Black Butterfly aka Black Pyramid Jumpsuit (1972)

[Jumpsuit Junkie]

Black Butterfly aka Black Pyramid Jumpsuit (1972) (Another Hard to find jumpsuit)

Known Dates Worn:-

??????????

[Jumpsuit Junkie]

I did a picture with the colonel taken out, what do you think?

[IM4Elvis]

I wish there were more in concert photos of this suit. This one is definately in my Top 5 list all time jumpsuits.

IM

[elvisdownunder]

Matt, good job with the pic. thats some tough sh*t to do

BTW, i like the new jumpsuit gallery layout, and your site is one of the best on the ent. keep it up!(y)

[Jumpsuit Junkie]

Matt, good job with the pic. thats some tough sh*t to do

BTW, i like the new jumpsuit gallery layout, and your site is one of the best on the ent. keep it up!(y)

Thanks for the kind comments, had quick go with the background, looks a little strange but ok

[Tommy]

Matt,

This is F A B U L O U S !:notworthy

Thank You,

Tommy :)

[TCBinAZ]

I never realized Elvis had so many black jumpsuits?
They look AWESOME!! :cool:

[sabbath]

with Gold Attendance Belt
1971 01/02 xx Las Vegas

[elvis fan 1976]

Las Vegas Jan-Feb 1972

[Wild_In_The_Country]

this suit is my favorite, its a shame there are not many photos on the net of it.

[Eve]

he worn this suit in January/February in Las Vegas

[Unchained Melody]

A pretty design on this suite...Nice job on editing those pictures Matt, you did a fine job.(y)

[Diane Lynn]

King Of The Jungle

[utmom2008]

Matt,

This is F A B U L O U S !:notworthy

Thank You,

Tommy :)

Great Avavtar Tommy...I LOVE it!(y)

[Karma816]

I love the dark suits I wish he had more like these made later on!

[1100ccRider]

For anyone (like me, for many, many years) who doesn't already know, this suit is not only set apart from the gold pyramid suit because of its color, the round grommet 'portholes,' and the fact that the studs run the opposite direction but also because instead of pyramidal studs the design is composed of studs shaped like little butterflies. The small studs around the chest vee grommets, too, are not pyramidal but are multifaceted stars.

Hence the whole 'black butterfly jumpsuit' thing, that's a bit baffling until you see the suit close-up (the butterflies aren't discernible in most of the few photos that exist of Elvis in this suit).

[Heidi-TCB]

Much better without the colonel....Absolutely LOVE this suit!!

[elvispresleytheking]

Great suit, wish he would've worn it on tour.

[my boy]

This suit is gorgeous and it might feature on the cover of the new "Standing Room Only" FTD 2-CD. The detail is amazing and there's a great pic in the ELVIS BY THE PRESLEY'S BOOK.

[navechesalpa]

I dont like this jumpsuit.

[elvispresleytheking]

I dont like this jumpsuit.

Why don't you?

[Wendy56]

I dont like this jumpsuit.
Maybe because of the cape? Looks like a bit too much stones. :hmm:
Bue it's Elvis and he loooooks great with everything on. :clap:

[elvispresleytheking]

Maybe because of the cape? Looks like a bit too much stones. :hmm:
Bue it's Elvis and he loooooks great with everything on. :clap:

LOL everything but the V-Neck *sticks out tongue*

[elvia7]

http://www.tagsmaker.com/upload/11f08c72f52d21ebeea19999ca61f5a3.jpg

Ewa

[Brad Stalnaker]

from my Memphis Trip in October 2008

[elvia7]

from my Memphis Trip in October 2008


:supriced:hank you friend for very important photo!!!!(y)

[easyrider]

Very good jumpsuit

[easyrider]

http://www.tagsmaker.com/upload/11f08c72f52d21ebeea19999ca61f5a3.jpg

Ewa

Another great work(y)(y)

[1100ccRider]

Hold on just one goldurned minute...

I just noticed something: in the photos that show Elvis wearing the suit it obviously has yellow satin kickpleat godets and a yellow satin lining to the cape. The porthole inserts may also be yellow satin; hard to tell.

BUT...on the suit displayed at Graceland it appears that the kickpleats have gold lamé inserts and, if I'm not mistaken, the cape also looks to be lined with lamé. The portholes, for sure, have lamé inserts.

What's going on? Were there two very similar suits made? Doesn't seem likely, at that stage in Elvis' career. Was the original damaged or deteriorated such that some of the satin had to be replaced? If so, why not just use fresh yellow satin? Could the one at Graceland be a replica, just not a very careful one? Maybe, but it looks to have the IC Costumes label inside and that seems unlikely on a replica unless they thought nobody would notice or kick up a fuss.

Anybody have a clue as to what the story is here?

[Teddy]

:jawdrop: Call the Jumpsuit Cops!! :cop:

[merry77]

I've been wondering the same thing.

The yellow satin kickpleat is stronger then lame gold. Therefore I don't think the lining was damaged and had to be replaced.
I have done some tests to see if it is a lighting effect (flash or no flash or colour adjustment).
The lame gold does turn a little more solid yellow if you turn up the saturation. But you have to turn it up that much that the normal colours would also be too saturated. Obviously that is not the case on the photos.

Therefore this is an excellent question for the jumpsuit specialist or designers.
I certainly would like to hear the reason for this difference.


Hold on just one goldurned minute...

I just noticed something: in the photos that show Elvis wearing the suit it obviously has yellow satin kickpleat godets and a yellow satin lining to the cape. The porthole inserts may also be yellow satin; hard to tell.

BUT...on the suit displayed at Graceland it appears that the kickpleats have gold lamé inserts and, if I'm not mistaken, the cape also looks to be lined with lamé. The portholes, for sure, have lamé inserts.

What's going on? Were there two very similar suits made? Doesn't seem likely, at that stage in Elvis' career. Was the original damaged or deteriorated such that some of the satin had to be replaced? If so, why not just use fresh yellow satin? Could the one at Graceland be a replica, just not a very careful one? Maybe, but it looks to have the IC Costumes label inside and that seems unlikely on a replica unless they thought nobody would notice or kick up a fuss.

Anybody have a clue as to what the story is here?

[thejumpsuitman]

I've been wondering the same thing.

The yellow satin kickpleat is stronger then lame gold. Therefore I don't think the lining was damaged and had to be replaced.
I have done some tests to see if it is a lighting effect (flash or no flash or colour adjustment).
The lame gold does turn a little more solid yellow if you turn up the saturation. But you have to turn it up that much that the normal colours would also be too saturated. Obviously that is not the case on the photos.

Therefore this is an excellent question for the jumpsuit specialist or designers.
I certainly would like to hear the reason for this difference.

Nothing but variation in lighting. It would have been ridiculously difficult to change out those pieces and the cape. Furthermore, satin would be much more durable than the lame. I have no doubt that it is all original.

[merry77]

I've asked B&K. And they say that there were indeed two suits. One with gold lining and one with yellow lining.
There is too much color difference for it to be one suit. I've tested that. No matter how much you change saturation or flash or no flash or exposure time gold lame never turns into yellow.

[thejumpsuitman]

I reject the premise that B & K is the end all authority on jumpsuits. They NEVER had any part in Elvis' costume design process and didn't start making jumpsuit copies until long after Elvis died. Yes, Gene Doucette was there and part of it... But we are talking about nearly 40 years ago! Is his memory that good? My Dad sure doesn't remember many specifics from 1971! And was Gene part of the process of making every single suit and nobody else? Was he Bill Belew's only employee? I personally won't believe there are two suits untiil someone can come forward with the second suit.

As for the Butterfly, the ONLY discernible pictures of Elvis in this suit are the posed pictures! The originals may have either have been touched up for clear reproduction or faded or washed out by the flash bulbs when they were taken. Anybody remember cube flash bulbs? For those of you who don't, flash bulbs could be a very harsh and uncontrollable lighting source, especilly against bright subjects. And that cape was sure bright against the black suit!... Or if you want another theory, maybe he lost or tossed the original cape and needed a replacement. Who knows?... The point is NOBODY really knows except for the person who might be possessing the fabled second suit.

[1100ccRider]

I've asked B&K. And they say that there were indeed two suits. One with gold lining and one with yellow lining.
There is too much color difference for it to be one suit. I've tested that. No matter how much you change saturation or flash or no flash or exposure time gold lame never turns into yellow.

This makes sense to me in that there is absolutely no way a lamé lining can be confused with a satin lining, even in monochrome photos and even in such photos from imperfect sources (old newspapers, etc). Too many facets reflecting light with the lamé, that crinkles with the slightest persuasion. Besides, a flash strong enough to somehow dull the detail of a metallic lining would likely totally wash out Elvis' face (pretty pale, at this time) when what we see in the posed tryout pictures from January '72 are Elvis' skin tones perfectly exposed.

The idea of two suits doesn't make much sense, though, in that I don't think Elvis was having duplicate suits made at this point and he had a few new ones for the start of 1972, making it less than obvious why he'd want two of the same design (that he, apparently, never wore outside Vegas). My thought that someone replaced the satin also makes little sense in that satin is far more durable and if it DID happen to be on the original then why not use it on the repaired version? Ditto with creating a duplicate for which someone would have had to go so far as to add an original (transplanted) or replica IC Costumes tag.

Nope, it still seems to me like we're looking at two different suits, though why this should be so still puzzles me.


I reject the premise that B & K is the end all authority on jumpsuits. They NEVER had any part in Elvis' costume design process and didn't start making jumpsuit copies until long after Elvis died.

Agreed. I have also been engaged in building a few jumpsuits and, like you, I use my own observation as the primary source of intelligence on what the studding patterns were. I look at as many photos as I can find (sometimes running into a bit of a dead-end when it's a suit for which there's not complete coverage) and go from there. I don't know about B&K's claim that they have the original patterns; maybe they do for the embroidered suits,or perhaps some of the later stone-heavy suits, but from what I've seen of the suits I make my own work is more accurate than B&K's by a long shot. To name but a few, their porthole suit has the flat round studs distributed in a more straightforward way that's obvious as wrong with one glance at a photo of Elvis in the original suit. Ditto the Philly/Spectrum 'nail' suit (1st Snowflake, or whatever you want to call it), that's wrong in almost all details on the torso and arms. Same with the Tiffany suit, at least at the back. And the gold pyramid suit, certainly on the cape (which is entirely wrong). I think even the basic Matador/pinwheel suits, but I'm not sure about those...and they're pretty basic. To add to the fun, if you set out to make your own by using kits from jumpsuitsupply.com, you'll find that they're also wrong; in fact, it looks to me like they copy their patterns directly from B&K examples...I've told them so, too, and pointed out the easily correctable errors, but apparently they don't give a flying Fike.


Or if you want another theory, maybe he lost or tossed the original cape and needed a replacement. Who knows?... The point is NOBODY really knows except for the person who might be possessing the fabled second suit.

A second suit sounds far-fetched, but what is in the pictures from '72 and what is at Graceland seem different suits. Yeah, the inserts in the portholes are too small to be able to tell, for sure, but the old cape lining (yes, maybe he DID lose it) looks to be satin and even in the photo of Elvis on stage in this suit the kickpleat inserts look more like satin than lamé (admittedly, they're distant and small but, still, lamé would likely reflect more or, at the very least, look more the color of Elvis' gold belt).

Quite obviously, this ranks alongside the disappearance of Jimmy Hoffa and certain other unsolved cases as one of the great mysteries of our time...

[Jumpsuit Junkie]

The simple answer is, it isn't beyond EPE to replicate and display a fake Jumpsuit! it isn't beyond the realms of possibility there were two made, one rejected because it either didn't fit or some other flaw, the second made and worn but with alterations??

The question then is who has the original, Elvis could have given it away? IC Costumes may have had it? Who knows.....

[Garyelvisstuart]

I am somewhat of a jumpsuit maven. I wondered about just such a question, If the pictures of Elvis wearing the BLACK BUTTERFLY, the jumpsuit obviously has Yellow or Gold Satin Kick pleat lining, Yellow or Gold Satin Cape lining, and Yellow or Gold Satin grommet lining. I asked B&K that very question in an email, and if I can just set the record straight. ELVIS only had one BLACK BUTTERFLY jumpsuit and cape. He is pictured in the YELLOW/GOLD Satin Lined jumpsuit, however, the one on display at Graceland has GOLD LAME' as the lining. B&K replied as such: ELVIS only had the one jumpsuit made, he tried it on for formal pictures taken in his suite at the Hilton Hotel in Las Vegas, he then performed one concert in the jumpsuit. He was going to wear it a second time, however while putting it on, he got his foot caught in the pant leg and it tore the YELLOW/GOLD satin. At the time the I.C. Costume Company that made all of the jumpsuits, were all out of the YELLOW/GOLD satin, so they replaced all of the lining with GOLD LAME'.
Hope this clears up any mis-communications.

Thanks,
Gary

[merry77]

hmm weird. I asked B&K about half a year ago and they replied that Elvis had two suits, one gold lame and one yellow satin. Also it is very hard to replace all of the satin for lame. It means all the grommets, cape inside lining, even the satin cuffs on the sleeves.
Never heard that story about tearing the pant leg.

[Garyelvisstuart]

This is to merry77 - It was very rare that I.C. Costume Company of Los Angeles, California ever made doubles of Elvis' jumpsuits. The only times, that my research into the Jumpsuit World of Elvis Presley, that they made multiple jumpsuits were: THE ALOHA jumpsuit. Because of the logistics of doing a live television show, they made a back-up for the one that he wore. He wore one for the rehearsal show on January 12, 1973 @8:30pm Hawaii Time, and he wore the back-up for the actual broadcast on January 14, 1973 @12:30am Hawaii Time. They originally made the Calf length Cape for the suit, but when Elvis tried it on on January 9, 1973 it was too long and he kept tripping over it and even fell on stage while trying to use it, they immediately had the hip length cape made, and shipped to Hawaii so that it would arrive in time for January 12, 1973. They actually worked two straight days to get the cape done and shipped (they actually bought an airplane seat for the cape).
The only other know jumpsuit that was a multiple was the "COLOR FLAME," embroidered. The only thing that was different about them was that one had a YELLOW Kick Pleat, and the other one had an ORANGE Kick Pleat. The Yellow Kick Pleat was never worn on stage as it was too tight for Elvis, so again I.C. Costume Co. had to rush out another one to him, The Orange Kick Pleat is the only one worn on stage.
According to jumpsuit designer Gene Doucette, due to misinformation, there was only one (1) MEXICAN SUNDIAL made. It was made in 1974, worn in 1974 and then worn agin in 1976 through the end of Elvis' career.
Through all of my extensive research, I have only been able to find that only one (1) BLACK BUTTERFLY was ever made, shipped, and worn by Elvis in 1972.

If I uncover any other and future information I will pass it along.

Thanks for letting me inform the masses.

[merry77]

You are right that two suits also don't make sense. It is a fact though that the photos with Elvis have yellow satin lining (both showcase photo and live photo) and that the suit now on display has gold lame lining.
I wish I could see the archive information of Graceland. I know they have everything catalogued, but not for display to fans.
Indeed the most likely explanation seems to be that Graceland bought a second suit with gold lame. But who made it? And where is the original?
I wish someone would ask Gene personally.

What about the rumour that there are three chain suits? I think Leroy mentioned that.

[Brad Stalnaker]

I don't have the photo (I'm at work and the photo is at home).

I questioned the 2 suits theory too. But...I might have proof. I took the photos of the Black suit at the jumpsuit exhibit at Graceland in October of 2008 (see above)...I don't know if the display is still up or not.

BUT I was at the GRAMMY MUSEUM in Los Angelas this June (2010) and THEY have the (a) BLACK BUTTERFLY SUIT THERE!!!!!!!!!!! So when I saw it...I wondered if there is 2 suits...or is the Jumpsuit Exhibit over and Graceland sent the suit to LA.

Anyone know if a black suit is still on display at Graceland?...if so....I have photos of both (different) suits.

[noone]

It is the same suit that was on disply at Graceland

[Leroy]

No, it isn't. In fact two versions of the "Black Butterfly" are made. The one you see on the 1972 pictures has a cape with yellow lining and also the kick pleats are yellow lined.
The version that is on display at Graceland has gold lining. I also saw the discussion about this suit. Some things will probably remain a mystery. But this suit does have two versions. Gene Doucette confirmed this to me during the meeting I had with him back in 2006. Sometimes this happened just to make it possible for Elvis to make a choice. You can draw a picture of a suit and then tell Elvis: "Hey, were gonna do this with yellow lining, or would you rather have a gold lining?". To avoid this they just made two version. Sometimes multiple versions were also made just to keep the staff working. That was the case with the 1973 "Spanish Flowers".

[noone]

Of course it is possible there is two suits, one with gold innlay, and one with yellow innlay, but the suit on display at the Grammy museum in Los Angeles and the one that was on display on Graceland is the same suit the one with the gold innlay.
I tried to upload photos for 30 minuttes but it wont work so I gave up.

[thejumpsuitman]

hmm weird. I asked B&K about half a year ago and they replied that Elvis had two suits, one gold lame and one yellow satin. Also it is very hard to replace all of the satin for lame. It means all the grommets, cape inside lining, even the satin cuffs on the sleeves.
Never heard that story about tearing the pant leg.

To my point!... I completely reject the premise that they are the authority. They have given two conflicting accounts. Give me a break, they know that Elvis tore the suit while putting it on? I call BS!

[thejumpsuitman]

No, it isn't. In fact two versions of the "Black Butterfly" are made. The one you see on the 1972 pictures has a cape with yellow lining and also the kick pleats are yellow lined.
The version that is on display at Graceland has gold lining. I also saw the discussion about this suit. Some things will probably remain a mystery. But this suit does have two versions. Gene Doucette confirmed this to me during the meeting I had with him back in 2006. Sometimes this happened just to make it possible for Elvis to make a choice. You can draw a picture of a suit and then tell Elvis: "Hey, were gonna do this with yellow lining, or would you rather have a gold lining?". To avoid this they just made two version. Sometimes multiple versions were also made just to keep the staff working. That was the case with the 1973 "Spanish Flowers".

LeRoy, you are absolutely amazing when it comes to research. You have come up with information that makes my head spin... That being said, don't put absolute belief in one man's account of an event that took place 40 years ago. There is no way on earth they tailored a second Butterfly suit at a cost of several thousand dollars and about a hundred man hours just to give Elvis a choice of the insert color. That is ridiculous. It would have only taken two or three hours at the most to open the lining and change all the satin to gold mylar.

And I highly doubt that the staff needed busy work to keep them occupied either. The suits were actually put together at Frank Page Design Studio in L.A. A friend of mine worked there along side Gene Doucette. Frank page studios is the company that Bill Belew contracted to bring his designs to life. They had plenty of work to do, including costumes for the Jackson 5, all kinds of TV specials, including Dance Fever (later), Captain and Tenille and many, many others.

[hounddog]

This photo is in Elvis 71@40 it looks like this suit to me but the info says Cleveland 71 an i know he wore the Black Matador there. So any info on this pic and suit? I'm curious about it now.

http://www.tcb-world.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=52883&d=1320817907

[merry77]

That photo is definitely the butterfly and not black pinwheel. Lining is yellow. Black pinwheel has red lining.

[hounddog]

I though i was right so that means we have a photo of the Black Pryamid but no date, Yipee as there aren't many photos of this suit
But i hope someone on here knows where and when it was taken

[1100ccRider]

Very cool picture of that black butterfly suit on tour! So much for the idea that this suit never made it to the road. Where, I guess, is the question. :P

[merry77]

These days I've come to realise that replacing the lining should not have been hard to do.
The stud pattern at the flares is the same. Which means there is probably just one suit.
Also the gold lame version clearly has studs that are tarnished, which means used. So my conclusion is lining has been replaced.


To my point!... I completely reject the premise that they are the authority. They have given two conflicting accounts. Give me a break, they know that Elvis tore the suit while putting it on? I call BS!

[hounddog]

if memory serves me right this pic is from thye book My Treasured Memories
http://www.tcb-world.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=54920&d=1337775976

[Tommy]

Thank you very much Julie for great photos. (y)

[Tommy]

http://www.tcb-world.com/gallery/data//30/1972Black.jpg

[drumzz70]

go to flickr.com once on there do a search in the top right american eagle aloha from hawaii and you'll see there is a picture of the second butterfly suit and the tv show aloha suit in the same case and look at the lenght of both suits legs and size of the suit. that was way too big for elvis to wear. the first suit either was giving away and they had a replica made sized for someone alot taller, or changed all the linings , kickpleat, cape and cest inserts on the original ( which i don't understand why the cape would need changing ) and didn't hem the kickpleats back correctlly. He didn't wear this suit enough for them to have to change all that. my guess is it was a second suit made for display. and the suit is sized for butch of B&K who is about 6 foot 5, and elvis was 6 feet at most. EPE may have also orded this suit from IC costumes and just didn't give the right measurments being it was just for display . both are just guesses but look at the suit and make a judgement. also look at the close pics of this suit on this thread, the stiching on the lapel is not there like all his suits had, also the material doesn't look close to wool or garbadine but very grainy like felt. maybe to save money for display.