11 - Rhinestone Revivals

Summary

In the past decade, interest in the work of the tailor Nudie Cohn has intensified and the style he created, which was the defining dress practice of country music performance throughout the 1950s, has been reinterpreted by emerging western wear designers. This style juxtaposes the materials and construction values of bespoke tailoring with jewel colors, pictorial embroidery, sparkling rhinestones, and the style of the American West. Its revival began among musicians identified with the alt.country or Americana movements and has since broadened to mainstream country (Midland), to artists outside the genre (Lily Allen), and on its contested margins (Lil Nas X). This chapter explores the current revival as a development of and extension beyond the Nudie style’s established role as a signifier of authenticity, discussing its ability to reflect and to forge gender and race identities in country music, both historically and in the present.