From St. Paul to Fort Wayne

The jumpsuit that Elvis wore on October 2, 1974 was The Peacock Jumpsuit. Elvis performed in the peacock jumpsuit for the first time during his matinee performance at the Forum in Los Angeles on May 11, 1974. It is quite likely that he took delivery of the peacock jumpsuit outfit that very day, as it was tailored expressly for Elvis by Bill Belew, the renowned Los Angeles based designer.

Bill Belew, the man responsible for creating Elvis Presley's entire stage wardrobe between 1968 and 1977, beginning with the memorable black leather outfit and white suit worn by Elvis on his 1968 Comeback Special on NBC, was based in Hollywood with I.C. Costumes at the time.

The peacock jumpsuit, said to be Elvis' favorite among all the fabulously ornate Belew creations, was concert worn nearly twice as often as any of the 11 different jumpsuits worn by Elvis during the May to October tour; more than a dozen times in cities nationwide and, most likely, another dozen or more times during multi-week stands in Lake Tahoe and Las Vegas.

The peacock made its final documented appearance in San Antonio on October 8; the tour ending a week later in Lake Tahoe.

Only a few of the nearly 125 outfits designed by Belew for Elvis have appeared on the collector's market since Elvis' death.

The one-piece, zippered jumpsuit is appointed with a heavily chain-stitched, rhinestone bejeweled peacock design on the front and back with tail feathers tapering off as they cascade down the entire length of the legs that flare at the bottom. The tailoring label reads 'I.C. Costume Co. Hollywood, Ca.' The most expensive of all of the Belew creations, the cost of the garment was 10.000 dollars.

Elvis can be seen wearing the peacock jumpsuit on the cover of his 1975 album and single 'Promised Land'.

The suit was several times for sale the last few years. The last time was last year at an auction where the new owner paid 300.000 dollars for the Peacock Jumpsuit.

2

Above you will find a picture of Elvis during the concert on October 2, 1974 at the Civic Center in St. Paul. Several newspapers wrote the day after the concert a review. In this second part about the new Tunzi book more information about the articles.
Once again Elvis entered the Civic Center wearing his Peacock Suit but it was noted that he looked really bored with his older material and it was only on his new songs that he showed any talent. It's a very short show and a lot of the singing load wasn't carried by Elvis who in my opinion didn't put on that much of a show. St Paul had Mike Sweeney review his 2.10.74 show in the St Paul Pioneer Press and found that 'Elvis still makes em Scream' . Mike found Elvis looking noticeably plump in his peacock suit and thought that during his 50 minute performance Elvis looked bored as his back-up singers sang a couple of songs and he walked around looking tired. Elvis kissed some of the lucky scarf gatherers and the Hawaiian Wedding song was hit of the evening. Roy M.Close thought in his review in the Minneapolis Star that Elvis was paunchy giving out scarves and had long forgotten what his songs were about with his music just being incidental. Although there were about 17.000 people inside the Civic Center to view Elvis' concert.

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