Priscilla Presley Pt.1

In honour of "Priscilla" being out, I want to talk about her style evolution, which drastically changed throughout her relationship with Elvis and once they broke up.

I have not watched the movie yet, but I did read "Elvis and Me", and it gave me a lot of insight into their relationship and Priscilla's style philosophy. When they first met, Priscilla had just turned 14 and dressed in the girl's 50s fashion - so think full, mid-length skirts and dresses, big curls, etc. She wore minimal makeup and a navy and white sailor's dress.

I could not find many pictures from that time, but it was known that Elvis liked her hair short and wanted her to keep it that way, so of course she did. After all, their perfect night consisted of how he would describe his ideal woman and talk about how perfectly she fit that image - he liked soft-spoken brunettes with blue eyes, and he wanted to "Mold" her into his opinions and preferences. He was very intentional about wanting to date her when she was young and innocent-looking.

As heartbreaking as it is, this is what makes Priscilla's story so interesting, because everything she learned about beauty, style, and what a woman should be, came from him. When she was older, around 16, Elvis wanted her to wear a lot of makeup, especially around the eyes, and he also wanted her to have her hair done, which she had before kept "simple looking" - long dark, and casually combed. To quote her, she was "Elvis's doll, his living doll to fashion as he pleased".