Elton John is packing up his fabulous outfits and hitting phases for the final time, making a sleek exit from the street at age 75 along with his “Farewell Yellow Brick Highway” tour. He’ll, after all, make a cease at Dodger Stadium, the place he performed one in all his most well-known live shows in 1975, striding onto the stage in a sequined Dodgers uniform, one in all many shimmering costumes he would don in the course of the 3-hour marathon set.
When John performed Dodger stadium, his songs had been “hitting the airwaves with a way of fantastical futurism,” writes Far Out, “all packaged in flamboyant costumes and wearing primary albums. Cherished by critics and adored by followers, he resembled one thing totally totally different.” Totally different from what?
John answered that query in a 2020 interview with Vogue: “I wasn’t glam rock. I wasn’t David Bowie. I used to be me being a blokey man carrying these garments. I needed to have humor in my costume.” Thus, his turns as Donald Duck, Minnie Mouse, and the Statue of Liberty, all costumes “designed to enhance the corresponding efficiency,” Janelle Okwodu writes at Vogue.
John might not have considered himself as a glam rock famous person, however his legacy of glowing, sequined outfits, platform boots, feather boas, and bluesy rock hits says in any other case. Within the video above, see the retiring Rocketman break down his most iconic seems to be. “Let’s start,” he says, “on the very starting” — many years earlier than designer Sean Dixon tailor-made 30 bespoke fits (at 90 hours every to make) for John’s 2018 Million Greenback Piano present.
In 1968, John donned bell bottoms, a three-button jacket, and a fedora for his first publicity shot. “That was most likely all I may afford, and it exhibits,” he remarks. Not a single Swarovski crystal in sight. Within the early 70s, it was denim, “and I completely detest denim now.” In 1997, for his fiftieth party, John appeared in superb full drag ensemble made by Sandy Powell, however in his later years, he’s principally dressed down…. which for Elton John means turning into an limitless sequence of bespoke, bedazzled fits.
Now that he’s heading into retirement from performing, we could also be entitled to marvel about his bathrobe assortment….
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Revisit Six of Elton John’s Most Iconic Concert events, Streaming in Their Entirety for 72 Hours
Josh Jones is a author and musician primarily based in Durham, NC. Observe him at @jdmagness