Elvis Presley's life was the ultimate rags to riches story, and it was the rags, as much as the riches that drove him, defined him, and made him the global icon he is today. Born in a shack in America's Deep South in 1935, to impoverished parents struggling in the wake of the Great Depression, he sprung from a life of deprivation to one of international fame and untold wealth all before he was twenty. Brought up dirt-poor, but surrounded by love and music from birth, Elvis was infused with the sounds of gospel and the raw, hard-life blues of the 'cotton country's' plantation workers. And when the family radio brought country singers, crooners and spiritual quartets to his young ears, his musical DNA was fully-formed. Elvis' boarding pass for the rocket-ship to stardom was a voice of liquid gold and his striking appearance upgraded him to a VIP fast-track ticket into the entertainment stratosphere. His unique sense of style and musical talent went hand-in-hand in creating Elvis the Showman. As a teenager, before he sang a note, it was his unconventional look that singled him out among his peers. Later, it was his voice that stopped a conservative 1950s America in its tracks. This book looks at how Elvis broke down cultural and racial barriers and smiled in the face of safe dressing. His bold outfits were his trademark yet, no matter how dazzling, they never outshone him. They were also his force shield, superhero costumes that protected him from anxiety, pain, the glare of the spotlight and, in difficult times, from reality. It considers how Elvis's extraordinary style as much as his pioneering music defined his life and the experiences that he lived through. It includes exclusive interviews with: * Hal Lansky, whose family dressed Elvis for three decades, and who advised Austin Butler on what to wear playing him in the 2022 movie, Elvis. * Award-wining producer director, Steve Binder who resurrected Elvis' career and put him in that black leather suit for the 1968 Comeback Special. * Butch and Kim Polston, who maintain Elvis' legacy, recreating his spectacular 1970s Vegas jumpsuits, including those worn by Butler. Elvis: The King of Fashion marvels at how an intensely shy and disadvantaged boy from the wrong side of Tupelo, Mississippi, went from homespun to Hollywood in the blink of an eye and became the most popular, successful, idolized and imitated solo performer of all time. Most of all, it regards the rollercoaster life of Elvis the man through a fashion lens as he strode like a colossus through the world of showbusiness, dressed like The King he never quite believed he was. AUTHOR: Lorraine Gibson is an award-winning journalist of 20 years, who cut her writing teeth on her local paper in Bournemouth. Inspired by her beautiful Dorset surroundings, she is widely published in regional and national titles and is now a freelance writer, with a passion for local history. Living close to Brownsea Island, she became intrigued by its role in the birth of the Scouting movement while writing a feature about it. After delving deeper into the world of the Boy Scouts and their famous founder, the extraordinary and astoundingly-eccentric Robert Baden-Powell, she was hooked. When, in the summer of 2020, she covered a fight between Scouts and protesters, hell-bent on throwing Baden-Powell's statue off Poole Quay, directly opposite Brownsea, there was no going back. Robert Baden-Powell: A Biography is her first book and it is, like its subject, thought-provoking, contrary and full of ripping yarns. Lorraine lives in Bournemouth with her husband and two daughters.
Author Biography:
Lorraine Gibson, an award-winning journalist and freelance writer with more than 20 year's experience, is widely published in print and online. Author of Elvis: The King of Fashion, the must-have book about the man who was and remains the most iconic solo performer on the planet, she has a passion for fashion, history and, well, Elvis.
Growing up listening to her parents' Elvis records and watching his films during the school holidays, she became fascinated with his colourful outfits and unconventional appearance. As a grown up, she decided to write about how his love of clothes influenced and defined him as much as the music that surrounded him did. Part of her research took her to Memphis to meet the people who knew him - in particular Hal Lansky, whose father, Bernard was known as the Clothier to The King - and to follow in Elvis's two-tone footsteps.
The result is her second book, Elvis: The King of Fashion - a fresh, insightful, humane and immensely-readable take on the life of the man born to be King, as seen through a fashion lens.
Like its subject, it relishes stylish details and resonates with a constant backbeat of the music of the South, the country, blues, gospel and soul that Elvis instinctively fused into his own unique rock & roll sound - a sound that shook up the world.
Elvis: The King of Fashion follows Lorraine's acclaimed debut book, Robert Baden-Powell: A Biography with foreword by Bear Grylls OBE, an examination of the light and shade that surrounds the controversial and wildly eccentric founder of the Scouts.
Living close to the island location of Baden-Powell's first, secret experimental scouting camp inspired the biography. She was intrigued by its role in the birth of the organisation and delving deeper into the world of its famous leader, she was hooked. When, in the pandemic summer of 2020, she witnessed a clash between Scouts and BLM protesters, who were hell-bent on throwing B-P's statue into Poole Harbour, directly opposite the first 1907 Scouts camp site, there was no going back.
Like its subject, Robert Baden-Powell: A Biography is thought-provoking, contrary and full of ripping yarns.
Lorraine lives in Dorset with her husband and two daughters.
