Fashion
Jeans vs. Leather
LEATHER
Leather is darkly sexy and dangerous—when worn right it projects a "don't mess with me" attitude and a devil-may-care bravura. It's also tough, non-conformist and, at times, camp.
Jim Morrison: Second Skin
When Morrison managed to keep his pants on—he was famously arrested for indecent exposure at a Miami concert—they were usually made of leather, laced at the crotch and tighter than tight. Thus the prototypical rock-star-sex-god look was born, in later years aped by everyone from Iggy Pop to Trent Reznor.
Elvis Presley: Return Of The King
Elvis began his career in the cuffed jeans typical of the '50s, but it was the custom-made black leather suit he wore for his 1968 NBC comeback special that made his biggest fashion statement. The suit signaled that this wasn't the Hollywood hack recently seen in trite fare like Clambake, but an artist ready to show a more serious, modern side in his first live show for seven years. The following year the single "Suspicious Minds" went to number one, capping a new creative run that began in that leather suit.
Billy Idol: Blond Ambition
Spiky blond coif? Check. A snarl of a smile? Check. Add a studded black leather jacket and a "Rebel Yell" and you've got all the ingredients for the bad boy ne plus ultra—Billy Idol (né William Broad). Nobody channeled the rough-edged '80s zeitgeist as well as Idol did, with his slick, slightly dangerous, leather-clad persona.
Run-DMC and LL Cool J: Legends In Leather
After they paid homage to their Adidas (acquiring an endorsement deal in the process) on Raising Hell, Run-DMC next declared themselves Tougher Than Leather. It's a fitting album title, since their classic look consisted of velour fedoras, leather suits and their beloved sneakers. The first initials of Run-DMC's Def Jam label mate LL Cool J are commonly explained as "Ladies Love." But on his Bigger and Deffer album, LL suggested some different meanings on "Ahh, Let's Get Ill": "I'm the Ladies Love, legend in leather/Long and lean, and I don't wear pleather."
