Gary James' Interview With
Jamie Nudie



Nudie Cohn was one of the most famous and influential tailors and fashion designers of the 20^th century. He was the first man to put rhinestones on clothing. His celebrity clientele reads like a Who's Who in show business, and included John Lennon, Elton John, Glen Campbell, Hank Williams Sr., The Flying Burrito Bros, America, Chicago, ZZ Top, Cher and Elvis. In fact, in 1957 Nudie made Elvis Presley's famous, $10,000 gold lame suit. Nudie Cohn died in 1984. He was 81.

Keeping the Nudie name alive is his granddaughter, Jamie Cucvas Nudie. And so, we talked to Jamie about her grandfather, the stars he dressed, and the business of Nudie's today.

Q - Jamie, what are you doing at Nudie's? Do you design clothes? Are you involved with the promotion of the business?

A - No. We're not doing any of the clothing at the time. Eventually we will get back into it, but right now we're just kind of focusing on doing t-shirts, coffee mugs, and we have the royalty deal with the bar downtown here in Nudie's Honky Tonk, (Nashville) where all my memorabilia is. But, other than that it's just a website (www.NudiesRodeoTailor.com/). Actually, our storefront is revamping 'cause we got a new company we're working with that actually is here in Nashville. So, that will be up and running soon.

Q - I don't see many performers dressing up like used to in the 1950s and 1960s with those sparkly, sequined suits. I'm talking especially Country artists.

A - Right.

Q - When did Nudies's stop making those type of clothes? Was that recently?

A - When my grandfather passed away in '84, my grandmother and I ran the business until '94. The tailors that had been trained under my grandfather had all gotten up there in age and my grandmother was getting up there in age and she just said, "End of an era. It is time to close shop." They'd been in business fifty years. Things were changing and it was just time. We donated a lot of stuff to museums and I had opened up a coffee house with all of the memorabilia for awhile. Then the Honky Tonk in Nashville knew what I had and they contacted me and said what they wanted to do. So, his last car we ended up hanging on the wall for display and all the vintage suits are in shadow boxes, hanging in the bar. There's vintage pieces that are at the Country Music Hall Of Fame here. For awhile I was working with a couple of seamstresses that we were doing some suits, and then we stopped doing that. We're working on something, but it hasn't come into play yet. It's very difficult to find someone who wants to work under your label that can actually do the work in the way we want done, the way that I know my grandfather had it done.

Q - Did your grandfather have any competition?

A - Well, in the beginning, prior to him there was Nathan Turk, who started making suits. Then my grandfather came along and he was actually the first person to put rhinestones on clothing. So, everybody started going to him. But then there's other tailors out there that, after my grandpa passed, just branched out on their own, the ones that had actually worked for my grandfather. Everyone is making what is referred to as Nudie suits because of their design.

Q - I believe I saw Elvis' gold lame suit as part of Rolling Stone magazine's Traveling Exhibit Of Rock And Roll and Rock Memorabilia.

A - The gold lame suit that was made in '57 is in Graceland. I don't believe it was ever in a traveling exhibit. We did make replicas for Elvis impersonators over the years. Perhaps maybe it was that. I can't tell you 100%. I don't see Graceland as releasing the suit to be traveling. I know it made the cover of Rolling Stone. I forget what year that was. Colonel Parker went to my grandfather and said he wanted to do something that had never been done before, and they came up with the idea of doing a gold lame suit. And after that my grandpa made a suit for him for Loving You and for the movie Clambake, and one belt that was commissioned by the Hilton International Hotel. I believe that is also in Graceland, on display.

Q - You're no doubt too young to remember someone like Elvis or John Lennon coming through the doors to buy your grandfather's clothing. But did your grandfather ever tell you stories about those people, and what did he say?

A - Oh, yeah. As far as Elvis goes, my mother passed away in 1990. My grandfather and the Colonel surprised my mother for her 18th birthday and Elvis sang for her. My grandmother would tell me stories how when they first met Elvis, met him with his parents and how kind they were. They all went out to lunch together, my mother and Elvis had a moment. She got a kiss from him. My grandmother and grandfather would tell me he was such a gentleman. As far as other celebrations, I grew up in the store. Every day after school my mom would take me down there. During high school I was working at the store. I was the kid serving up the coffee there. Roger Miller, Glen Campbell, John Wayne, all the '70s Rock groups, Linda Ronstadt, were all coming through the store. Marty Robbins, Tex Williams, a lot of the older singers back then would have a jam session. My grandpa had a piano setting there. He played mandolin. Someone would have a guitar. You could be shopping, trying to buy a pair of boots at Nudie's, and they'd have a jam session with all of those entertainers.

Q - What a great store to shop at!

A - Yeah. It was fun. It was very fun. There was a lot of behind the scenes going on there growing up.

Q - Did Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix or Janis Joplin come through the doors of Nudie's?

A - Janis Joplin, yes. In fact, there's a photo in the collection she'd given my grandfather. Hendrix, I'm not sure. All the client files we donated to the (Gene) Autry Museum in Los Angeles. I kept the measurement cards of everybody that walked through the doors and all the photographs.

Q - I guess Jim Morrison didn't come through then.

A - I'm not 100%. I'd have to research. I don't want to say yes and I don't want to say no.

Q - Back to Elvis, was your mother an Elvis fan when he sang to her?

A - Oh, yeah. But my grandfather taught me, he taught my mother that you don't get star struck. You just treat them like every other individual that walks in the door. My mother said it was pretty neat to have Elvis serenade her. The actually had a date, of course with his parents and my grandparents there. Elvis looked at my mother and said, "Hey baby, why don't you pass me a little sugar?" And my mother, being young and a little naive, passed the sugar bowl. But yet, she did get a kiss from him. So, I've got some great photos from that day. It's kind of cool.

Q - When you encounter someone who is famous, it's not hard to be struck in a certain way and think they're like everyone else.

A - Right. I mean, Roy Rogers was like an uncle to me because he was at the house. In fact, when my grandfather passed away, Dale Evans did the eulogy for my grandfather's funeral. When my mother had passed in 1990, Dale was doing some ministry work. Roy Rogers actually came and sat with my grandmother and I. They weren't just clients. They became close friends. I would ride horses at Roy's house. People would say, "Oh my gosh, you get to hang out with these people!" It's like I grew up in the era of Bobby Sherman, David Cassidy, the group America, ZZ Top, Chicago. I loved their music, but I always treated them like anybody else. As a young teenager I had a big crush on Glen Campbell, but I was told not to treat him any different so they'd be comfortable. The band America used to rehearse right up the street from the store and I'd get to go over to their rehearsals. I still have one of their club jackets they gave me. I went to see the band Chicago in maybe 2000 and I got to go backstage and talk to all the guys. They said, "Yeah, we remember your grandfather. We used to love to go get our clothes there." People remember him. He wasn't just a great designer of clothing, he became friends with all his clients. My grandfather would treat Gram Parsons (The Flying Burrito Bros.) like the son he never had, and Gram looked up to him as a father figure. He was always there for his clients.

Q - Did any of The Rolling Stones ever come into the store?

A - Keith Richards was interviewed and said how much he loved my grandfather's clothing.

Q - The people who would come into the store weren't necessarily buying clothes for their stage show, were they? Ronald Reagan was a customer.

A - No. Before he became President and (California) Governor he was an actor. Like Audie Murphy, my grandfather became close friends with them. On my parents' 50th anniversary he sent them a telegram wishing them Happy Anniversary. The bands in the '70s were wearing all the rhinestone suits. John Wayne wasn't having any rhinestone suits made. It was just a Western coat.

Q - With the designs your grandfather made, you could almost launch a clothing line today, couldn't you, and make a lot of money?

A - Oh, absolutely.

Q - I realize that so many of the designs were personally designed for the celebrity coming in, so I don't know how that would go over.

A - I've got designs that I could actually reproduce and just have them in different sizes for someone and then do custom work. We're working on it, but it's not been official to the public yet.

Q - Jamie, what a life you've had!

A - Yeah. It's been interesting, that's for sure. I've got a lot of good memories. I remember one time, maybe I was thirteen, and Linda Ronstadt had come into the store and I had just heard a joke at school about a pig. She started talking to me and I said, "Can I tell you a joke I just heard?" She said, "Of course." So, I told her the pig joke and I was allowed to ask her to sign my little autograph book, and when she signed it she drew a little pig. She was the sweetest thing, the sweetest lady I could ever have met. I've got great memories of all these people that came into the store. It was just very interesting. A lot of these clients became close friends. Some of these Rock 'n' Roll guys that could barely afford a Nudie suit, they'd walk out and find a $20 bill in their pocket. At Christmas time everything was old school. There weren't computers back then and he would have my grandmother go through all the books and he would say, what does such and such owe on their bill? My grandmother would let him know. My grandfather would say, "Okay. Paid in full. Merry Christmas," and they would get a letter saying they were paid in full. That's just the type of man he was.

Q - That kind of business person doesn't exist today.

A - No, it doesn't. You don't find that nowadays.

Q - And with your grandfather's attitude he still found a way to become very successful.

A - Oh, yeah. He gave back a lot, but he lived a very frugal life. He gave back a lot to the community. He was the Honorary Sheriff of North Hollywood in California. Very active with the police department. Gave money to Boys Homes. Helped build playgrounds. He was all about giving back. He came from poverty and he said when he made it big he wanted to make sure that he gave back so everybody else could enjoy.

Q - Just like Elvis.

A - Yeah. Exactly. He was one of a kind, that's for sure.

Official Website: www.NudiesRodeoTailor.com/

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