It was a real surprise to Elvis collectors when in August this year, two deluxe “EPE authorised” hardback books about Elvis’ jumpsuits and fashion were released within two weeks of each other.
One seemed to be based on the Graceland exhibition 'Dressed to Rock' while the other 'The Jumpsuit Anthology' matches their brand new 2026 'Fashion Icon' exhibit.
When fans leave the exhibitions they probably want a souvenir and like any museum Graceland has these books for you to buy and take home.
The first book announced 'Elvis Dressed to Rock' - published by Weldon Owen - was written by fashion expert and costume designer Karan Feder.
'The Jumpsuit Anthology' was published by Graceland - “From the Graceland Archives” with no acknowledgements noted.
So what do Elvis super-fans and collectors want from a deluxe book about Elvis fashion and his stunning jumpsuits?
A good starting point would be designer Bill Belew’s first involvement in the ‘68 Comeback Special’ and then follow with all of Elvis’ jumpsuit designs from 1969 through to his final concert in 1977 wearing the famous Aztec Sun suit. In an ideal world this would be matched by close-up photographs showing the beautiful embroidery work, along with Bill Belew designs, plus at least one photograph of Elvis wearing the actual jumpsuit.
Plenty of books have been previously published about Elvis fashion and Elvis jumpsuits including many that focus on just one particular concert or movie, Las Vegas season or US Tour.
Both of these new ‘EPE authorised’ books are competing for the same market, both are extremely enjoyable in many ways as an overall look at Elvis' beautiful jumpsuits and are a delight to browse through but unfortunately both fail to be the top-notch book that are all fans are hoping for.
Below EIN compares both books against each other so that hopefully you can make the correct decision about which one to purchase.
‘Elvis Dressed To Rock’ vs ‘The Jumpsuit Anthology’
'Elvis Dressed To Rock'
This is by author Karan Feder, available through Amazon and other bookshops, is described as…
“For the first time, take an in-depth look at the fashion pieces that defined the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll’s style and career, with more than 150 pieces from the archives at Graceland including early suits, jumpsuits, capes, belts, jewelry, original designer sketches, and more.
... Now, for the first time, the Graceland archives open their doors for this once-in-a-lifetime look at the stagewear of the King. From the now-iconic gold lamé suit in the 1950s and the leather suit from the 1968 Comeback Special to the last jumpsuit Elvis wore onstage in Indianapolis, this comprehensive book contains more than 150 pieces of stagewear spanning Elvis’s entire career.
.. Detailed information from the archives about the suits, including the definitive list of names for the jumpsuits, and fascinating historical context and insights about the detailing and construction of the pieces from noted costume historian Karan Feder, accompany stunning detail photography of each piece. Lavishly illustrated with new photography of each piece in the archive, images of Elvis on stage in the pieces and album covers on which they appear, rare sketches from costume designer Bill Belew, and more, this beautiful book is a look at the King’s style like never before.”
In a delightful touch the introduction shows the author getting Elvis’ ‘King Of Spades’ jumpsuit ready for its close-up. The book feels more personal and her text provides some fascinating information throughout the book.
Each jumpsuit that is featured is nicely headlined and features a paragraph about how the design was created, how it was made and the year that it was first used on stage.
Other sidebars include information about Bill Belew introducing the ‘kick pleats’ inside the legs of Elvis' jumpsuit as well as other information such as which belt was originally worn with the design.
It is a 256 page hard-back book with beautifully textured American Eagle spreading over the front and back cover.
Art Directors and designer Chrissy Kwasnik are also credited
There is an introduction of one page by Graceland archivist Angie Marchese.
The back of the book also includes some correspondence and documents from the Graceland indicating the cost of some of the suits.
‘Elvis Dressed To Rock’ also includes an introductory section looking at Elvis fashion from his work from the 1950s right the way through to the start of his 1969 live concerts.
Fifteen pages are dedicated to Elvis' early fashion statements while another chapter of 24 pages looks at Elvis' later 60s movies styles plus meeting with costume designer Bill Belew to work on the 68 special including Elvis’ stunning black-leather jumpsuit and ‘If I Can Dream’ suit. Interestingly Elvis’ “Regency style” designs are noted along with the influence of UK’s Carnaby Street.
The section devoted to Elvis’ jumpsuit period of 1969 to 1977 is 242 pages.
Unsurprisingly both books sometimes feature similar pages. Above 'Elvis Dressed To Rock', below 'The Jumpsuit Anthology'
On Elvis' Rope Collar jumpsuit both books feature four pages about the suit and both use the same colour photo - while both then include a second, different, B&W full-page shot over the page.
The Jumpsuit Anthology
This is an official Graceland published book, available exclusively through Shop-Graceland. It is described as..
"Celebrate the artistry, craftsmanship, and legacy of Elvis Presley’s most iconic stage wear with From The Graceland Archives: The Jumpsuit Anthology Hardcover Book. Organized by the year each jumpsuit was introduced - from 1969 to 1976 - this exquisite coffee table book showcases the Graceland Archives collection in extraordinary detail.
Featuring never-before-seen perspectives and stunning photography, it provides an unparalleled visual journey through the evolution of Elvis’s concert wardrobe and the enduring impact of these legendary designs."
The book has no author, no designer credit and it is just noted as being “From the Graceland Archives”.
It is a 320 page hard-back book with nice textured close-ups of Elvis' 'Arabian' suit on front and back covers. .
There is hardly any text. Each year from 1969 to 1976 has a minimal introduction but there is no description about each jumpsuit or, for instance, what belt Elvis wore with the suit. It is basically a photo book and nothing more.
Rather strangely there is no introduction by Graceland archivist Angie Marchese in this book.
Four pages at the end however feature a fascinating index of all the 112 jumpsuits that were made for Elvis, and note the 84 in EPE's collection, along with their alternate names and the year that they were initially worn.
This index also notes a handful of jumpsuits that are in EPE’s collection but are not included in the book.
A few pages are also dedicated to Elvis’ capes, boots and belts but unfortunately it is just pages of selected photographs with no information to go with them.
The section on Elvis’ jump-suit period of 1969 to 1976 is 276 pages.
Note that in 1977 Elvis wore no new jumpsuit so rather strangely that year is not mentioned.
Two pages on Elvis' Arabian jumpsuit, from ‘Dressed To Rock’ above - ‘Jumpsuit Anthology’ below
Overview of both books
It is important to note that both books only feature jumpsuits from EPE's collection so classic favourites such as the Adonis suit, Blue Nail suit, Burning Love suit and Peacock suit are not included.
Ed Bonja took some amazing photographs of Elvis in all these suits so it would make more sense to at least include a beautiful full-page image acknowledging each of these classic jumpsuits while at the same time noting that they are not in EPE’s collection.
While the books have a similar theme, ‘Elvis Dressed To Rock’ is more focused on Elvis fashion overall including descriptive text about each jumpsuit and other sidebars, while ‘The Jumpsuit Anthology’ is a definitive EPE photo-book only about the jumpsuits that they have in their Graceland archives.
The designs are fairly similar with lots of stunning photographs of Elvis’ jumpsuits super-close showing lots of gemstones and detailed embroidery and both nicely displayed on a white background. Some identical photos of Elvis feature in both volumes.
In 1972-73 Elvis had multiple white jumpsuits designed that in concert photos looked rather similar. Do you know the difference between the White Nail, White Fireworks, Orange Target, White Conquistador or White Spanish Flower jumpsuits?
One of the delights I found in both these books was checking out these different designs and their beautiful embroidery or gemstone designs.
After all Elvis was like no other entertainer and his fashion and style was a fundamental factor as to why he is still so well-remembered.
Two pages on Elvis' Snowflake jumpsuit, from ‘Dressed To Rock’ above - ‘Jumpsuit Anthology’ below
Both books however have the same very annoying issue where having spent a few pages looking closely at Elvis’ beautiful jumpsuit embroidery and designs there is often no photograph of Elvis actually wearing the jumpsuit. This is a fault in both books.
How can ‘The Jumpsuit Anthology’ feature six close-up pages on Elvis’ beautiful 'Dragon Suit' and not include a photograph of him wearing it?
How can ‘Dressed To Rock’ feature Elvis’ Red Phoenix Suit and not include a photograph of him wearing it?
The photos of Elvis that are featured in both books will be familiar to most Elvis collectors, although of course it's always a delight to see them again as a full-page image.
Opening ‘Dressed To Rock’ the book begins with two impressive full-page colour photos of Elvis - one in his ‘Orange Target’ and one in his ‘Blue Owl’ jumpsuits.
'The Jumpsuit Anthology', in comparison, has two beautiful fold-outs front and back showing a long line of mannequins wearing 78 of the jumpsuits in EPE’s collection. It is very impressive.
The 3-page fold-out in the front of Jumpsuit Anthology
However what niggled me about ‘The Jumpsuit Anthology’ is their frequent use of black-and-white photographs instead of readily available glorious colour photographs of Elvis in the same suit from the same time.
For instance Elvis’ ‘I Got Lucky’ suit with his red macramé belt is so iconic (and was an album cover!) yet the photographs used are only black-and-white. Similarly Elvis' ‘Blue Owl’ suit is also presented in black-and-white yet EPE have previously used the same shot in colour.
Elvis’ ‘On Tour’ San Antonio ‘White Pin-Wheel / Red Lion’ suit is one of his absolute classics and we all familiar with the stunning colour images capturing the beauty of Elvis wearing the suit. However 'Jumpsuit Anthology' instead uses two pages of black-and-white shots - this makes no sense for a photo book.
An annoyance with ‘Dressed To Rock’ is that although Elvis’ Aloha 1973 broadcast was the worldwide statement on Elvis’ iconic American Eagle jumpsuit glory, the book only includes six pages on the two Aloha jumpsuits and features only one photo of Elvis wearing the jumpsuit. This is a major omission as this iconic suit surely deserves several pages showing Elvis at his TV broadcast peak.
The ‘Jumpsuit Anthology’ however also fails in its much larger 14-page section about Aloha. Both of Elvis’ two American Eagle jumpsuits are again noted - the Rehearsal and Main Show versions. The Aloha chapter first features one page of seven Black & White images of Elvis’ rehearsal performance. (why B&W again?)
Sorry Graceland Archives but these photos in 'Jumpsuit Anthology' are not from the Main Aloha concert!
It then follows with five pages of colour photos of Elvis’ in his ‘Main Show’ jumpsuit. Except “Graceland Archives” are obviously mistaken since two of the pages feature three photos actually from Elvis’ rehearsal show! The longer fluffier hairstyle gives it away - and for an ‘Official’ book they should have noticed.
Another oddity in ‘The Jumpsuit Anthology’ is that due to Elvis’ ‘Blue Nail’ suit not being in their collection the index pretends that it was not one of Elvis’ ‘On Tour’ jumpsuits! With Elvis’ Hampton Roads 1972 performance in his iconic Blue Nail suit being the key section of ‘Elvis On Tour’, who are they trying to kid!
Several of the Elvis photos used in ‘The Jumpsuit Anthology’ could also have been enhanced before being included as some are rather dull and could easily have been improved.
Having noted that, ‘The Jumpsuit Anthology’ is however the larger book about Elvis’ jumpsuits, features more of Graceland’s jumpsuit collection and overall has more photos of Elvis wearing them.
‘Elvis Dressed To Rock’ includes 45 good-size photos of Elvis in his jumpsuits while ‘The Jumpsuit Anthology’ has sixty photos.
Towards the end both books include two pages dedicated to Elvis LP and Single covers that featured Elvis in his jumpsuits. ‘Dressed To Rock’ is more complete as for some odd reason ‘Jumpsuit Anthology’ misses out several classic album covers including ‘Raised On Rock’, ‘He Touched Me’, ‘Love Letters’ and ‘I Got Lucky.’
Sidenote: While I am no "jumpsuit-junkie" (ok, maybe just a little bit!) I am certain that the photo on the right shows Elvis wearing his 'Saturn' (or 'Planets') jumpsuit as you can see the "rings of saturn" on the design. The suit is also called the 'Saturn' suit in other publications. This suit is not in the EPE collection. For some reason Graceland Archives have decided that the white 'Nail Studded' suit (left) is called the 'Saturn' suit instead. Both books feature this error and in Karan Feder's ‘Dressed To Rock’ design notes she notably has trouble trying to justify the name. The above photos are not in either book.
Elvis' Orange Target jumpsuit, from ‘Dressed To Rock’ above - ‘Jumpsuit Anthology’ below
Here are a few other notes I made on other comparisons.
TTWII Suits
‘Dressed To Rock’ – six pages, including two photos of Elvis with one in colour
‘Jumpsuit Anthology’ – sixteen pages, lots of close-up embroidery shots, with five photos of Elvis but all in B&W.
Sidenote: As a collector I have to mention the hard-to-find 2011 FTD book ‘Fashion For A King’. On Elvis’ TTWII August 1970 Las Vegas season the book featured an impressive 25 pages and multiple colour photos of Elvis in every jumpsuit. It’s just shame about its truly annoying “spanglish” text.
Two pages on Black Conquistador suit, from ‘Dressed To Rock’ above - ‘Jumpsuit Anthology’ below
Black Conquistador
‘Dressed To Rock’ – four pages including only one Elvis colour photo.
‘Jumpsuit Anthology’ – four pages including four excellent colour photos.
Tiffany Suit
‘Dressed To Rock’ – two pages including one Elvis photo and the original belt.
‘Jumpsuit Anthology’ – two pages but no photo of Elvis.
Dragon Suit
‘Dressed To Rock’ – only two pages but it includes one Elvis photo plus the belt.
‘Jumpsuit Anthology’ – Six pages, lots of embroidery close-ups but no photo of Elvis
Tiger Suit
‘Dressed To Rock’ – only two pages and no photo of Elvis.
‘Jumpsuit Anthology’ – four pages including one photo of Elvis
Two pages on Elvis Aztec Sun jumpsuit, from ‘Dressed To Rock’ above - ‘Jumpsuit Anthology’ below
Aztec Sun Suit ‘Dressed To Rock’ – at the end of the book, four pages including two 1977 Elvis photos - plus the belt close-up.
‘Jumpsuit Anthology’ – included in the year '1974' with four pages, a beautiful embroidery close-up plus two photos of Elvis in 1977.
Elvis' Gypsy suit, from ‘Dressed To Rock’ above - ‘Jumpsuit Anthology’ below
Gypsy Suit ‘Dressed To Rock’ – four pages, no super-close-ups of the stunning embroidery but including two of Elvis wearing the suit with one in b&w.
‘Jumpsuit Anthology’ – six outstanding pages of the stunning embroidery super-close-up - but no photo of Elvis actually wearing the suit.
Black & Red & Teal Phoenix Suits
‘Dressed To Rock’ – four pages and only 1 photo of Elvis in Black Phoenix
‘Jumpsuit Anthology’ – ten pages with six photos of Elvis (3 in black, 3 in red)
While ‘Dressed To Rock’ is not always strictly chronological, which can be slightly annoying at times, they do rightly end with Elvis in his Aztec Sun suit being led off stage by Joe Esposito as a 'final farewell'. It’s little things such as these, plus the text and the various side-bars, that to me demonstrates its better design values.
Overall Verdict: Both these books are aimed at similar markets and both feature stunning close-up photos of Elvis’ jumpsuit and all the embroidery and gemstone work that went into their stunning creation. ‘The Jumpsuit Anthology’ is basically a photo-book which includes a larger section on Elvis’ jumpsuits with multiple pages of super-close-up embroidery, while ‘Dressed To Rock’ also features a stunning number of Elvis jumpsuits but includes the added bonus of descriptive text, as well as a look at early Elvis fashion.
I really did enjoy looking closely at each detailed page of both books, although I am not sure how often they will leave my bookshelves in the future. Of course both books really frustrate with not including a photo of Elvis in each featured jumpsuit.
Overall I think fans need to look at price and postage as a deciding factor. It is shame that ‘The Jumpsuit Anthology’ is not available through Amazon.
Final thought: If only FTD had employed Karan Feder as the author of ‘Fashion For A King’ then that would have been the perfect jumpsuit compendium.
Please note that my low-res photos do not show the true clarity of the images or text.
Thanks to my good friend Geoffrey McDonnell for the help with these reviews
For more insights - Another Jumpsuit Anthology / Dressed To Rock Book comparison:
From Richard Crofts' excellent The Elvis Workshop a flip-through of both books.
Here you can see the physical size and get an alternate idea whether they are worth buying
(News, Source;RC/YouTube)
EIN Summary Ratings
Score: A to F (“A”: Excellent; “B”: Above Average; “C”: Average; “D”: Poor; “F”: Very Poor)
‘Dressed To Rock’
‘The Jumpsuit Anthology’
Element:
Rating
Additional comments
Rating
Additional comments
Number of pages
256
Great to see this book available in general stores
320
Only available through the Graceland Shop
Number of Elvis in his Jumpsuit photos
45
The introductory section also includes 13 photos from 1950s / early 60s - plus 8 photos from 1968
60
Also includes a few 'mini' photos - plus a selection of 1969 small B&W photos.
Narrative (text)
A
Nicely written, a short description of each jumpsuit plus some good side-sections
n.a.
Minimal text, basically just a photobook
Embroidery close-ups
A-
Some beautiful images
A
Some stunning super-close images
Belts, chokers and accessories
A-
A good selection along with some descriptive text
A-
More overall images, including Elvis' boots but no text nor any descriptions
Book Binding
A
Solid binding, this book will last
A
Solid binding, this book will last
Book / page design
A
Stylish design with a nice introduction to each section
A-
Impressive design with some high-quality close-ups
Paper Stock
A
Quality photo grade stock
A
Quality photo grade stock
Target audience
-
Elvis collectors and general fans
-
Graceland shop sales
Price
-
Amazon-US US$60
Amazon-UK £49.99
Amazon-AU AU$71 (special deal)
Also for sale in general shops - Also available on Kindle
US $49.99 plus postage from Graceland.
Note: Graceland Shop overseas postage is often more than the cost of the book
For UK or Australia it is another US$51 !
The book's description includes.. Elvis' extraordinary story, told through a fashion lens, celebrates the shy, lonely boy who awakened an entire generation to forbidden fruits.
The defiant hair, the sultry good looks, the gender-ambivalent outfits - even the famous sideburns of the man who would be King - are all considered in loving detail.
From impoverished scamp and teenage anti-heroin pink, through Hollywood heartthrob and sensual leather-clad rock star, to caped superhero in Vegas jumpsuits, the author describes his clothes with as much joy as she does his journey through the decades.
EIN’s Nigel Patterson, replete with blue suede shoes, paisley shirt and polarised sunglasses, took time out to read Ms Gibson’s entertaining release. Read Nigel’s full review
(Book Review, Source:ElvisInformationNetwork)
'Fashion For A King' FTD in-depth Review: 'Fashion For A King' is an 2011 FTD co-produced Book/CD package, featuring a 512-page book written by Norwegians Tommy Edvardsen and Atle Larsen - it also includes 2 new live soundboards.
This is an almighty project, a coffee-table book including details and photos of all of Elvis’ stage outfits.
There is no doubt that Elvis collectors found the pre-publicity mouth-watering since it promised "a full documentary of all Elvis’ suits" and nothing of this magnitude has been done before - and certainly not with FTD as the official co-publisher.
The book assembles an astounding selection of images of Elvis from 1968 to 1977 from many notable photographic contributors including Ed Bonja, Keith Alveston, George O’Hill, Bob Heis and Sherrif Hannah. With varying reviews already published, from glowing "one of the best", to terrible "if this was a car it would be recalled", EIN contributor Geoffrey McDonnell and Piers Beagley have worked together to give you this honest, informed and in-depth review. Go here for review and images.
(FTD Reviews, Source;ElvisInfoNetwork)
Book Review- 'ELVIS : ALOHA FROM HAWAII - Through The Eyes of Japan': The book is 200 pages and features over 300 photos by Japanese cameraman Yoshiji Kizaki, newly scanned from long-lost negatives. The book features five main chapters focusing on four 1972 Elvis appearances, November 17 1972 Evening Show, Nov 18 A/S and E/S, the Nov 20 Press Conference plus the Aloha main concert.
A lot of Kizaki's colour images are very impressive and so it is no surprise to learn that several of these photographs were used on Japanese vinyl album sleeves. There are some absolute beauties and the delight is that you will have never seen them before!
While this is obviously a photo book it is much more than that and the matching text makes it feel like a very personal journey. This book is actually about how the Japanese team witnessed some of Elvis' greatest performances and became a crucial part in Elvis' most famous live broadcast.
I have seen so few November 1972 on-stage photos before but here we get around fifty images from every concert. In ‘Elvis A Life in Music’ Ernst Jorgensen wrote “By the end of 1972 Elvis was definitely overweight” so it is a surprise that these images show Elvis looking taught and terrific. In fact several from his November 17 concert could easily be mistaken for his iconic Aloha performance! See EIN's Piers Beagley detailed review
(Book Review, Source;ElvisInformationNetwork)
“Elvis 1970 Oakland Coliseum Arena” is an impressive record of Elvis’ sold-out show on November 10, 1970.
That night rocked a sold-out crowd of 14,000 screaming fans at the Oakland Coliseum Arena and Maria Columbus was there to witness it all from the second Elvis stepped into the spotlight to the final, iconic announcement, “Elvis has left the building.”
This memoir includes her impressive 90+ full-colour photos, most of them never seen before - SeeAmazon US
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The latest edition dwarfs the original with 432 pages compared to 172 in the original release.
And the added 250+ pages of additional material is stunning, making the 50th Anniversary release one of the best Elvis books published in 2022.
As its title reflects, the book covers Elvis' appearances at the International Hotel in Las Vegas between 1969 and 1971 (it was renamed the Las Vegas Hilton in July 1971). The narrative element is significantly based around fan, Peggy Elzea’s copious diaries, and a bumper array of archival material. Peggy’s experience seeing Elvis in Las Vegas is one every fan will envy. There is so much fascinating information and so many striking images in the book that it is hard to know where to start in describing it...
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With access to 2,000 original negatives and 35mm slides, restored and repaired, many of which have never been seen before, the book also contains items from the MGM and RCA archives including paperwork, documents, memos and recording information.
Two books, 600 pages, plus all the MGM recorded rehearsals - including 70 tracks officially unreleased.
FTD's most expensive set but with the vast majority of the rehearsals already out on bootleg, can it really be worth the US$270 plus postage. Initially Sold Out and already into its first reprint what makes it so desirable? EIN's Piers Beagley investigates and discovers plenty .. Go here to our 6000 word review including plenty of extracts and stunning images. (FTD Reviews, Source;ElvisInformationNetwork)
'Ultimate Elvis' Book Review: 'Ultimate Elvis – The Complete And Definitive Recording Sessions' is a this three-volume, deluxe set that not only comprises all the session information available to date, based on Keith Flynn's incomparable website and includes comprehensive notes on each session, discographies, letters, original sheet music covers plus huge index all included in its 1,800 pages.
The book includes around 3,000 stunning high-quality photographs many of them previously unseen, relating to the time period in question. The promotional publicity for this three-volume set was very impressive with the original publishing date of August 2014 missed as more photographs were discovered and the content expanded. Finally published in December 2014, Elvis enthusiast Brian Quinn checks out this astounding deluxe package to discover if it is as good as promised. Go HERE to check out Brian Quinn's review - Now updated (Book Reviews, Source;BrianQuinn/ElvisInfoNet)
