bien ! Dans le genre country pop, belles harmonies vocales, arrangements bien trouvés …

Sinon, pour en revenir aux Flatlanders, j’ai appris dans le dossier du Cri du Coyote qu’ils sont originaires de Lubbock (Texas), comme Buddy Holly et Waylon Jennings.

Lubbock, la petite ville du Texas entourée de champs de coton, où il ne se passe jamais rien. Même les ovnis n’y atterrissent pas ! Selon Joe Ely (flatlanders), on peut voir jusqu’à 50 miles à la ronde, et même 100 miles si on monte sur une boîte de thon !

La seule attraction est le Stub’s Barbecue où “No bad talking is allowed !” et où on danse le samedi soir.

Bon, je ne vais pas refaire l’article du Cri du Coyote. Il vaut mieux vous le procurer !

The 2004 Produttori del Barbaresco was showing beautifully at Steiner Ranch Steakhouse this weekend. The knowledgeable waiter decanted tableside as soon as the bottle was ordered and it had opened up stunningly by the time are steaks arrived. That’s the chef’s special steak: bone-in fillet.

No steak dinner is complete without an excellent shrimp cocktail appetizer.

One of the costumes that Mrs. Steiner wore in the family’s rodeo shows. Is that a Nudie suit?

Semper tempus creo.

Liane and I had been wanting to make a visit to the Rural Studio ever since moving back to ‘Bama… almost two years ago (!). But our being steadily plagued by a drought in spare-time had kept us from making the small, south-westerly road trip toward Hale, Perry and Marengo Counties…

…until last Friday.

Our first stop was Newbern (pop. 231) and the Red Barn.

The Red Barn.

Formerly an old hay barn (and a frequent and favorite subject for the artist William Christenberry), it has served as the design studio and “academic hub” for second-year and thesis students since being rehabbed in 2002 under the supervision of Rural Studio Director Andrew Freear—who, on our arrival this Halloween day, was just inside leading a round of student reviews dressed as a Nudie-suited Elvis (sorry, no pictures).

Rust never sleeps.

Red Barn patchwork.

Jack-o'-lanterns

Next to the Red Barn, there’s the Newbern Post Office, and a little general store—G.B.’s Mercantile—where we stopped in for an RC Cola and a Moon Pie (OK… two Moon Pies… chocolate and banana).

The Red Barn, Newbern Post Office and G.B.'s Mercantile (aka downtown Newbern).

36765–9998

Pump outside G.B.'s Mercantile.

Pup outside G.B.'s Mercantile.

Together, these buildings, along with a very stately and distinctive building just across the street (about which, more later), are downtown Newbern.