1950s

In the 1950s Elvis wore typically African-American clothes.  He purchased clothes at Lansky's on Beale Street, Memphis, which catered to predominantly black customers.  On stage he often wore zoot suits or pegged pants with pink darts which were solely part of "black" style. (The Elvis Reader, 98). Despite the success of his music, the conservative society of the 1950s did not approve of the gender-bending, race-integrating star. They saw him not only as a mix between white and black, but between male and female. His dancing, pink clothes, baggy pants, and makeup all provided critics with "evidence" for Elvis' destruction of the morals of America's youth through his overt sexual behavior and image.

1960s

In the 1960s Elvis' style was more conservative and simple.  In 1960, he appeared on the "Welcome Home Elvis" special with Frank Sinatra where he copied Sinatra's suave, sophisticated style.  In his movie Viva Las Vegas, Elvis wears mostly plain suits or jacket and pants, and very little flashy clothes.  In the later 1960s, beginning with the tight black leather suit of the '68 Comeback Special, Elvis begins to wear clothes of a distinct style.

1970s

Elvis' clothes of the 1970s were decidedly more flashy and tacky than anything he wore previously.  His outfits were theatrical, and were nothing that anyone would wear normally. He is remembered for the jumpsuits he frequently wore at Las Vegas shows. They were a combination of karate outfits and Liberace-style costumes, consisting of glitter, capes, big collars, and often so many shiny decorations that he looked like a Christmas tree. While Elvis' jumpsuits are as glamorous and showy as anything imaginable, they are also derived from clothing of the common man (such as an auto mechanic). Elvis always associated himself with the common people, having grown up in a poor area of the South, and often associated aspects of their look into his image.

The public's response to Elvis' new fashion trends was consistent with their reactions to his 1950s clothes. Although society was more liberal after the 1960s, people still saw his image as an attack on heterosexuality and traditional male roles. This lead to a widespread rumor that Elvis was gay, something that seems hard to believe considering how many women he slept with.