Royal Blue Fireworks (aka) Owl Jumpsuit (1972) [Archive]

epontour72

11-20-2004, 01:03 PM

Good observation FrankieRider2...

You?re right about the black & white pic at the BOTTOM RIGHT of the post on 07-16-2004, 10:17 AM, it is from Vegas in Aug/Sep 1972. The windscreen on the RE-15 microphone was taped with white tape during this Vegas season.

The pic at the TOP LEFT of the post on 07-16-2004, 10:15 AM is from Vegas Jan/Feb 1972. The windscreen on the RE-15 microphone was taped with black tape or not at all during this Vegas season. Also dating this picture is John Wilkinson?s Mosrite guitar (in the background) which he played in 1971 and the beginning of 1972. Through the rest of 1972 Wilkinson used a Gibson 335 until November when he switched to a Gibson 355.

In April Elvis used the RE-15 microphone with the windscreen designed for the mic so no tape was required.

At Madison Square Garden in June 1972 he used the RE-15 microphone with the windscreen which was secured with a rubber band.

In June 1972, right after Madison Square Garden, he began using a Shure SM-57 microphone and it?s designed windscreen which actually attaches to the mic itself with set screws. This is what he used in November 1972.

MISSCLAWDY

01-02-2005, 09:07 AM

OH MY GOD...THE OWL IS IN MY TOP TEN!!!! I LOVE IT!!!! :cool: THANKS ELVISBABE FOR ALL THE WONDERFUL PICS!!!!!! :)

IM4Elvis

06-10-2005, 03:10 PM

What a treat with the pics here! Thank you very much! This has always been one of my favorite jumspuits!!!

IM

Tommy

10-20-2005, 06:03 PM

This is great so many wonderful photos of the Owl suit! One of my all time fav's! (y)

Thank you all,

Tommy :)

Leroy

11-01-2005, 06:50 AM

During my meeting with Robert "Butch" Polston I finally learned the truth about the mysterious "Purple Fireworks". I always believed there were two versions; the "Royal Blue Fireworks" as we see in On Tour and the "Purple Fireworks" that can be found on display at Graceland. There's actually only one version; the "Royal Blue Fireworks". In 1972 during the November tour Elvis ripped the seat of the pants and the suit got disbanded. It also went to the cleaners where something strange happened. The suit went in blue and came out purple.
What happened? The fabric used for the suits originally is white. If Bill decided to dress Elvis in another colour he had to dye the fabric. Somewhere at the cleaners the substance used to clean caused a reaction with the the paint of the suit and it became purple.
Mystery solved....

The picture you find here was taken at the meeting on October 23rd. An impersonator's showing the replica of the "Royal Blue Fireworks" made by B & K's. This is the original colour.

Tommy

11-01-2005, 08:37 AM

Thank you Leroy for sharing this story. Dry cleaning can sometimes be a hazard. :D

Tommy :)

Jumpsuit Junkie

11-03-2005, 12:37 AM

If anyone is going to know or find out its Leroy............ (y)

Matt

KPM

12-26-2005, 04:34 PM

One of the classics in his stage outfits!

amzietamzie

12-28-2005, 09:17 AM

:happy_ny:
i love this suit!
here are 2 more pics...

Jumpsuit Junkie

12-28-2005, 12:02 PM

This is a great Jumpsuit :cool:

Matt

TCBinAZ

01-03-2006, 10:05 PM

awesome jumpsuit!! (y)

THENATUREBOY

01-03-2006, 10:30 PM

For some reason it always cracked me up in the Elvis On Tour 72 documentary, when he says, "For those who cant see, this is a owl."

sabbath

01-13-2006, 02:13 PM

Royal Blue Fireworks

Supposedly Vegas 72

sabbath

03-14-2006, 03:40 AM

with Original Belt
1972 xx xx

marijaep

06-05-2007, 07:27 AM

Wow, this one sure is in my top ten!!!:clap:
A wonderful suit...He looked gorgeous in it, the blue color suited him so good!:wub:
Thank you all for the GREAT pictures and information:notworthy :clap:

Diane

06-05-2007, 08:17 AM

I love this jumpsuit as all the ones he wore On Tour. Thanks everyone for the great pictures.(y)

Diane

SeeSeeRider777

10-31-2007, 10:53 PM

Wearing white boots with this suit would have been better. IMO

beckyelvis1

02-29-2008, 12:03 PM

Interesting suit, thanks for all the pics!

Diane Lynn

03-30-2008, 06:44 PM

goodelvisgirl

03-30-2008, 08:14 PM

fantastic suit and fantastic pics thanks fo posting

Unchained Melody

07-22-2008, 12:59 AM

In some ways from the design patterns on this suit it reminds me of the adonis suit ....i have always really loved the suits from 1972 many of the best !!! Like my avator from Tommy I really love this suit!(y)

medleyofcostumes

08-18-2008, 09:32 AM

Unchained Melody

08-18-2008, 05:49 PM

IMO the suits Elvis was wearing reflected the phases the designers were going through. The late 1971 - 1972 suits are similarly constructed, as are other suits from 1970, the 1973 'heavy jewelled' suits, the theme suits from 1974-75, puff sleeves 1975, etc

The theme suits became more routine for the designers by 1974 with the American Eagle, The Chinese Dragon, the Mad Tiger, Peacock, etc.

beckelvis

08-27-2008, 12:19 PM

The Seem To Me To Be Marvellous Especially,that Of The Glasses Very Enterteining.

smithversusneo

10-09-2008, 08:39 PM

medleyofcostumes

10-23-2008, 07:55 AM

For sure, the belt buckle has an owl head on the front.

elvispresleytheking

01-20-2009, 06:27 PM

For sure, the belt buckle has an owl head on the front.

Especially from the line "aint it funny, how time slips righ on... aaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh.... For those of you who can't see back there, this is an owl.... wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy..."

jean francois

01-20-2009, 08:36 PM

thank you so much great pics

Leroy

01-21-2009, 02:50 AM

Okay, here's my stupid question of the day:

Was this called 'The Owl Jumpsuit' because he mentions the belt on Elvis On Tour?

I was just curious, since the jumpsuit itself, as far as I can tell, has nothing to do with owls. :doh:

svn

There is nothing such as a stupid question. I fact.... I wish more people would ask questions like yours instead of believing the obvious....
And you're right. The suit itself has nothing to do with an owl. It's only on the belt buckle. And because Elvis mentioned it during his concert in Greensboro fans kinda addapted it as the suit name. But the designers named it "Royal Blue Fireworks".

WHITETIGERMAN

01-21-2009, 05:17 AM

There is nothing such as a stupid question. I fact.... I wish more people would ask questions like yours instead of believing the obvious....
And you're right. The suit itself has nothing to do with an owl. It's only on the belt buckle. And because Elvis mentioned it during his concert in Greensboro fans kinda addapted it as the suit name. But the designers named it "Royal Blue Fireworks".

Thanks Leroy for all the info you supply on Elvis' Suits.(y)

easyrider

01-22-2009, 06:58 AM

thank you for this pics

nabelt24

03-06-2009, 01:48 PM

Here's some pictures I found on Silvesters Elvis Page. I'd never seen them before, so I thought I'd share them here.

Tommy

03-06-2009, 02:25 PM

WOW thank you very much Nathan (y)

Dany

10-12-2009, 12:28 PM

Oh how I love this beautiful man. He is always beautiful and seductive.:blush::wub::wub:

Brad Stalnaker

10-29-2009, 10:16 AM

a couple close ups

Tony Trout

11-12-2009, 02:38 PM

Okay, here's my stupid question of the day:

Was this called 'The Owl Jumpsuit' because he mentions the belt on Elvis On Tour?

I was just curious, since the jumpsuit itself, as far as I can tell, has nothing to do with owls. :doh:

svn

For sure, the belt buckle has an owl head on the front.

There is nothing such as a stupid question. I fact.... I wish more people would ask questions like yours instead of believing the obvious....
And you're right. The suit itself has nothing to do with an owl. It's only on the belt buckle. And because Elvis mentioned it during his concert in Greensboro fans kinda addapted it as the suit name. But the designers named it "Royal Blue Fireworks".

Leroy is, as usual, 100% correct here.

ElvisPresleyRocks

01-08-2010, 10:13 AM

man, this jumpsuit holds a lot of memories :) i remember when i was younger this was one of the first suits i fell in love with along with the chain suit and few others :) i asked my mom to get me one exactly like that when i was about 8 or 9 :lol: still no chance though lol i love that suit!

Mr.TCB

01-08-2010, 05:39 PM

Here's some pictures I found on Silvesters Elvis Page. I'd never seen them before, so I thought I'd share them here.
I've got a peice of the scarf from those 3 pictures. This show was on February 22,1972 in Las Vegas.

ntgb

02-13-2010, 05:24 AM

Its covered in stars to reflect night time i.e when owls come out

thejumpsuitman

03-05-2010, 09:33 PM

Why is the belt now purple too? They didn't dry-clean leather...

thejumpsuitman

06-25-2011, 02:40 PM

I am sorry, but I am not buying the story of the Blue Owl being destroyed at the cleaners and it turning purple.

I know it seems like I am always rebutting you Leroy... It's not personal. I am really just rebutting the story you were told by "Butch" Polston who never had any dealings with anybody related to Elvis during his lifetieme. I take that entire story as an urban legend. We have one person's account (who was not there) of something that supposedly happened almost 40 years ago.

I even have rebuttal evidence. Why is the belt purple that happens to match the suit perfectly? It is obviously the original belt. And here's something a lot of people don't know... It is very difficult to photograph purple because of the red element. It is at the end of the color spectrum and very often translates into blue on film. In fact, in photographing purple it is common to use purple gels to capture the purple color since it is so notorious for showing up blue.

I believe that the Owl suit has always been purple and people have always thought it was blue because it looks blue on film. I think that perhaps Elvis didn't like the purple and that's why he only wore it once.

thejumpsuitman

06-25-2011, 02:48 PM

5186051861

The shot on the right sure looks purple to me.

thejumpsuitman

06-25-2011, 04:08 PM

5186451865

I took these photos today with a Kodak C653 with no flash. They are unaltered. The spool of thread and piece of material on the left are royal blue. The bolt of fabric and spool of thread on the right are purple. If you don't believe me, try it yourself without any filters. As I said before, purple is so notorious for coming out looking blue on film that filters are used to capture the purple color accurately.

Jumpsuit Junkie

06-26-2011, 01:34 AM

Looking at the images you have provided they are very different colours and you can clearly see that the left is blue and the right is purple! I could understand if there were only subtle differences but they are poles apart, so the above (to me) doesn't necessarily prove the theory right... For instance the photo you have taken is in a bright location and taken without a flash, so the differences look acute.

I hear what you are saying about Butch, yes he is only one man and he wasn't around Elvis at the time but that wouldn't disprove the story 100% because the guys who made the Jumpsuits were in touch and worked with Butch so they would have discussed possible reasons for the discolouration?

Why would Butch come up with a story about the colours changing if it was just a simple case of lighting, surely Gene & Bill would have knowledge of such things?

I'm open to reason and fully accept that it could be either theory just not sure which, as both are plausible...

Jumpsuit Junkie

06-26-2011, 01:41 AM

Sorry, one more thing, concert photo's are unreliable because the colours they become after years of being published, scanned and uploaded is questionable at best! I have thousands of photo's that once cleaned up can be several shades different. So without good quality photo's it is very difficult to compare the colour differences.

The photo below shows (as with other photo's) that the Jumpsuit is blue and that the belt looks a different shade, which looks almost purple?

thejumpsuitman

06-26-2011, 06:52 AM

You do not have the benefit of seeing the true colors of the fabric I photographed to appreciate the dramatic change. The purple on the right is as purple as you can get in real life, but in the picture, it looks blue. Perhaps I should not have put it next to true blue. Maybe I will take a new picture and tweak the color to show how it really appears. I took another picture in sunlight with even more dramatic results than that. The reason the suit looks blue is that the stage lights washed the red out of the image which is why the purple suit looked blue on stage.

It is a very well known fact in photography and film that purple comes out blue. A blue looking suit is exactly what I would expect from purple. You can't prove that wrong. Buck Owens' Buckaroos had purple matching suits that everyone thought were blue because they are blue in pictures.

The suit at Graceland is purple, the belt is purple. Are you suggesting that they made a purple belt for a blue suit? Not plausible. And as for the different shade, the belt is suede and the suit is wool.

As for why would someone make up a story? There are lots of reasons. Perhaps it's just something he heard somewhere, maybe it's just a theory that he decided to believe and perpetuate with nobody able to disprove it.. Maybe it's bad memory on the part of those who told him. Personally, I think that story has kept going because it is a more dramatic and sensational explanation than the suit always being purple from the beginning.

Bill Belew gave two interviews about the suits... one where he said the suits were made from "stretch gabardine", in another he said they were made from "jersey knit". I'm not saying he was a liar, but it's been 40+ years since he made a lot of the suits. As a self-proclaimed expert, Butch seems to have the answer to every single question about every single suit. That alone is very suspicious and discredits him in my opinion.

And furthermore, ask yourself this, why on earth would the designers be involved in laundering the suit? and why would anybody around Elvis remember if a suit that he wore once or twice was purple or blue?

In the end, people will believe what they want, but there is more proof for what I am suggesting than the other theory. The other theory would be thrown out of court and inadmissible as evidence as hearsay.

It's amazing to me that if something is told and heard enough times it is accepted as truth even in the face of evidence to the contrary. If you throw out everything else, the suede purple belts stands as witness that the suit was always purple.

Jumpsuit Junkie

06-26-2011, 02:24 PM

So for clarifications sake and to put this to bed once and for all, ALL photo's of Elvis in this suit despite all different lighting and settings will always appear blue unless in Graceland in which the photo's will appear purple :hmm:

I'm joking of course, I'm still not 100% convinced either way, I'm sure the colour has faded and the appearance has changed over the years which has given rise to this subject coming up. In the end it is a detail that doesn't warrant anyone falling out :P

thejumpsuitman

06-26-2011, 03:47 PM

Nah, I hope nobody is getting upset, it's just a fun topic to me, and i think I'm right:P. But to clarify, it is bright lighting (on stage and from flash bulbs) that makes purple look blue. Obviously they don't allow you to use a flash in Graceland. And if you have been to Graceland to see the suits, you know how dark it is in there. It even takes a few minutes after coming in from the sunlight for your eyes to adjust to the dark. Another thing is that today's high tech cameras have much more automatic color saturation and white balance sensing and control, so they take color pictures more accurately than cameras in the past.

But all that aside, no one has even tried to give me an explanation to why the original belt is purple to match the suit.:hmm: I know why... because the suit has always been purple and they made the belt purple to match.

I

thejumpsuitman

06-26-2011, 04:05 PM

Yes, I am having fun with this... :P Okay, I took another picture of the purple spool of thread. The first picture is exactly how it came out naturally. It looks blue. The second picture has been adjusted to make it look like it does in real life. I held the actual spool up to my computer screen until I was able to achieve the correct shade of purple. Now you have to admit, that's dramatic!... And would explain to an unbiased, open mind why the purple suit was always thought to be blue.;)

5186851869

thejumpsuitman

06-26-2011, 04:44 PM

Leroy

06-30-2011, 05:15 PM

thejumpsuitman

07-05-2011, 12:14 AM

How did they "alter the belt"? You can tell the leatherwork is original by the way the edges have facings skived and sewn, so they somehow magically transformed the suede from blue to purple? That is not an explanation.

I think some people would rather climb up a tree to believe a story than to stand on the ground and accept the truth.

I don't buy it for a second, Leroy... We will just have to agree to disagree. ;)

Tony Trout

07-05-2011, 08:24 AM

The suit was blue. It was called "Royal Blue Fireworks". The fabric however was white. All colored suits were in fact white but the fabric was dyed to get a different color. When the suit was shown on display at Gracelend the public witnessed a purple suit. This was a goof-up job by the Graceland staff who send the suity away for a cleaning job. But the wrong chemicals were used. That made the suit turn purple. Later they altered the belt. Here a picture of a replica. Elvis version was exactly the same color. 51900

How did they "alter the belt"? You can tell the leatherwork is original by the way the edges have facings skived and sewn, so they somehow magically transformed the suede from blue to purple? That is not an explanation.

I think some people would rather climb up a tree to believe a story than to stand on the ground and accept the truth.

I don't buy it for a second, Leroy... We will just have to agree to disagree. ;)

Sorry, but Leroy is right on the money here about the suit being discolored and turning purple instead of it's natural blue during a cleaning job. But...I will say that I would like to know how they altered the belt??? Other than that, when it comes to jumpsuits, I consider Leroy to be "the One" to go to as far as jumpsuit knowledge. I dare say that he's spent much more time with both Bill Belew/Gene Doucette & Butch & Kim Polston than ANY of us have!!!

Also, the jumpsuit wasn't just worn in Greensboro, NC on April 14 & San Bernardino, CA in November of 1972. That was the final time the suit was ever worn because it got damaged and he never wore it again. He also wore it during that first winter engagement in Las Vegas, NV during January/Febrary of 1972. That's where the pictures of Elvis displaying the suit and cape spread out comes from.

thejumpsuitman

07-06-2011, 07:50 AM

Leroy is awesome for his research... But your research is only as good as the source. Butch Polston has never played any role whatsoever with the real jumpsuits and I completely reject the premise that he is an authority on anything that happened with the original suits. And I seriously doubt Gene Doucette knew anything about what happened to the suits after they left the shop. His only role, by the way, was studding and embroidering the suits. He did not have anything to do with tailoring them, so he wasn't even the last person to work on them when they were made. Gene Doucette never even met Elvis! How or why would he know what happened to them when he isn't even the one who would have been involved in any alterations after the fact?

Gene Doucette said in an interview that Elvis loved the Aloha Eagle suit so much he wore it a lot, but kept giving away the belts, so they decided to add the waistline eagles so there would be something there when the belt was gone.... WHAT? We all know that is not true. Those waistline eagles were there from the beginning. I will give Gene a mulligan and say that maybe he doesn't remember, but if he doesn't remember the details related to the most famous jumpsuit ever, then why would you blindly believe this Owl story? (if it even came from him)

The pictures I offered for demonstration were of a deep "Barney purple" piece of cloth that almost looked blue in photos. The actual suit is not that deep of a color, it is lighter, more of an "eggplant purple" which looks completely blue in photos. If you are willing to reject all of that evidence and believe a story to the contrary, you are betraying your own common sense because the belt stands as witness to the fact that the suit has always been the same color.

I work with materials, dyes, and leather all the time. It is a simple fact that you cannot dye a color from darker to lighter... Period! But even if you could, you would not be able to dye that suede Owl belt because of all the embellishments. The prime reason being that you could not distribute the dye evenly and smoothly around all the stars, bars, grommets and owls and avoid splotching (ruining) the extremely absorbent suede. You would also have to be concerned about the chemical dye itself interacting with the embellishments. Those at Graceland certainly would not have taken such a risk on an item with the value of Elvis' original Owl belt!

But in spite of these facts, I am supposed to believe that they not only were able to defy the laws of nature and physics and successfully dye deep royal blue to eggplant purple, but somehow they were lucky enough to come up with the perfect shade of purple to match a suit that was supposedly an accidental color to begin with?... But yet shows no variation or variegation whatsoever? Think about it. There is no variegation anywhere. If it was faded or damaged, there would be some. I find it easier to believe that the purple belt matches the suit because it was supposed to match it from the beginning.

People will believe what they want, I am just astounded that people are willing to do so without objectivity.

thejumpsuitman

07-06-2011, 10:45 AM

I have one last thing to say on this subject... And I can't believe I neglected to point this out earlier... And if this doesn't make you question the story, nothing will... BLUE CANNOT FADE TO PURPLE BECAUSE BLUE IS A PRIMARY COLOR! Let me say that again... BLUE IS A PRIMARY COLOR! TO GET PURPLE, YOU HAVE TO ADD RED! Did they dye the suit red at the cleaners? Now that is ridiculous. To say the suit faded from blue to purple is the exact same thing as saying yellow can fade to orange. Be honest, does the "story" make sense? NO WAY.

merry77

07-10-2011, 03:56 AM

Albert

07-10-2011, 06:00 AM

thejumpsuitman

07-10-2011, 03:00 PM

Perhaps 'altering' was just another word for "we've put the original in the box again, and ordered a replica that matches the same color as the discolored suit" ;)

Albert, yours is a great example of climbing up a tree to believe a story when you can just stand on the ground and believe the truth.

Although I must say that I would be much more willing to believe that there were two suits. (However I do not believe that). If they ordered a replacement purple suede belt, it would still have to perfectly match the "accidental" purple color. (which is impossible, by the way... blue and red make purple) And if they ordered a replacement, it's amazing that they also replaced all the stars in exactly the same place, using both gold and silver as well as gold and silver chain. It would have to have been done in mid '72 because after that, they changed the way they constructed the belts. They stopped sewing facing on the top and bottom and turning them under.

thejumpsuitman

07-10-2011, 03:05 PM

Hi Brad,

What I was going to say is that this belt is one of the few belts which is not made out of leather!
If you look close you can see that it's made of other material. (can't think of the name of it right now).
That material was dyed. And the color has changed.

Later on IC made another blue suit: the lucky suit (currently on display in Hollywood casino in Tunica).
I made photos using flash there (which was allowed). And also that suit has faded colors and now looks more purple then blue.
Also that gabardine material was dyed before the suit was made.

So my conclusion would be that both suits and the belt was blue. But that using dry cleaning had it's effect on the dye.
Not a cleaning mistake, but just it's natural causes of cleaning.
Although it remains strange as to why blue would change into purple. Obviously the belt wasn't washed. But color changed nonetheless.

51977

Blue fades to a dull grayish blue kind of like the way the purple in the belt is fading to a light dull purple. We are just not going to agree with each other, but that's okay. ;) By the way, Tandy Leather Factory STILL sells that exact color purple suede... 100% identical to the purple suede with which the belt was made. Perhaps I will go by there with my camera and take a picture (as long as it doesn't turn out blue :))

One interesting thing is that it looks like the owl head was pewter plated or painted with gold. Look how it is rubbing off.

thejumpsuitman

07-10-2011, 03:34 PM

This is an original unused Owl buckle from "La Mode" company. This is how the Owl would have looked on Elvis' belt when it was brand new...

52009

Albert

07-11-2011, 07:57 AM

Blue fades to a dull grayish blue kind of like the way the purple in the belt is fading to a light dull purple. We are just not going to agree with each other, but that's okay. ;) By the way, Tandy Leather Factory STILL sells that exact color purple suede... 100% identical to the purple suede with which the belt was made. Perhaps I will go by there with my camera and take a picture (as long as it doesn't turn out blue :))

One interesting thing is that it looks like the owl head was pewter plated or painted with gold. Look how it is rubbing off.

Interesting reading, thanks!

If you do make a picture, take a color chart with you and hold it next to the piece you're going to take a picture of. This way you can restore the blue values altered by your camera later on.

example:
52011

merry77

07-11-2011, 06:26 PM

the owl was pewter or silver plated. Never gold.
Blue and silver match better then blue and gold. Notice how often the blue suits have silver studs (lucky suit, 75 twopiece).

Can you elaborate a bit more on they way they constructed the belts differently?
I don't completely follow.

thejumpsuitman

07-12-2011, 12:02 PM

But the belt has gold stars as well as silver, and the chain is also one piece gold, one piece silver.... Also, this was a purple suit, not blue.. (Couldn't resist, sorry... All in good fun. :D)

On the belt construction... Only in in 1971 and 1972 were the belts made from genuine leather, (or in this case suede leather). Afterward, they were made from vinyl. (with maybe a couple exceptions) My theory is that they found vinyl much more durable and much easier to clean.

To make one of the early leather belts, the fronts were covered in leather then trimmed flush to the edges at which point they sewed facings, of matching leather to the edges. The facing leather was most likely skived, (thinned) then sewn right side to right side to the top and botton edges, glued, then wrapped tightly around to the back, creating a welt on the top and bottom edge. An additional piece of leather was then attached to the full back side, thereby hiding the edges, stud prongs, etc. If you look closely, you will notice this welt feature on the Red Lion belt, the Fireworks belt, the Spectrum belt and the Owl belt. All of these belts are genuine leather.

On later belts, starting in late 1972, they simply wrapped the vinyl around the backing material as one piece without using a welt. The Aloha belt is a good example of this. I can see why they changed the process as number one, the feature is hardly noticeable for the amount of work it would have taken, also, since they started using vinyl, the welt would have been too large and prominent since vinyl is thicker than the leather they used and cannot be skived down any thinner. Perhaps I will make a mock-up to show what I mean.

thejumpsuitman

07-12-2011, 12:06 PM

On the owl head itself, I personally believe it was originally plated gold. Look at the beak and eyeballs, how the color has rubbed off. The Owl head I photographed was brand new in the package from the 1970's, and it is gold plated pewter. If it was originally pewter, what is the color that is rubbing off? Also, that would explain why they chose to incorporate gold into the belt with gold chain and gold stars when everything else on the suit is silver.

merry77

07-12-2011, 12:40 PM

The several owl heads I've gathered most of them are silver color.
The suit actually have nailheads that are gold and painted silver. Only the belt indeed uses two color studs (gold and silver). But most studs are silver.

The photo I showed wasn't mine and was taken with a flash. I have looked at one of my photos and indeed the two different colors can be seen.
Now the question is: was it gold painted silver?
or was it silver painted gold?

merry77

07-12-2011, 12:48 PM

if I look at an original photo I see that the owls are silver color.

52067

thejumpsuitman

07-12-2011, 12:52 PM

I could certainly be wrong on the Owl head.... But you bring up a good question. Gold painted silver or silver pained gold? On the studs that you say are gold painted silver, I would like to see a picture of that. Actually those nailheads are all brass to begin with. But the nickel is very brittle. I wonder if what you saw is the nickel plating flaking off.

TCBDavid

07-12-2011, 09:17 PM

if I look at an original photo I see that the owls are silver color.

52067

i hate to point this out but that is a black and white picture that has been coloured in after the fact, its quite apparent because of the block colour and lack of texture so its no good for determining anything

ntgb

07-13-2011, 04:33 AM

ITS CALLED THE ROYAL BLUE FIREWORKS - the name says it all ......

merry77

07-13-2011, 04:40 AM

then have a look at the video Lost performances or This is Elvis.

thejumpsuitman

07-13-2011, 08:54 AM

ITS CALLED THE ROYAL BLUE FIREWORKS - the name says it all ......

This is the name since when?... Last year? I've never even heard of this name until it was posted here. This suit has always been known as the Owl suit until very recently. And only by those who accept the myth that there were "official names" from the beginning. I don't believe it.

My case and the proof I have presented are irrefutable. People just don't want to believe it.

I am just amazed that a story is believed without any scrutiny. If somebody has a valuable or delicate piece of clothing, where do you take it? You take it to the dry cleaners... Because they are so cautious and are professionals and experts at safely cleaning things that you cannot clean yourself. Do you know how incredibly rare it is to destroy a piece of clothing at the cleaners?

And the material was originally white?... But all wool is white to begin with... Just look at a sheep! Dye is dye, whether it was done at a factory or in a washing machine. Wool and cotton are the most absorbent and dye-friendly materials on the face of the earth. The whole blue to purple story is nonsense. The only proof we have of the color is a purple suit and a purple belt sitting on display at Graceland.

If somebody can disprove my evidence and provide a LOGICAL, PROVABLE explanation as to why the suit is now contains a red element, turning blue to purple, I will listen. Otherwise, I say it was always purple.

thejumpsuitman

07-13-2011, 01:27 PM

I went to the local Tandy Leather store today. Mike McGregor bought his horse tack hardware and leather goods from Tandy years ago. I found the exact same color suede that was used on Elvis' belt. Here is a picture I took of it... The manager allowed me to go outside so I could take the picture in direct sunlight. He himself said that the only way to get the color to come across accurately was to go outside. (I don't think there were any pictures of Elvis in the Owl suit out in the sunlight, are there?)

52082

The gentleman running the store was about 65 years old and a 30+year veteran of leather working. I showed him the picture and asked him if there was any way that the leather in the belt used to be blue... He said "No way." He said suede might fade to a lighter color, but not change colors.

Jumpsuit Junkie

07-13-2011, 01:50 PM

Although I find this continuing information and detail fascinating, I have to ask one very simple question......

If Gene Doucette created this Jumpsuit In purple, why does he with the help of Butch now make Blue replica's? I realise the material they are using will be different to scale down the cost and modern techniques mean fabrics are colour-fast. So why would they perpetuate an error instead of correcting it?

merry77

07-13-2011, 02:27 PM

okay, the following images are screencaptures from the 1981 movie This is Elvis.

You can see Elvis when he is walking in. If my eyes don't deceive me the color I see is blue.
There is ample light which you can see by the reasonably sharp shadow on the wall.

And you know what?
I think I know why they won't show the cape at Graceland. Because that would tell the truth. The cape hasn't been going to the dry cleaners. And the cape will still be the original color.
Of all other suits they show you the capes, but not this one. I have no record of Elvis gaving away this cape or Graceland selling it.

52087520865208552088

merry77

07-13-2011, 02:41 PM

Also if you go to Tunica Hollywood casino you can see the lucky suit and you can see the color is faded to purple whereas it was blue at first. There are patches on the suit not affected by the discoloration and you can see that the suit is more blue of color there.

You can also see that the lining is blue on the lucky suit. Again, they don't show you the arms and the lining of the navy fireworks, because by that you can tell what the original color was. The lining was of different material that has not been dyed.

thejumpsuitman

07-13-2011, 02:49 PM

That footage is still taken indoors under artificial lighting, probably halogen tungsten or florescent which distorts the color.

As to why do they use blue instead of purple? First of all, I don't think they know anything but what they have seen in pics, and they have given their laundry story. Secondly, was Gene Doucette working with Bill Belew in 1971 when they probably actually started making the suit? And if so, that is 40 years ago. How sure would you be of a color used 40 years ago? I'm sure they use royal that's what people want. I make Royal blue Owl suits for the same reason. In any event, it was not the deep Royal purple that is available, nor was it the bright Lapis blue that is used. It is more of a "grape" color which is in between.

You can ask "Why don't they show the cape?" But the better question is why is the belt purple?

We are just going around in circles, and it's all for fun anyway, but I have put forth an independent witness and a load of evidence that would win in any court.

merry77

07-13-2011, 03:22 PM

and I suppose this photographer also didn't know what he was doing?
Sorry, but that I just don't buy.
The color is obviously different now. That purple really is not the color the suit was when it was made.

Yes color is slightly different under lighting, but it doesn't make purple blue. The difference is there, but not that big.

52090

noone

07-13-2011, 04:38 PM

5209152092

Jumpsuit Junkie

07-13-2011, 04:38 PM

That footage is still taken indoors under flourescent lighting which distorts the color.

As to why do they use blue instead of purple? First of all, I don't think they know anything but what they have seen in pics, and they have given their laundry story. Secondly, was Gene Doucette working with Bill Belew in 1971 when they probably actually started making the suit? And if so, that is 40 years ago. How sure would you be of a color used 40 years ago? I'm sure they use royal that's what people want. I make Royal blue Owl suits for the same reason. In any event, it was not the deep Royal purple that is available, nor was it the bright Lapis blue that is used. It is more of a "grape" color which is in between.

I believe Gene was the in 1971, the other thing that bothers me a little is the fact that the fluorescent lights in Graceland don't seem to make the Jumpsuit blue, or am I missing something? Again the photo that merry77 has uploaded shows the belt is already a different shade, would this not be effected by the lights... All very strange indeed!

noone

07-13-2011, 04:38 PM

In most of the photos and film I have of this suit, the belt usualy looked a little different color than the suit, more purple also on the photos from February 1972. But in the same photos from February 72 the suit is also looking more purple than blue. I think this is mainly the stage lights on Hilton as most if not all the photos from later 72 the suit looks blue, stil the belt is a little purple in most photos. I think the January 1972 try out photo the suit is blue because it is more light than on the Hilton stage. I think the suit was blue from the start, I don`t know if the cleaning storry is true, but when I was at Graceland the suit was purple but not exactly the same purple as the belt. But Jumpsuit man you have a point because I have two photos from Graceland taken only seconds apart with two different cameraes and the color on these photos are different, I uploaded them abow.

thejumpsuitman

07-13-2011, 07:14 PM

Jumpsuit Junkie, this suit is not under florescent lights at Graceland. They are under very dim spotlights, but read on...

I really think what we are disagreeing about is mostly semantics. I would say it is NOT the "purple" that comes to mind when you hear the word "purple", nor is it the "lapis blue" it appears to be in most photos and you see impersonators wear. I think it is dead in between the two. Think of a dark grape. If a color is half way between blue and purple, what would you call it? Blue or purple? You would probably get disagreement like we have here. In bright lights it looks more blue because the red hues are washed away, but in dim lights (Graceland), the reds remain in view, showing the "purply" look. I personally think it's a GREAT color. And the color of the belt rides along, blending with the suit whatever the light.

But what the disagreement comes down to is the question of has the color changed? Most seem to say yes, I say no. I honestly believe if you pulled the suit off the mannequin and put it on stage with stage lighting and took pictures, it would look just like it does in all the photos we have. Unfortunately, this is something that will never be proven.

I submit into evidence the universal color wheel.

52094

Notice the "BLUE" that everyone thinks the suit is is at the far left of the color red. That color can only be when the red influence is removed. The suit as it appears now is without question to the right of blue, toward red, somewhere in the violet/blue or violet range which means that absolutely 100% that there is red in the color of the fabric. We should all be able to agree on that as a scientific fact. Like I said before, the only way to get purple out of blue is if the color red is present. Read my second paragraph again and it makes perfect sense.

The suit really acts like a chameleon, changing it's appearance under different lighting. The last time this suit was under enough bright light to wash away the red hues (which bright lights are known to do) was when it was being worn by Elvis, so the "fade theory" really doesn't hold much water. In fact, the color red fades away more quickly than blue does in nature. The suit has always appeared to be on the purple side at Graceland because the dim lights allow the red hues to be seen.

thejumpsuitman

07-13-2011, 07:36 PM

5209152092

Noone, you have captured the essense of what I'm talking about with the red hues. Look again at the color wheel. When you took the picture on the left, conditions were just right for a little more red to be present in the photograph, hence the color looks more like the "violet" or "violet-red" section of the color wheel. In the second picture, less red came through, so the picture looks more like the "blue-violet" section of the color wheel.

520955209652097

It is simple science. If you take away a little more of the red, you get the blue that it appears to be in most pictures. Simple logic and science.

TCBDavid

07-13-2011, 11:03 PM

i am a freelance cameraman (film) and colour spectrum is something i have to understand with a great deal of detail and precision as one poor prop or costuming decision could cause me no end of troubles and everything the jumpsuit man said about this colour spectrum/ science is correct it is clear when more of the red is visible in the material otherwise you simply wouldnt get such variation on the colour

Jumpsuit Junkie

07-14-2011, 01:23 AM

Hmmm, but noone said they used different camera's, so are we saying different camera's let in different light, because from my perspective the lighting In Graceland should remain the same shouldn't it? So in effect we could be talking different camera's give different colours!

thejumpsuitman

07-14-2011, 06:25 AM

It could have been that they were different cameras, or the difference could have been exactly where he was standing in relation to the light when he took the pictures. I have have even taken consecutive pictures with the same camera and gotten two different looking colors at times, haven't you? But it's not just the volume of light, it's how much of the red spectrum reaches the lens. If you want to try an experiment, take your digital camera and focus on something purple, then move the camera around in relation to the light source. You will see the color in the LCD screen shift to different shades.

One thing I noticed is that you can see more reflection of the plexiglass case in the picture on the right. That could have had something to do with how much red came through. But the point is not that two cameras took two different looking pictures, but that he amount of red that is translated is a variable.

And you see this much variation in very poor light! Imagine amplifying that principle by a HUGE factor. Add bright lights and to the camera, you have washed away almost all the red undertones getting the color you see in pictures. The remaining blue tones overpower the weaker reds. But in low light, the suit shows more purple or eggplant or grape, or whatever you want to call it. The red tones do exist, that should be clear, and unless they dyed the suit red after it was blue, they were always there.

The true color of this suit teeters at such a point on the color spectrum that it doesn't take much variation one way or another to change the way the color looks, especially on camera. There are plenty of pictures of Elvis on stage where the suit looks much darker and more purply than others. Watch the performance of "Bridge Over Troubled Water on the movie "Elvis on Tour" and you see the suit looks much much darker, with even a fleeting hint of purple now and then, especially starting about half way through the performance. BUT at the last beat when they bring up the lights, look at how dramatically and instantly the color changes from deep dark blue to bright lapis blue.

And during "American Trilogy" you can definitely at times see the red tones in the suit, possibly because the gels compensated for the red washout. Just look at Elvis' skin tones with bright lights vs. low lights. Do you think he really looked pale white like under the bright spots? Or more natural like under the low lights?

Even during "Funny How Time Slips Away" when they bring the halogen house lights up you can see the suit is much much darker than the lapis blue people think it is. But the white spot still washes out most of the red.

John Burrows

07-14-2011, 09:00 AM

Hi

Check out the pictures of the "white/silver phoenix", it looks like it's the same "phenomenon" with that suit.

noone

07-14-2011, 02:03 PM

Noone, you have captured the essense of what I'm talking about with the red hues. Look again at the color wheel. When you took the picture on the left, conditions were just right for a little more red to be present in the photograph, hence the color looks more like the "violet" or "violet-red" section of the color wheel. In the second picture, less red came through, so the picture looks more like the "blue-violet" section of the color wheel.

520955209652097

It is simple science. If you take away a little more of the red, you get the blue that it appears to be in most pictures. Simple logic and science.

I don`t know much about colors and photos, but the photo on the left is taken by my friend and he used a SLR Camera, the photo on the right was taken by me with a Canon digital IXUS 970 IS. I was so exited when I was there and saw all these suits I was dreaming for many years to se, so sadly I don`t remember how the suit looked when I was there.
I have been intrested in Elvis concerts and stage wear since 1985, and the last five-six years I have learnd so much more thanks to people like you (and others) writing their knowledge here and in other forums. I also know now that there is always more to learn about Elvis we will never know everything no mather how many books we read. Thank you all of you:P

thejumpsuitman

07-16-2011, 06:22 AM

Jumpsuit Junkie,

Have a look at this pic from the website www.elvisnow.com... You said you wanted to know why it never looks blue at Graceland... Well here you go. It looks in this photo just like it did in the songs I mentioned in "Elvis on Tour".

52104

But I am about to take my proof yet one step further...

In color theory, there are three concepts or variables that can affect the way a color appears, "colorfulness", "Chroma" and "Saturation". I am focusing on "Saturation", which is described as "a combination of light intensity and how much it is distributed across the spectrum of different wavelengths". Saturation is also described as "the truest version of that color." But first, let me remind you that we are stricltly analyzing the appearance of the color of this suit as photographed. I say this to emphasize that the color indeed looks bright lapis blue, but only in photos and on film under the conditions I have mentioned.

My argument from the beginning has been that the Owl suit appears bright lapis blue on film because of the washout of the red part of the color spectrum due to stage light intensity, or the inability for a camera to capture the proper balance of red hues under certain lighting conditions. (already a well-known fact in photography when shooting subjects between blue and red in the light spectrum by the way)

I have adjusted the color saturation of this picture to emphasize the true nature of the color as it appears in the photograph...

52107

The computer's command in adjusting saturation was to extrapolate a more intense variation of the color targeted.

In the next picture, I have added brightness to simulate the effect of intense white lighting and on the subject... Starting to look familiar?

52108

I super-saturated the last picture to show clear proof that nobody has changed the actual color value across the board because the belt still appears to be "purple", just a more intense purple. All of this shows how a suit that we all know is eggplant in color can be photographed as bright blue under intense lighting conditions.

merry77

07-16-2011, 05:01 PM

Theory looks interesting and it may well indeed explain a part of the different colors.

But look what does saturation it to the creme white boots? We do know they were not orange like.
Also the belt still remains a purple color. There is a color difference between suit and belt. But on stage photos it is still a lot less then on the saturated photos.
Therefore the theory does explain some part of the different colors but still isn't the whole story.

thejumpsuitman

07-16-2011, 05:57 PM

In the main picture that simulates stage lights the boots show as off white, which they really are... Compare to the photo in the All access booklet and they are comparable.

Only in the extreme saturation pic do they show as yellow or orange. But I was only using that picture to show that the overall color was not changed before I copied the picture. The proof is the fact that the belt is still purple! The point I was trying to make was that if this photo was ever changed to make the suit look blue on purpose, both the suit and the belt would be blue... Therefore the fact that the belt still looks purple makes my point!

You missed the point of that picture. If I or the one who originally posted this picture on elvisnow.com wanted to change it to make it look blue, it would look something like this...

52114

Notice how both the suit and belt now look blue! Now if the suit really looked like this, everybody could sleep at night. :D This is what I was proving that I did NOT do... which is remove red from the picture through a photo program and make it look blue. The blue was already there!

The whole point is to demonstrate that the eggplant colored Owl suit was photographed at Graceland and actually did show up as blue in a picture even under terrible lighting conditions. The picture was blue before I touched it. All I did was try to simulate some of the conditions under which it was photographed when on stage and in brightly lit rooms to prove that you can achieve the shade of blue everybody seems to think it was.

As for the "whole story", it will never be proven to the naysayers because this suit will never again be photographed under even close to the same lighting conditions as it was in the past. This simulation is as good as it gets and it proves that this suit does indeed at times photograph as BLUE in pictures.

There is a saying, "A man convinced against his will is of the same opinion still." Some people are so used to believing that this suit was bright blue that they are not comfortable with the fact that it was this eggplant color all along, even though I have proven it beyond REASONABLE doubt. There is nothing that will ever convince such people.

The suit is eggplant deep blue/purple and always was.

thejumpsuitman

07-16-2011, 10:59 PM

Yes, I am unrelenting! :D

I have actually found material at the store identical to the color of the Owl suit as it appears at Graceland. It is a deep eggplant purple. I was going through my camera settings and found a white balance setting that simulates tungsten lighting. Tungsten filaments would have been used in the spots on stage when Elvis was wearing the suit! Tungsten is also used in halogen lighting used in industrial settings like the backstage footage of Elvis in the owl suit. Tungsten is also the same filaments used in old-style house light bulbs. This explains it all...

The first picture was taken using the daylight setting and it shows the purple color, though a little different than it is in real life. The second shows the same exact piece of cloth taken using the tungsten light setting. There you have it.... Royal blue!

52115

52117

To get the results they got back then you have to go back to the conditions under which the pictures were taken and there you have it! Anybody still doubt?

merry77

07-17-2011, 03:12 AM

Can I have a piece of that fabric to experiment myself too?
Even though I sometimes have a stubborn opinion I am always open for good reasoning and experiments.

thejumpsuitman

07-17-2011, 06:43 AM

Absolutely. Email me your address and I will send that and a piece of the wool we were discussing.

Think about the conditions... All of the pictures and filming was done indoors at night with 100% high powered tungsten lighting... Absolutely no daylight, moonlight, florescent light or candle light...

But remember, to accurately reproduce the conditions, you will either have to make sure there are no automatic white balance compensations on a digital camera that counteract the effects the tungsten lights have on the pictures. I did this by setting the white balance to the "tungsten" setting... Or you would need to use an old style film camera with 100% tungsten light source in absolute darkness.

Garyelvisstuart

07-28-2011, 10:35 PM

Here is a question that was posed to me just today. See if anybody can help for once and put this issue to beddyby. There was a cape with the original jumpsuit, Pictures of Elvis were taken in his suite at the Las Vegas Hilton cir. 1971/2. In fact he wore the cape in the movie Elvis On Tour in the Greensboro, NC concert. Since 1985 when I first went to Graceland, I have never seen the cape displayed, where is it now? I am sure that if you were to look at it, it perhaps would be the true color, as I can't see anyone dry cleaning the cape, the jumpsuit - yes, the cape - no. If Graceland doesn't have the cape, did Elvis throw it to the crowd in Sacramento, California the last time he wore the suit on stage? Please advise on this.

thejumpsuitman

07-30-2011, 08:35 PM

The cape is long gone. Otherwise, it would be on display just like all the other similar suits.

merry77

07-31-2011, 06:42 AM

Hey the forum works again.

I have found another suggestion that the suit was more blue in the past.
Look at the Graceland guidebook 2002 (red cover) version on page 73.

I have scanned the photo and left the other suits around it for color reference.
If you look closely at the end of the sleeve, you can see an obvious BLUE lining inside the sleeve.
This suggests that the color was more blue in the past.

But it also shows that the jumpsuitman has a sure point in the way that the amount of light affects the color. The color of the suit changes slightly over the suit. And this could very well be an effect of the amount of light.

thejumpsuitman

08-19-2011, 02:03 PM

Did I already respond to this? It seems like a lot of posts are missing...??? Anyway, the sleeve liner is a completely different kind of material. In trying to match up the eggplant, blue is all I could find even remotely close in a stretch satin. I suspect the same thing happened back then.

jimc

08-30-2011, 04:11 PM

Does anyone have a picture that shows the back of the belt? I am working on making one and am trying to verify the correct details!
Many Thanks,
James

jimc

09-08-2011, 01:01 PM

52364 Here is my buckle that I just finished, I wanted it to be as accurate as possible as I don't like the ones that are available. What do you all think?

Tony Trout

09-08-2011, 03:25 PM

52364 Here is my buckle that I just finished, I wanted it to be as accurate as possible as I don't like the ones that are available. What do you all think?

I like it. And, I am going to have to go with Leroy here on the true color of the jumpsuit. It's blue...not purple....but BLUE. Do you think that Bill Belew and Gene Doucette would tell Butch Polston to make a replica of this jumpsuit any other color than it originally was??? I think not.........

jimc

09-08-2011, 04:32 PM

The color is actually called Midnight blue. It is a blue that looks purplish. Colors do funny things when lit and photographed.

1100ccRider

10-01-2011, 02:35 AM

Well, accepting that the color's this midnight blue -- a darker blue with purple overtones (I always used to think the suit was navy blue, anyway, which sounds closer than royal blue), where might one find the corresponding fabric? Can't find this color, or anything close to it, anywhere yet...

jimc

10-01-2011, 11:35 AM

I have found it and the suede at a fabric store in Mass. I could send you a sample, it is a dead on match as I brought it with me to Graceland to compare.

1100ccRider

10-03-2011, 12:42 AM

Thanks so much! Actually, if you just give me the name of the place I could try to get it from them or look up the materials online, saving you a trip to the Post Office, but I really appreciate the offer!

It looks like you've got it dead-on; your picture of the belt didn't show for me when I was last on here, but now that I see it I have to say that you did an excellent job. I've never seen anyone get it right before...even forgetting the debate over the ground color, because nobody else I've seen has used the gold stars or used suede on the belt, both of which are fairly obvious in pictures of the suit at Graceland. Excellent job!!

I bought the royal blue fabric for this suit way back (years ago...just never got around to putting the suit together) after I read so much about how the suit was royal rather than navy. I think some of the debate comes from people seeing replicas that are rendered either in bright royal blue or in equally bright purple -- full-on purple -- when the truth was that neither were right and, yes, stage lighting and even the lighting at Graceland potentially changes perceived color a lot, especially with a fabric that's got an overtone of one color that peeks through the dominant color (red through blue, in this case, but the same's somewhat true of the question of Elvis' 'white' suits being pure white or off-white, exacerbated by the fact that both stage lighting and age can add a lot of yellow to the mix). On the bright side, I can put the royal fabric aside for when I make the blue swirl/lucky suit! I mean, until someone comes along and points out that it was actually, in keeping with the shamrock motif, GREEN... :P

1100ccRider

10-03-2011, 12:47 AM

And, yeah, I'd say that your having compared the fabric samples to the suit on display at Graceland is a pretty definitive conclusion to the debate (unless, of course, there WERE two suits made in slightly different colors, that seems unlikely...the only reason I'd entertain any such possibility is because of the supreme oddness of apparently having two black butterfly suits in existence, one that Elvis actually wore and one with gold lamé that he may or may not have worn, even more odd because he probably couldn't have worn the suit out in one Vegas season). I'd probably buy the story that the suit changed to a more purple shade because of faulty cleaning, but the question would then remain why the belt (that, for one thing, was probably rarely cleaned and, if so, not via the same technique or by some cleaner on the road) changed color to more or less match that of the suit.

Mysteries of the ages here...

jimc

10-03-2011, 09:54 AM

I for one believe that it has always been the purple/blue to which Graceland refers to as "Mid-night Blue".
I am a pro - costumer who used to work in Hollywood on Star Trek and I can tell you things do change dramatically with lighting and photography. Captain Kirk's gold shirt is actually avocado Green in real life, the color just shifts due to lighting and photography. I firmly believe that this is the same case with this suit. Anyway I have been working tirelessly to exactly match the suit and belt at Graceland and I believe I have done just that, I even had the custom hardware made to attach to the back of the belt to hook it properly. I will post more pics soon! anyway I really should send you a sample of the fabric and suede as you need them to properly match the color. I bought all that my store had, but I am I am sure you could find it.

1100ccRider

10-05-2011, 12:00 AM

Captain Kirk in green? Well, THERE's a paradigm shift for most of us! I've got a pretty good example of the same kind of thing in terms of jumpsuits, in that my 'Burning Love' suit's made of gabardine that's cranberry or oxblood in color whereas most I see are bright scarlet red; in pictures and even video, though, my suit (like Elvis') usually looks just as bright red as do those other suits and the blue tones are pretty much lost just as in some photos and footage the red tones of the owl suit are MIA.

That's very, very cool about you fabricating your own buckle system. I've seen the same kind of hook systems for sale online but haven't yet seen one wide enough to accommodate the strap of an 'Elvis' concert belt. It'd be easy enough to jury rig something functional with that kind of hardware, though, and it's got to be better than the snaps or velcro that many use, both of which tend to part at exactly the wrong moments. The belts are something I haven't yet ventured into, but I'm going to have to give it a try now because I've got some suits slated that need custom belts and I have a few already that really should have the appropriate belts aboard; I figure that making belts is probably going to turn out to be easier than the suits, the main exception being in chasing down the right brass buckles and other adornments with which they decorated Elvis' belts.

Thanks again for the very kind offer. I'll send you my address (and postage!). :notworthy

jimc

10-05-2011, 12:55 PM

5257652577
Here are two photos of the custom harware I made to close my belt, I copied it from a photo of one of Elvis' belts that can be seen from the back in the book Elvis by The Presley's. It clearly showed his belt hardware so it was easy to copy! The two brass screws hold the Owl head to the buckle.

jimc

10-05-2011, 12:59 PM

52578
Here is one more from the front, showing the belt and buckle attached. I have matched the correct stitching and all I have left is to do is the stud work and add the silver and gold chains! I am striving for a museum quality exact replica.

1100ccRider

10-08-2011, 02:00 AM

Wow. That's a really great job of recreating Elvis' original. Right down to custom hardware? Whoa! I like it.

There're those kinds of hook-buckle thingies available pretty widely but I think the widest I've seen is about 3", an inch or more short of accommodating the strap of an Elvis-style belt. I love the fact that you mixed in gold stars, too, just as on Elvis' belt. That's a detail that I think most miss (then again, most suit makers and the like seem to miss that this belt was covered in suede, not vinyl or leather).

I wonder why the owl had a gold sheen to it? I've got one of the original owl buckles, from the '70s, and it's pretty much a straight pewter color. I wonder if the silvery finish rubbed off (or was buffed partly off on purpose) or if someone added a layer of golden finish. Looks great, anyway; couldn't really GET any closer to the real thing!

jimc

10-08-2011, 03:22 PM

Thanks! Actually the owls that were used had a gold eyes and beak the rest was a nickel finish. Look close at the original and you can see this detail, although a lot of plating has come off over the years!

barron

10-29-2011, 03:17 PM

I Agree with Leroy the suit has been blue now the cleaner story helped to distroy the color now every body should no is tat when lights hit blue and starts fading it will turn purple and elvis did where the suit @ least 2 or 3 different concers not 1 like everybody thinks so jumpsuit man your absalutly wrong Leroy is correct.

barron

10-29-2011, 03:23 PM

Here is a great example of what I am talking about from the book "100 Years of Western Wear". The top of Porter Wagoner's Nudie suit shows the true purple color, but as the light changes as you go down, the suit appears more blue at the bottom. The type of light at the top of the display case did not wash away the red hues the way the ambient light of the room did. Even though the book didn't scan as well as I hoped, I think you can see what I mean.

51870

If anyones in the buisness of making clothing blue later will turn to purple but if you look @ the lighting on the pants compairing to the top there is more shade on the pants the lights will always fade to purple no matter what you say i have a dog leash formy german shephards because the light hit it so much guess what its turning purple

jimc

04-01-2012, 05:02 AM

I am finishing up my replica belt and costume and just returned form Memphis from doing research! The costume is back on display in the new Elvis on Tour exhibit, and for the first time it is on a revolving pedestal! so all the details of the Belt and costume can now be seen! I took some shots of the bck of the belt so I can complete my replica accurately|! I will not argue the color, I believe it always was and is this mid night blue/purple. I have worked in Hollywood and I know firsthand how lighting and film stock will change the look of color. I look forward to sharing pics of my finished work with you all soon...

drumzz70

06-02-2012, 01:24 PM

The Jumpsuit man is Correct from the start, the owl suit was,has and is an eggplant purple. It is the 70's style cameras flash bulbs and lighting that make the pictures look blue. To prove the science behind it, most camras even today with digital flash will make red look pink or orange because of the filtering true red is taken out of the pic makeing the color red look lighter. The Same with purple, the red is filtered and make pics turn blue.There is a new web site rareelvispresley.com that prooves it all. Go to the site and on the left click the belts and capes tab, pan all the way to the end just before the red lion belt, there is a cap of back stage vegas pics click to enlarge and 4th pic on the left you'll see the real eggplant owl suit and right below the back cape pic in which the Camera Flash !! turns the suit Blue . also look at the pillows ,chair and curtain change color because of the FLASH BULBS !!! used in the 70's !!!! look at the two pics below of the owl and blue nail , the left is the owl with FLASH BULB and the right is blue nail without FLASH BULB !!!! not so light blue, but both suits almost are the same color, Why ?... the use of flash bulbs lighten the suit, and the red burning love suit we all know is an almost maroon color but appears almost orange bright red. This should end all debate and The Jumpsuit man is correct and has been since this started. this is all in good humor btw i enjoyed reading all the input but a picture paints a 1000 words.

drumzz70

06-02-2012, 05:51 PM

Another perfect example to prove the owl suit is Purple, are the pics post by Elvis' Babe, they are all true to color. And in entry's #21 and #22 if you look at the arena wall behind Elvis you see the seating section signs are BLUE as the suit is still Purple. the reason is because the signs are Blue and the suit IS Purple. also the pics showing the audience show a women in second row wearing blue, and can clearly see the suit is still Purple. The only reason the suit ever and still may show blue in pics is, different cameras and different lighting. The belt always and will always look purple because it is suede leather and not cloth like the suit. It may look blue in a few photos but that is because of flash bulbs and picture enhancing. If it's Purple in person it's purple and always has been. The story about the suit turning from purple to blue is rediculous, the suit may have been takin to the cleaners but it only faded the color from dark purple to a lighter purple. You can not change the color to fade from blue to purple, its scientifically impossible.

Tommy

06-06-2012, 09:26 PM

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

drumzz70

06-09-2012, 01:27 PM

B&K make suits any color on the color wheel if someone wants, he's about money not doing what bill and gene told him was ok to do. look at thier site, black king of spades suit ? never made for elvis, a multi aloha belt in blue ?? where did that come from ? and the white fireworks suit sold with the wrong belt. the fireworks suit belt ( they have as a multi belt ) is and extra charge and not for the fireworks suit but for the blue nail suit. its just the fact that the color is what you see at graceland purple, They chose darker shades for the owl, and dark burgandy red suit ( which i heard may have been takin to the cleaner and use to be yellow. See how ridiculous it sounds. and Elvis white suits were cream off white, it looked richer and wouldn't blur in stage lighting and photos. look at most of the white suits ( aloha ) and then match it to the white scarf, theres your answer.

elvia7

06-09-2012, 02:40 PM

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

THANK YOU TOMMY:hug::clap::clap::clap::clap::clap::clap::cla p:, AMAZING ELVIS and SUIT picture!

Tommy

06-09-2012, 05:44 PM

You are welcome dearest Evi................(y) (y)

drumzz70

06-12-2012, 07:28 PM

go to rareelvispresley.com click on the belt and capes tab on the left, then pan all the way to the end just before the red lion belt. there is a picture caption from backstge vegas, click on it it will enlarge, the 4th picture on the left is the Pruple owl suit original color, there is no debate that the real color was purple and is purple.

Tommy

06-18-2012, 02:28 AM

http://www.tcb-world.com/gallery/data//22/live1972_125175.jpg

elvia7

06-18-2012, 03:48 AM

WOW!!!!Tommy, I never saw this ELVIS picture :supriced:
THANK YOU!!!!:notworthy
BEAUTIFUL!!!!!

Tommy

06-19-2012, 06:15 PM

You are very, very welcome my friend Evi....(y) :wiggle:

drumzz70

06-20-2012, 09:09 AM

contact ronnie tutt or one of the band members who where there and see what they say, opposed to gene or butch. i'm postive you'll change ur mind and know it was and is still purple. its flash bulbs and 70's style cameras that changed the color blue.

ELVIS_

06-20-2012, 11:48 AM

I'll see it in person soon but my co worker told me in person there's no doubt it's Purple.

http://www.thecoast.ca/images/blogimages/2010/01/12/1263314418-owlbuckle.jpg

drumzz70

06-20-2012, 08:14 PM

Fantasic !! , thank you, 2 more true believers Purple was the color and is still the color, you can't fade blue to purple, purple fades to light purple. flash bulbs and film take the red out and make it appear blue in pics taken in the 70's

Tommy

06-20-2012, 08:48 PM

ELVIS_

06-21-2012, 01:03 AM

Even if there was any Kind of blue on it there's no way it looked as bright as the one the ETA is wearing and the belt is still Purple all the way. So what's the excuse for the belt not having any Blue?

Here's a video clip and did Elvis really have the local cleaners clean his suits?
I'd thought that would go to a highly qualified Pro to handle. Also what's the reason? the split pants or ruined color?
The stories these people give I think sometimes they get them mixed up.
In the out take part during the ending it looks dark blue but look at the rest of the image quality, The colors are all off.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DlhYg_OOdsQ

drumzz70

06-21-2012, 07:57 PM

rareelvispresley.com has a pic of the original color dark eggplant purple, read previous posts, the pic is under belts and capes tab and all the way at the end before the lion belt. Why would there be a pic of him wearing the suit that is dark purple if the suit had been ruined at the cleaners ????? because the pic was taken before it went to the cleaners. the cleaners only lightened the color to waht it is today. there are 3 pics of the owl suit in the pic cap from vegas, and all 3 have different color shades. the pic below the the dark purple is the back cape pic and is almost green, i guess they took it to the cleaners again and purple turned green ? no, its the flash bulbs. the belt never changed color ? because its the real color the suit was.. this is just a matter of admitting wrong when your wrong. this is all in good spirits by the way, i enjoy debating this but the pic on rareelvispresley.com is the true purple color, no matter what butch or gene want you to believe.

ntgb

06-23-2012, 02:08 PM

Why did they call it the Royal Blue Fireworks ? seems a bit daft if it was purple.

drumzz70

06-23-2012, 03:30 PM

It and most of the suits are fan made names, and its because thats how it appears in most pics and the on tour video. I myself always thought it to be a dark blue until i saw the picture on rareelvispresley.com. that picture is taken at the same time as the other color owl suit pics in that caption. if the suit was blue and turned purple why would there be a pic of the suit darker purple then it is at graceland ? you can see the purple suit and right below is the back of the owl and appears blue, but look at the chair it too changes from purple to blue. you can see in the front open cape pic that the suit looks blue but the belt and chair in front of him is purple. its just the flash bulbs that made it blue in pics. also look at the embroidery on his suits from 74, the eagle, king of spades (arabian) and blue rainbow and you can see back then the blue embroidery work looks blue in pics, but now and in person it is actually a dark purple that appears blue.

drumzz70

06-23-2012, 03:43 PM

Purple is a strange color, a mix of blue and red depending on the how dark it is. red has always been hard to capture in its full shade and thats why his red suit which was a real dark burgandy color showed up in pics as bright red or orange red, even digital cams today have a hard time showing true red color depeneding on if flash is used because the flash and film filter the darker shade. that happened with the owl suit, the red in the purple color was filterd out so blue ( the primary color ) showed up more when high lighting was involved.

drumzz70

06-24-2012, 11:06 AM

you guys and women can try this yourself, go to any clothing store and put a dark purple and a royal color blue wool jacket and take a pic with out flash first and then take a pic with flash you'll be amazed at what happens to the purple color. both will show up shades of blue. i've done this myself with a blackberry phone cam and it works, i've even used drawing marker tips made off plastic and it still changes purple to blue.

ELVIS_

06-24-2012, 01:38 PM

Again-- If the suit was any shade of Blue and the cleaners ruined it, then what's the explanation for the Belt?

drumzz70

06-24-2012, 05:05 PM

i completly agree, there is no explaination needed, the suit just faded from dark purple to what you see today as well as the belt. i don't beleive it ever went to the cleaners and was ( what they say "something strange happend ") turned purple at all. i think its just a story invoked because of the suit looking blue in pics and they got tired of people asking why its purple in person and without flash bulbs or just didnt have knowlege of why a purple suit would look blue on film and pictures. if there was any visible royal or bright blue today you would see the suit blue in person. blue is still in the suit but it is mostly red you see to make it purple. if someone could ever take a pic of this suit with FLASH today it would look blue on ur camera. it would solve the whole story. but also everyone who thought it to be blue would have to admit they were wrong. This is all in good spirits by the way i like the debate, but really isnt one if you understand color and how it works.

drumzz70

06-24-2012, 06:01 PM

The jumpsuit mans entry at #134 is the definative proof of how the purple turns blue with flash with todays cameras. you can post blue owl suit pics all you can because that is all it will look like with FLASH but the color was eggplant dark purple and is now faded to lighter purple.

Tommy

06-26-2012, 03:09 PM

http://www.tcb-world.com/gallery/data//30/72-14.jpg

Tommy

08-19-2012, 04:53 PM

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y152/GeordieBroon/Jumpsuits/347.jpg

hounddog

08-21-2012, 03:12 PM

three more

Tommy

09-17-2012, 10:37 PM

http://www.tcb-world.com/gallery/data//30/136_greensboro_14-4-72.jpg

merry77

11-11-2012, 02:04 PM

I did take a photo with flash and the suit is still purple.

Also, why is there no cape on display? That could very well prove the true color of this suit, because capes aren't washed.

Here a pic I took of the lucky suit. You can see the purple discolored part and the part underneath the collar which was shielded from light. That still looks blue.
I believe the royal BLUE fireworks was originally the same color. It wasn't called the PURPLE fireworks.
http://www.evdmeer.dds.nl/com/images/discolored%20blue.jpg

drumzz70

11-12-2012, 08:02 AM

the reason your pic shows the purple is because the suit was blue to begin with and the white is making the blue appear light purple. Elvis's suit was a dark plum eggplant purple it's on rareelvispresley.com under belts and cape. pan all the way to almost the end and you see a picture caption from vegas with his colored suits. 4th picture down is the real purple egeplant color. the names of the suits were mostly fan given names and they called it blue because it appeared blue in pictures and the on tour movie. i also believed the suit was actually a dark navy Blue until i saw that picture. the proof of the suit color is Why would they have made a royal blue suit with a purple belt ? it was always purple and just faded is why. I also would Love to see the original Cape. maybe if one day a star from the suit came off we all could see that the suit is still purple underneath. my guess is also elvis only wore this suit a couple of times and the Red suit also because he didnt really like the colors, he prefered white ( which are actually cream coloered ).

drumzz70

11-12-2012, 08:08 AM

I would love to ask one of the band members what the suit color really was, im sure they remember . but until then it is a great discussion. this is all in good spirits to, i like to hear and know i'm not the only one in search of the truth : )

merry77

11-12-2012, 01:34 PM

discussion is good, as long as people respect eachother and their opinions and try to do the discussion with facts or other types of evidence. Only that way we can solve this mystery.

And it is a mystery that needs solving I totally agree.
How do you explain the color of the suit in daylight when Elvis walks into the building (footage of This is Elvis)?
It definitely looks blue there.

On that picture you refer to on rareelvispresley, you can see that the belt is indeed a bit purple, BUT also that the suit is lighter blue and not purple the way it is now.
Anybody have a larger version of that photo?
http://www.evdmeer.dds.nl/com/images/fireworks.jpg

If you match the color of the present day suit and belt on the belt in this photo then you can compare the color of the present day suit with the one on the photo in Vegas. Lighting then has no impact since you are using one and the same color base for the belt.
For that I would need a larger version of that photo.

It sure would be interesting to see what the bandmembers have to say.

drumzz70

11-12-2012, 11:00 PM

That's the wrong photo, the photo is 4 th picture on the left in the picture caption on rareelvispresley, its dark purple, and the photo below it is the back of the owl cape which almost looks green. so there are 3 pictures of the same suit that look 3 different colors. its the lighting and flash bulbs that make it look blue in pictures. the real color purple was taken with little flash and almost natural lighting. the same happened to the blue nail suit in that caption with the white belt. the photo next to the one you have posted is the blue nail original color and you see the other pics make it look light blue, how people see it in pictures and the on tour movie. but it is a darker color in person.

drumzz70

11-12-2012, 11:10 PM

the reason the belt stays purple in photos or most of them is because it is a suede leather not cloth wool/garbadine as the suit was. they wouldn't have made a purple belt for a blue suit , it would have looked more like the blue lucky suit and matched it up, and still would be blue. if you look at the 4th picture of the purple suit both suit and belt are purple. and that is the owl suit because no other suit was in question to be purple.

merry77

11-13-2012, 10:02 AM

drumzz do you have those photos in larger size? I am still interested to see what will happen if I colormatch the present days suit-belt with this photo.
You can see that the belt is more purple then the suit.

That other picture you mention has a color balance that is off. Look at the curtains. Totally different color then the rest of the photos. What color are the curtains really?
If we know the real color of the curtains or the carpet we can color match the rest of the photo and that way restore the true colors. It doesn't matter if there is other lighting, because we have brought the colors back to the default we know the color off.

4th pic
Look at Elvis' face, he looks like a ghost. The color balance of that 4th picture on the left is way off.

I will try and see what happens if I color match the owl suit to the curtains of the red pinwheel and black butterfly. Those photos seem to have normal color balance.
Therefore it helps to have larger copies of these photos.
Anybody who has these?

drumzz70

11-13-2012, 08:31 PM

i don't have bigger photos, i wish i could see them also in a bigger picture. i think the chair color is also a clue of the natural color. the chairs in front of him are purple, but the 5th photo on the left of the back of the cape photo they change blue and the suit looks greenish. the same happened to the suit, Red was filtered out with high flash bulbs. the 4th photo is the closest to normal color. the reason is that picture you see its purple, and purple means RED would have had to be added to make it look purple, but the red was filtered out. I think if you go to a pro photo shop or a camera store and ask more about how Red is hard to capture in its true form, and oject and clothing that were purple were hard to capture as purple. you'll get a better idea of what happened to this suit in pictures and on film in the 70's.

merry77

11-14-2012, 10:57 AM

Okay, please have a look at this clip from This is Elvis.

https://www.wetransfer.com/dl/KRq9rpZK/97732c99b079e28bdede976a0144d3f7b99f1eae21cc752c81 29540a1b5869848d6efed6656c53c

There are no flash photos. It is a filmclip taken by indoor light. You can see that the color of the suit changes from dark blue to lighter blue. Bith the suit and the cape.
The color of the other persons is normal.
Hair of Red West is Red and his shirt also shows red in it. That comes out red.

I'm curious as to what you think of the suit in this movieclip.

drumzz70

11-15-2012, 08:45 AM

i couldn't view the clip it just showed a music note in the video. i agree red will look red but it won't be true red as it should be or was in person. If its a Film clip from the movie then thats the answer , its a movie and they always have ( indoor lighting or not ) big bright lighting on or around the camera.
I just want to forget the suit for a second, Lets try to agree on a few things.

do you agree the chairs in the photo's change color from purple to blue ?
Also do you agree that his red suit is really darker red in true form then in the pictures ? because it was a burgany not bright RED correct ?
do you agree that his white suits are really cream color off white and not bright white as most pictures would show ?
And do you agree that the owl suit in the 4th photo in the caption is purple when looking at the photo ?

drumzz70

11-15-2012, 09:17 AM

do a web shearch on the question " Why would purple appear blue in photos " and you'll see even today alot of people ask the same question. and most are professional answers. the same happens with movie film and elvis film is from the 70's. the whole reason is you can have 2 objects in front of you that ARE purple and your eyes see them as purple, but then after taking a picture, the camera shows one purple but the other blue. its because the camera can't recognize one of them as purple and will only show blue. it depends on the material and if the camrea with or without flash can pick up the Red to view it as purple. your eyes are far more advanced in regcognizing color then any camera will, especially from the 70's.

merry77

11-15-2012, 10:15 AM

The video is a quicktime movie. You can play it using Apple quicktime. It is strange, because I didn't get a download confirmation from wetransfer that the file was downloaded.

Yes I agree that the red suit is originally burgundy. I actually have a replica suit that is that exact color so I can adjust the color balance.
yes I agree that the white suits are off white.
The chairs I will have to look.

And yes I do think that the bright blue is not the real color of the suit. The suit is darker blue then what comes out on the photos.
In the movie if you look you can see it is a darker blue, but still blue. Therefore I think it would be good if you are able to view that clip. Because it shows the other people with shirts and clothing in more natural light as opposed to flash photography.

drumzz70

11-15-2012, 06:54 PM

I agree it would look dark blue, i always thought it to be a navy blue myself. but the point is purple is red and blue, and Blue is the main color but his color has a red overtone that the cameras didn't recognize and just picked up on the blue. thats why now in graceland and with most non flash cameras it will look purple today, that one photo must have used a filter and acutally showed the pruple in its true color. and now today its just a faded purple like the belt is. the belt mostly stayed purple because the leather behind it acted as a rebound and the camera picked up on it.

Did you do a shearch about Why purple shows up blue in pictures ?

merry77

11-16-2012, 09:49 AM

Yes I've read that purple shows blue. But today this deals mainly about (flash) photos with digital cameras.
Back then it was silver nitrate photographic layer. How did THAT react to purple? I couldn't find any information so far if back then they had the same problem as we have now. It seems that the purple-blue thing is present today because of the way the ccd chip registered light.
The properties of silver nitrate are different then that of a ccd camera and the corresponding white balance. So far I haven't read articles about how that reacts to blue.

The link I mentioned is a video, not flash photography. The lights in the dressing room are not as bright as the spots on stage.

The belt is NOT leather, but painted felt. Felt doesn't hold the paint color also. It was later on repainted to match the discolored suit (source bk ent).

All these things tend me to think the color is a dark navy (hence the name navy fireworks by the designers, not the fans!) and that turns up lighter blue when there is a bright light.

drumzz70

11-17-2012, 12:25 AM

Im pretty sure the cameras were worse off then they are now with purple, i understand you posted a video, but it is still FILM be it movie or flash photography, purple turned blue because of the red element not being picked up other then the naked eye. I really dont think they would have painted the belt to match, thats just hearsay to end a disagreement by bk. also people looked too deep for a reason into why the suit looked blue but is purple in person. here is more proof its just the camera, look at picures of the rainbow suit and embriodered eagal suit. That dark blue embriodery on both suits looks blue in most pics correct ? but in person or close digital pics and some 70's pics it is really purple embriodery that shows up blue.
look at alot of the pictures of both suits digital and non digital graceland displays and you'll see sometimes it looks blue sometimes it looks purple. its the camera at that time of the photos (or video) that either pick up on the red element in purple or it doesn't.

drumzz70

11-17-2012, 12:32 AM

If you agree that the other color suits and the white showed up lighter color then in person, why disagree that this suit was dark purple and is now lighter purple and it was the cameras that made it appear blue ? the camers made dark red lighter looking for the red suit, it made cream off white look bright white, it made the blue nail from a turquise blue to a baby blue. WHY ? it was the camera, lighting, flash and film.

merry77

11-17-2012, 03:41 AM

I do see that the blue swirl is purplish in color. If you look in the Sean Shaver book you can see the photos are purple as well.
From what I read online is the fact the blue turns purple is a problem of the ccd chip, not the old fashioned photographic film cameras.
Also the embroidered arabian small patches look purple in the photos in the Shaver book. Same with the peacock, american eagle and in other books as well. It shows that the effect of blue into purple wasn't such a problem with old fashioned photos. Therefore it may be the wrong assumption to assume that the problem was worse in the 70s. Large percentage of photos show it wasn't such a problem.
Silver nitrate works differently then a ccd camera. It's not for nothing that the ccd camera was welcomed with skepsis in the photography world.

I do agree that lighting, quality of film are of influence. I still think the color is a dark navy and with bright lights it becomes dark blue as we see in the movie.
An experiment would be to film the present day suit with old fashioned 70s cameras and see if it shows up purple or blue. My hypothesis is that it will show up purple and not blue as in the on tour movie.

drumzz70

11-17-2012, 11:41 AM

The suit embroidery IS purple on all those suits mentioned, i picked the 2 that had alot of it on there. today in graceland just like the owl suit it is purple embroidery. Its purple that appears blue. if you film the real suit today i would say it still looks blue 70's or not depending on lighting and the film . it is certain cameras do different things. its like tv settings and pink and green tint, some people like more pink so the red is lighter others dont, so its more green to darken the color. i'm sure both our cpu monitors and tv's have different settings. so its what ur eyes inturpit though a certain media source as well. i personally like the suit better as a dark navy but..... until someone actually can do such an experiment or take one of those stars off , or finds the real Cape we'll have our own opinions. But for now i'm going to abstain from further discussion on it, i think we found a happy medium and agree on ALOT of things about it. but until further info surfaces i want to wish you a Great holiday's season coming and we'll talk more when more info comes to light.

merry77

11-17-2012, 03:51 PM

Wish you also happy holidays. You've put in a few valid points (and I hope I did too). Indeed, until we have further evidence material it is very hard to say it is this or that color. It's okay to be of different opinions. Keeps us sharp.
And yes I agree with you that the embroidery is purple.

drumzz70

01-09-2013, 09:13 PM

merry77 , happy new year . I think this is some futher info I found on rareelvispresley.com under the On Tour tab . when on the page its the 3rd from the last entry and it has equipment used to film the on tour movie. It shows a picture of the camera and details, it was french made Eclair 16mm ACL cameras that they used. If you do some research on those cameras maybe some new light could help solve the mystery of purple appearing blue. Let me know what you find out, i would be interested in knowing more.

paul

02-26-2013, 09:45 PM

not true if the cape gets in to light doesnt matter if washed or not the light will fade this royal blue wich is the natural color when light hits the color it will change it to purple automaticly

drumzz70

03-04-2013, 09:43 PM

i agree , the suit is blue but it hd a red overtone which gave it a plum eggplant color purple. but the film and photos don't recognize it as purple and only shows blue. it's a common thing in photography that purple is hard to capture. ur eyes see what's in front of you, but a camera breaks down what it is made to recognize and red is one of them the doesnt always show true red. which is why in Purple blue will show up more when blue is the base color. if its a red color purple it will stay purple but a lighter pruple. I suggest doing a shearch online about how purple shows blue on film and pictures, or contact one of the band mates or sweet inpsirations women singers from elvis band and you'll know the truth.

Tony Trout

03-05-2013, 06:57 AM

As Gene and Bill & Butch & Kim @ B&K Enterprises have said: "THE SUIT IS BLUE!" It's not any other color than blue. There was an accident when the suit was taken for a cleaning and the suit now appears purple but that is not the true color. And I guarantee you that Gene Doucette would tell you the same thing.

drumzz70

03-05-2013, 09:47 AM

they say that because that is what they were told, they never went and tried to find the truth, you need to go on the website rareelvispresley.com and find the capes and belts tab, once on there pan down just before the end, you'll see a picture caption with Elvis backstage in vegas with all the new suits on, the forth picture down is the owl suit and it IS purple in the picture. 2 other photos of the owl suit are there where the suit looked blue with different flash lighting those were taken the same time and show up different colors. why would Elvis be taking pictures with a suit that came back back from the cleaners that turned purple. also if it went to the cleaners and turned purple they did a great job because it didn't miss one spot. the only thing that happened was the purple suit came back lighter purple. people who were at the show even mention the suit didnt look blue in person. like i mentioned contact a band member and ask.

Tony Trout

03-06-2013, 03:11 AM

You mean to tell me that you are going AGAINST the people (Gene & Bill, respectively) that designed the suit in the first place? That's absurd.

drumzz70

03-06-2013, 08:46 AM

until the original cape comes forward or someone removes one of the stars to reveal blue under it ( because a cleaning issue would not have gone under all the stars i would safely say ) then yes. the proof of the color is in that picture i mentioned. also to mention b&k DO offer the owl suit in blue AND purple, for the fact that most people want what they see in pictures which is blue. i personally always though the suit was a dark blue myself until i saw that picture and that is the proof. I've done my homework and have done camera experiments and dark blue based purple does show up royal blue thats science . look at post number 134 on this suit and there is a clear example of how dark purple looks blue with a camera. the same point for the rED burnin love suit. that is not the color it was in most pictures a bright orange red, it was a dark burgandy. and the white suits looked white but were cream color, but the lights and cameras took the true colors to appear lighter. which in turn made the purple suit ( with red being not recognized ) looked blue.

drumzz70

03-26-2013, 11:35 AM

I have just received a Historic email response from none other then Ed bonja Elvis's photographer in the '70's, you can email him and ask for your own refernce on his site edbonja.com it took 6 days for him to respond but im sure he is a busy person. He has stated that the OWL suit Was PURPLE when Elvis wore it and he photographed it in '72, and still is Purple as you see it in person , he said it Was the lighting that made the suit change color in the photos. He said the suit to him will always be Purple.

ntgb

04-24-2013, 04:34 PM

I think the answer is in the name the makers gave it.

Tony Trout

04-30-2013, 10:59 AM

Ed's incorrect. He never saw Elvis trying it on BACKSTAGE at the Hilton in January of 1972, apparently......

The suit sure as heck looks BLUE to me!

merry77

05-20-2013, 02:46 PM

Okay, done a job in color correcting the tapestry to another photo taken at the same place, same time.
The black suit is obviously closer to the right color. Elvis face looks normal. Maybe that photo is a tad too dark, since the suits weren't that pitch black.

Also taken in the light of the backstage footage and Elvis walking through the hallway in This is Elvis wearing this suit really makes me think this used to be a blue suit.
Also in one of the GRaceland guide books if you look at the lining in the left sleeve you can see it has a blue lining.

If the suit is purple then so is Elvis haircolor. It is a well known fact that dying hair black gives rise to a blueish color in lighting.

http://www.evdmeer.dds.nl/com/images/ep__6_.jpg

http://www.evdmeer.dds.nl/com/images/ep__7_color.jpg

Tony Trout

05-20-2013, 03:43 PM