SINGAPORE 60's: ANDY's POP MUSIC INFLUENCE IS A PERSONAL MUSIC, MEMORY TRAIL. BLOGGER DOES NOT OWN THE RIGHTS TO VIDEOS, AUDIO TRACKS AND IMAGES. THEY ARE UPLOADED FOR FUN, EDUCATIONAL, ILLUSTRATIVE PURPOSES AND HAVE BEEN CREDITED. BLOG IS NOT SPONSORED NOR ADVERTORIAL IN ANY WAY WHATSOEVER. INFORM BLOGGER OF COPYRIGHT ISSUES AND POST WILL BE DELETED IMMEDIATELY. DO NOT COPY THE POSTS; GET PERMISSION N CREDIT ME IF YOU DO. ANDY LIM LA (NOVEMBER, 2008) -
(新加坡六十年代安迪的流行音乐影响力), SUDI MAMPIR !
I have never seen anyone in Singapore wearing an Elvis Presley performance costume with such revealing splendour, no, none, not one! So when Singapore's current Elvis Tribute Artiste, Jimmy Lee sent these photographs I thought they were the most beautiful jumpsuits ever made. Whether it's in red, white or blue, just check them out. Yes, black too..
The tailor and fashion designer made them so well. Some jumpsuits that I have seen did not seem suitable for the Elvis Tribute Artistes who wore them. But most of Jimmy's costumes look fabulous and gives him that authentic Elvis look.
When I asked for details, he mentioned that the suits cost from S$1,500 to S$2,500 and would take about three months to tailor and be mailed to Singapore, since they came only from the Philippines, Thailand or the U.S.
Now that's a lot of money for a suit but not by today's standards since the prices have increased much. Jimmy said the jumpsuits were made around 2013. That's nearly 10 years ago.
It will cost a fortune to make one today. He mentioned that the tailors may not be able to make them because the studs and stones for decoration come from North America. The reaction to its pricing could probably be, "My hands are shaky and my knees are weak; I can't seem to stand on my own two feet."
I told Jimmy during the chat that his love for Elvis is mind blowing.
Jimmy explained that Elvis has a name for each attire. These names would include: Phoenix, American Eagle, Conquistador, Aloha, Blue Swirl, Burning Love, Fireworks, Blue Rainbow and Concho. Very imaginative sounding names that seem to reverberate with Nature.
There are more jumpsuits in Jimmy's wardrobe. These are only a few.
Watch out for Parts 2 and 3.
Jimmy PresLee sings with Doug Church:
The Wonder of You.
YouTube Video from: Hanche Presley.
Thanks so much Jimmy for the information you provided.
We invite comments from readers, please.
Connect below for full interview with Jimmy PresLee:
She's fab and so alert. Her English Language is excellent and did the ultimate with her assignment for a La Salle Institute project. And her creation (above) was sent to New York. Wow! Read about student, Lydia (La Salle Institute) and what I learnt about Maximalism. Thanks to Michael Bangar too. Sincerely, Andy. Lydia Kok writes:
In collaboration with The Museum of Fashion Institute of Technology (MFIT) and the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York, LASALLE’s School of Fashion featured a cross-pollination exhibition themed Minimalism/Maximalism, featuring works of BA Fashion Design & Textiles and BA Fashion Media & Industries Level2 students, curated by the School of Fashion. Students from both cities cross-pollinated ideas of both minimalist and maximalists aesthetics in response to historical and cultural references from the 1960's and 1970's from their respective cities.
LASALLE’s School of Fashion’s Minimalism/Maximalism Invitation As an avid music lover of all genres, I’ve decided to research on the Singapore music scene from the 1960's. Pertaining to the given brief, I wanted to design a maximalism collection that reinvents the idea of a Modern Jukebox, bringing back the nostalgic good times and retro-style. The collection should bring awareness for the 1960's music scene of Singapore to the younger generations, and allow the audience to ponder on the idea of how the nation’s economic development also signalled the downfall of the local bands’ commercial appeal.
With Michael Bangar (wife extreme right), who came to assist with 60's music information at Andy Young's request, when Lydia wrote to Andy for an interview.
I stumbled upon Andy’s music blog during my research and realize it was a goldmine of information and reference points for me. It is rare in this day and age to see someone so passionate about preserving a rich music history! I was intrigued and I knew I wanted to chat about the local music scene first-hand with someone that came from that period of time. Hence, I reached out to Andy. During our meet-up, Andy brought a couple of valuable music albums and 60's fashion reference books and introduced me to Michael Bangar, a musician from the 60's.
A 60's collection of Extended Play vinyls (EPs) showing the fashion styles then. With all the valuable perspectives I’ve gathered, I designed a silkscreen printed bell bottom jumpsuit with multicoloured ruffles and a voluminous ruffles shirt jacket. The silkscreen design comes from a warped and distorted archival photo from the scene in the 1960's. I screen printed the A3 size block, in a ‘tile’ manner onto a cotton poplin fabric.
Vermicelli stitches embroidery on silkscreen fabric to create textures that highlights the psychedelic 60s music.
Ruching and ruffles details on the shirt jacket.
Jukebox Blues Cotton poplin silkscreen printed jumpsuit
Model: Kaci Beh
Shot by Charles Rezandi
Garments by Lydia Kok
The garments were selected to be exhibited at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York, in conjunction with the Minimalism/Maximalism exhibition happening at the Museum of FIT. My creative process documentation is still currently exhibited at LASALLE. This became one of my favourite fun-filled and rewarding projects. I hope that the local music scene would continue to thrive and flourish and that our efforts would influence the younger generation to have a greater understanding and appreciation for the Singapore’s golden age of music.
Lydia's project exhibited at the Museum Fashion Institute of Technology (MFIT) in New York, New York, USA. Article and Images are Copyrights Reserved by Lydia Kok.
Below: Images from Google n YouTube
Tom Jones with We Can Work It Out by the Beatles. All in Jumpsuits. Checking the Net, the creative mind is inspired by the various colorful jumpsuits worn in the 60's and 70's by Elvis Presley, Elton John, David Bowie, Cher and Ann Margret.
.jpg)
