Elton John 1972

Elton John 1972, hand-drawn wearing his Nudie Cohn western suit during a photoshoot for Honky Château in 1972, age 25.

Elton John can be seen going into Nudie’s Rodeo Tailors store in the 1972 promo video for “Crocodile Rock”.

Ukrainian born Nudie Cohn, was an American tailor who designed decorative rhinestone-covered suits, known popularly as “Nudie Suits”, and other elaborate outfits for some of the most famous celebrities of his era.
In 1963 the Cohns relocated their business to a larger facility on Lankershim Boulevard in North Hollywood and renamed it “Nudie’s Rodeo Tailors”.

Cohn created Hank Williams’ white cowboy suit with musical notations on the sleeves, and Gram Parsons’ infamous suit for the cover of the Flying Burrito Brothers’ 1969 album The Gilded Palace of Sin, featuring pills, poppies, marijuana leaves, naked women, and a huge cross.
He designed the iconic costume worn by Robert Redford in the 1979 film Electric Horseman.

Many of the film costumes worn by Roy Rogers and Dale Evans were Nudie designs.
John Lennon was a customer, as were John Wayne, Gene Autry, George Jones, Chris Hillman, Cher, Ronald Reagan, Elton John, Robert Mitchum, Pat Buttram, Tony Curtis, Michael Landon, Glen Campbell, Michael Nesmith, Hank Snow, Hank Thompson, and numerous musical groups, notably America and Chicago.
ZZ Top band members Billy Gibbons and Dusty Hill sported Nudie suits on the cover photo of their 1975 album Fandango!.

In 2006, Porter Wagoner said he had accumulated 52 Nudie suits, costing between $11,000 and $18,000 each, since receiving his first free outfit in 1962.

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