Nudie

I love the kitsch and excess of the vintage Nudie. The only Nudie suit I have ever seen up close was the one I found at an estate sale in central Austin. It was hanging on a wire hanger under an old, yellowing, plastic bag and looked like it came back from the cleaners fifty years ago. The cleaning tag was still on it but did not give the date of it's last excursion. The contents of the house didn't give any indication that the former owner was a rodeo star or even a country music fan (there was a lot of Perry Como, Al Hirt and easy listening compilations).

There was no price tag and my heart skipped beats at the thought that maybe no one pricing the sale knew what  a Nudie suit was all about. The short walk to the cashier was filled with big ideas and excitement over this white suit with black trim and rhinestones. It was too gorgeous. To think the suit was mad by Nudie Cohn himself.  The man was such a skilled artist. This was a men's suit and was too big for me but to own a vintage Nudie would be too awesome and hard to pass up. Before I could ask, the cashier said , "Nine hundred and fifty for the Nudie".  I just handed it to him and said maybe it would be safer displayed up front. He agreed. Then he said,"We just found it hanging in the closet, the family doesn't know where it came from". All my questions answered.

The more I thought of it the more I convinced myself that a vintage turquoise Nudie suit with embroidery and rhinestones would be a truly awesome find and that what I found was no big deal. Then I realized I was picturing a suit I had seen on a Webb Pierce album cover. Nope, this would probably be the only Nudie I'd ever find out of a museum. It was so cheap too, not even a thousand? I went back to look at it and could see that the rhinestones had yellowed and it the suit smelled of mildew and moth balls and it was not in the best shape.  They new exactly what they had.  I still wonder how it came to hang in the closet of a very small, modest home in the middle of Brentwood.