[EX-NUDIE'S DESIGNNER]
Video sent by mrjynMANUEL
RHINESITANE
REMBRANDT
Manuel Cuevas
nos costumiers
MANNUAL
Who:The famous costume designer
interviewed at the Rock and Hall of Fame and Museum,
where some of his costumes are displayed.
Howard Kramer,
the Rock Hall's
curatorial director interview.What a way to start a career: James Dean's costumes for the movie "Giant." Since then, costume designer Manuel made Johnny Cash the "Man in Black," crafted Elvis' gold lame jumpsuit and created Bob Dylan's stage wardrobe.He's done his share of glitzy Western wear for many country singers. He even met Patsy Cline but never got to see her wear the two dresses he made for her: They are believed to have been lost in the plane crash that killed her.
Manuel -- also known as the "Rhinestone Rembrandt" -- talked to us from Nashville, Tenn., where he lives.
It's been a wild ride for Manuel Cuevas, 70, the son of a cattle merchant with 11 siblings. From the time he was 7, when his older brother Adolfo taught him how to sew, Manuel knew he'd found his calling.
He went to a small college in Mexico, where he majored in psychology and accounting -- "It has served me well," he says, seriously -- then moved to Los Angeles.
Soon after, he ended up on the set of "Giant," as one of a team of people working for Edith Head. "She said, 'You can do James Dean's costume -- these are Texans,' " says Manuel, who understood exactly what she meant.
He went on to work for several Los Angeles' tailors, making clothes for the Rat Pack (Frank Sinatra, et.al.). But he got bored with that, and moved to Nudie Cohn's famous Western store, where he designed costumes for Roy Rogers and the Lone Ranger.
The latter created a huge moment for him.
"I remembered when I used to walk five miles as a child to go see a Lone Ranger movie and here I was, 15 years later, making Clayton Moore's costume," Manuel says. "We became good friends."
A hand-embroidered
jacket with
1951 Pontiac by
ManuelWhen he's making stage costumes for larger-than-life stars, Manuel says he keeps this in mind: "Make the character: If he's a clown, really make him a clown. If he's a beggar, a beggar. Know the people you are working for and find out what they're hungry for, and that gives you an image."
"Then, go a little over the top."
So, you've got to ask the man who has made so many over-the-top costumes for iconic figures: Who has most profoundly affected him?
"I would say the Grateful Dead."
Really?
"Yes. I made smiling skeletons for them, put roses on them, and it became emblematic for them."
One of his biggest challenges, he says, was Bob Dylan."So many performers want to look like peacocks: Frankie Valli, Kenny Rogers, Glen Campbell. They wanted to be pretty. Bob wanted to be more sedate, but unique, and he was very particular."
Manuel's costumes in the Rock Hall's "Sparkle & Twang" exhibition ran through March 1. It was compiled by Marty Stuart.
