For some time within the Seventies, the Nudie swimsuit was the final word selection of fashionwear for the discerning, fat-walleted musician. Gram Parsons famously wore one on the duvet of the Flying Burrito Brothers’ Gilded Palace Of Sin. Elvis sported a gold lame model on 50,000,000 Elvis Followers Cannot Be Incorrect. And ZZ High wore them on the duvet of 1975’s Fandango album and on the World Vast Tour of Texas.
Nudie fits had been costly. Accessible from Nudie Cohen’s boutique in Hollywood, musicians would commonly spends hundreds of {dollars} commissioning extravagant, made-to-measure designs. Rhinestones and embroidery had been de rigueur – Parsons’ swimsuit was adorned by tablet capsules, marijuana leaves, poppy flowers and nudes – whereas some musicians gathered total wardrobes crammed with Nudie’s tailoring. Nation star Porter Wagoner as soon as claimed to personal greater than 50, with the most affordable costing a mere $11,000.
Given their expense, it is hardly shocking that unique Nudie fits in good situation are price some huge cash. And should you’re the proprietor of such an merchandise and wish some fast money, there’s in all probability no place higher for a swift appraisal than the World Well-known Gold & Silver Pawn Store in Las Vegas. Co-owned by Rick Harrison, the store is the topic of the long-running actuality TV present Pawn Stars.
Throughout the ninth episode of the 18th collection of Pawn Stars, named Gotsa Get Pawned, which aired in early 2021, a thriller buyer presents Rick with a Nudie swimsuit, and claims it belonged to ZZ High. She desires to promote, and he or she’ll fortunately take $25,000 for the garment.
“I do know a man who will know all about this,” says Rick. “If you happen to simply hang around for a little bit bit I will go give him a name. He simply lives down the road.”
After which, quite conveniently, Billy Gibbons present up. He examines the swimsuit and confirms it is the true factor, earlier than telling the story.
“We grew to become shoppers with Nudie in 1972,” says Billy. “These fits seem on the duvet of ZZ High’s Fandango document, so we have had a protracted historical past with these shiny rhinestone fits. It is fairly enjoyable what you could have laid earlier than me. Brings again quite a lot of reminiscences.”
“The final time I laid eyes on this was 1974,” provides Billy (we predict he is misremembered the date). “I inadvertently had misplaced it, left it on an airplane. By the point I realised it was m.i.a I known as the airline and the cleansing crew had gone in, so I utterly thought this had vaporised.”
The encounter ends on a cheerful observe for all involved. Billy gives to separate the price of the swimsuit with Rick, and the pair supply the shopper $40,000 to take it off her fingers to allow them to donate it to Antone’s in Houston, Texas, the membership that helped convey Stevie Ray Vaughan to nationwide consideration within the Eighties and is one thing of a mecca for blues followers.
Later than yr the swimsuit went on show at Antone’s, clothes a fully-bearded, sharp-dressed mannikin, subsequent to a museum label that tells its story, confirming that Gibbons wore the swimsuit on tour in 1976-77 and occurring to thank “destiny and Billy’s generosity.”
