The Story About Elvis' Jumpsuits & Why He Wore Them

March 2024 ยท 2 minute read

In an interview with Elvis Australia, Bill Belew said he thought that Elvis Presley's favorite outfit that he'd designed was the Aloha Eagle Suit, which he famously wore for his 1973 "Aloha from Hawaii via Satellite" special. This costume included a cape, which Belew said was inspired when Elvis told him, "Bill, I just want the suit to say America." Belew noted that he'd recently been in Europe when there had been controversy regarding an American eagle being displayed across an American embassy. The idea for an eagle motif replaced his original idea for an American flag-themed suit, and Elvis was on board.

The original cape, featuring an eagle with outstretched wings, was floor length, but a modification was necessary when the full-length cape turned out to be too heavy for Presley to move in, actually causing him to fall over when he attempted to rehearse in it. Belew replaced it with a short cape and later laughed, reminiscing, "[A]ll these years I always carried this image in my head of Elvis making the step forward and then bam. Laying there amongst all this cape. And I can see him howling with laughter, too."

Bill Belew designed the many outfits, but much of the embroidery was designed and stitched by his coworker, Gene Doucette. Doucette told The Guardian in 2010 that he sketched the original eagle idea for the Aloha Eagle Suit and explained his costuming philosophy: "I didn't just want glitter. I wanted a story."

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