I was only about 10 years old when I first learned about Little Richard through my parents back in the 50's. I have loved and admired him ever since! Imagine my excitement when I spoke with him in a restaurant a few years ago, and he asked me to sew for him!! Having such an icon as a friend - in my home, and as a client is as much fun as he is! In a 2-year period, I've created about 5 complete outfits/costumes for Little Richard. The first project he started me with was putting rhinestones on an existing red jacket that he had.  The first suit I made from scratch for Little Richard was the blue one (see below LEFT, click to enlarge). That was sort of my "audition" for him, made at my own expense, just to show him what I could do. Until that moment I had been adding rhinestones to various outfits he already owned. He was pleasantly surprised by the blue suit (can you tell how pleased I was in the MIDDLE photo, click to enlarge) and consequentlly asked me to make the one you see on the RIGHT (click to enlarge). It may look white, but it's actually a cream colored silk suit. It is shown hanging on my wall before I delivered it to him. The exciting thing about this delivery was he left for Las Vegas before I did the finishing touches and he actually called me and had me ship this suit to him (SIGHT UNSEEN) at his hotel in Las Vegas, where he opened the box and put it on for the show that very night! God really blessed me to get that one right!!! 
And, since this seems to be my Little Richardland Oasis, here's a Fox News piece about him; do take a look at the end of this article for a delightful, small gallery of some of the customized clothing I've created for LR. Little Richard, who rightly calls himself the Architect of Rock and Roll, made his first appearance in 30 years at Harlem's Apollo Theater on Saturday night. I'm not clear about why he stayed away. Richard -- whose real name is Richard Penniman -- is 73, and on Saturday he wore a white suit with rhinestone adornments that looked like it had been designed by Liberace for Elvis. He also sported a unique wig meant to recall his days of high pompadours constructed with pomade. "Rhythm and blues had a baby and they called it rock and roll," Little Richard announced early in what turned out to be a glorious nearly two-hour show. He then demonstrated how he, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, Fats Domino and Chuck Berry actually invented what we came to call rock and roll. In a word, he was mesmerizing, which was something considering that he has a bum leg that prevents him from moving around too much. But on the keyboards, there is no one else like him. Paul McCartney learned to yelp from Richard's records; Elton John and Billy Joel picked up his piano acrobatics. No one attacks a piano like Little Richard, and on Saturday he was in rare form. His long fingers skate along keys with exasperating precision. He never makes a mistake as he carves out his original brand of boogie-woogie staccato that literally could raise the dead if given the chance. Richard's patter with the audience remains hilarious even if tried but true. He had to get through endless shouts for requests from the audience, and obliged the nearly sold out crowd with "Lucille," "Tutti Frutti," "Good Golly Miss Molly," "The Girl Can't Help It," "Slipping and Sliding," and Domino's "Blueberry Hill." Several times it looked like he might launch into "Long Tall Sally," but didn't. When one fan shouted at the end for "Molly," Richard replied: "But we played that. Don't you remember?" And then he launched right back into it again. Little Richard does not have a Kennedy Center honor, and like a lot of artists -- including Fats Domino and Jerry Lee Lewis -- he exists for most people in a historical sense. I'll bet most don't even realize he's alive. But he is, and more vital than ever. History was made Saturday night at the Apollo -- but artists like Richard need to be seen on TV by a young audience before they're gone. Otherwise a whole generation will grow up thinking you just need to sample rock and roll piano on a computer. They will never know what the great art of it is. Click to view complete gallery of images...  |