Bill Whitten Custom 1970's Silver Gray Western Rhinestone Disco Stage Shirt S/M

Description: Brand: Bill Whitten Size: Fits like a Small/Medium . Please follow my measurements Measurements (Laying flat, Unstretched): Underarm to Underarm: 21 inches Length: 29 inches Shoulder to shoulder: 15.5 inches Sleeve Length: 19 inches underarm seam to cuff Shoulder to end of cuff: 26 inches Material: Not Tagged Features: Gray Shiny Glitter Throughout with rhinestone and beads Black/Silver Metal Buttons Slim Fitting I was able to purchase a few of his pieces. I wasn't told specifically who they were made for, but you can guarantee they were made for a celebrity in the 1970's. A few items have a tag that simply says "Lee Loughnane" which is one of the lead singers of the band "Chicago". You’ve probably never heard of Bill Whitten. He was the costume designer who gave Michael Jackson his white glove. “It was very simple,” Whitten once said. “The audience was missing his hand and feet movements. They couldn’t see the quick gestures he was making.” But his influence doesn’t stop there. He put Elton John in extravagant capes and Stevie Wonder in African print caftans and took Neil Diamond out of flower embroidered shirts and into bugle beads. “When I came into the business the only man in a beaded jacket was Liberace. Nobody had tasty beading for men. Nobody.” Neil Diamond was the first performer to find Whitten, back in 1974 at his custom shirt firm Workroom 27 which had been open a matter of months with little success. But when word spread among the most elaborate elite, Whitten and his brand became a sensation. He soon had 50 staff making stage clothes for 20 groups including the Commodores, the Jacksons, Edgar Winter and Steppenwolf. Diamond and Jackson were long-term customers. “They (lead singers) didn’t have one place they could go that could outfit them and the band. I was the one source for all that,” he once said. It is difficult to say whether Whitten was reclusive or just unsung. He died in 2006 but otherwise there is remarkably little information about him besides his high-profile clients – something that seems symptomatic of the costume profession. Condition: Like new. Gently Used. No stains or tears. Inventory Code #D4429

Price: 141.75 USD

Location: Canton, Georgia

End Time: 2025-01-25T14:30:57.000Z

Shipping Cost: 7 USD