Liberace Extravaganza!

by Connie Furr Soloman, Jan Jewett

Liberace Extravaganza! by award-winning costume designers Connie Furr Soloman and Jan Jewett is an opulent display of the renowned entertainer’s dazzling and over-the-top costumes. No one would ever accuse Wladzlu Valentino Liberace of being demure. The internationally celebrated star is almost as well known for his eye-catching, flamboyant fashion as he is for his music. Authorized by the Liberace Foundation, Liberace Extravaganza! features 150 full-color photographs of his unique garments, 20 original drawings from Liberace’s designers’ sketchbooks, behind-the-scenes stories from some of his most trusted couturiers and friends, and a foreword from Michael Travis, Liberace’s principle designer.

Genres: Nonfiction, Biography

224 pages, Hardcover

First published April 2, 2013

Reviews

[Maryann]

The sad amount of real fur used aside, I LOVED the embroidery and beadwork. My absolute favorites were the Flame Cape and the King of Neptune cape (which is what he's wearing on the cover). One of his designers, Michael Travis, said that "our thing is to always out-dazzle the most jaded eye," which I believe they did!

[Lee Anne]

This 3/4-size coffee table book could have served as the exhibit catalog for the now defunct Liberace Museum. There are brief sketches of the costumers whom Liberace employed to make his extravagant stage clothes, and detailed explanations for each item's construction. Even though I'm a person who doesn't even own matching bra/underwear, this makes me want a matching cape for everything I own.

[Am Y]

A fabulous book, showcasing the fabulous fashion of Liberace! Probably needs a much better title, as "Liberace Extravaganza" isn't specific enough about what the content actually covers - which is just his performance costumes and footwear. [As an aside: I was quite disappointed that the book makes absolutely no mention of his jewellery - his massive, opulent rings to be exact. I always wondered how he managed to tickle the ivories so well still while wearing those gigantic (and heavy-looking) finger adornments of his. And I wonder where those rings went eventually - were they auctioned off? Kept in someone's private collection?]

Anyway, the book does a great job of showcasing Liberace's clothing. I think it featured almost all (if not all?) his stage outfits, and in great detail. We are shown the actual outfit as a whole, sometimes on a mannequin or Liberace himself, and smaller pictures of parts of each outfit, showing the intricate workmanship involved, which very often is the embroidery and sewing on of countless beads, crystals, sequins, and sometimes even lightbulbs (which were battery-operated). You truly understand why each custom-made costume could easily cost up to - as Liberace says so himself - $100K. (And that was in the '70s-'80s.) The amount of labour and detail that went into each piece of clothing is truly astounding. The outfits themselves are utterly gorgeous (if you like over-the-top stuff) and outrageously extravagant (which is where the book's title must come from). Each piece is worthy of being exhibited in a museum.

The book also introduces the designers whom Liberace worked with or employed to make his costumes possible. You have to admire how they managed to deliver exactly what he wanted and bring his ideas to life in such glamorous fashion. Also talked about, but in less detail, is Liberace's life in general and how he came to acquire his mad piano skills. As all we performing pianists know, it's one thing to be a good pianist, and another to be a good performer. Liberace had the skills and talent to be both, and his costumes were an integral part of how he managed to achieve this.

Overall, I found this to be an interesting and enjoyable read. If you are a fan of both Liberace and fashion, this is definitely a title to pick up!

[Gloria Green]

From a costume/fashion approach, it's a fascinating aspect of the entertainer's every unique style that went beyond the garments.........

[Charity]

This book was glorious, just like Liberace himself!!

[Carol Wise]

Excess becomes excessive.

This was a book about costumes but I had hoped for more about the man. Started skimming early on, couldn't take anymore bead by bead description.

[Robin]

A sort of biography of Liberace through his onstage costumes, this volume presents Liberace’s life in relation to his clothing. We see that he is generous with his family as well as himself, but the complexities of his character are unexplored. Readers won’t learn why this gay man sued every publication that insinuated his sexual preference, proclaiming time and again that he was hetero. Nor do we find out much about his life offstage, who his friends were and what he enjoyed. We do, however, learn of his childhood poverty and his early musical abilities. And we meet all of his clothing designers throughout the years. Essentially, it’s all about the wardrobe.

And what a wardrobe it is. Each of about 40 outfits is described in great detail including beading, embroidery, fabric, fur, and construction techniques. In fact, a handy glossary is supplied to define the technical clothing terms used. Stunning photography captures every outfit from pants to jacket to matching boots, cape, and accessories. Each outfit seems more outlandish than the last, yet the maestro looks perfectly natural in all of them. Liberace experimented with light-up attire long before the digital era, “flying about” onstage, according to the designer, in a lighted cape that weighed close to 150 lbs. His heaviest cape weighed in at nearly 200 lbs.

The mechanics of holding all of the sequins and jewels in place on the body while Liberace performed fascinated me. Believe it or not, none of Liberace’s signature ruffled cuffs were actually attached to a shirt! Most were velcroed to the jacket sleeves, and the shirts were sleeveless, to enable playing piano despite the considerable weight of the jackets. The pants were attached to the vests, jumpsuit-style, to keep clothing from riding up or falling down, and a variety of jabots and dickeys added ruffles to the fronts of the outfits. These are not just flashy costumes, they’re feats of engineering.

Though the minute details in the clothing descriptions are not for every reader, most anyone will get a kick out of the photos. Extravagant-za indeed!

[Joel Manuel]

This is an awesome visual record of Liberace's many elaborate costumes; however, you can get bogged down in the descriptions of the outfits, which go into great detail on the various types of beads and rhinestones the designers used. Still, an interesting book.

[Brittany]

He had some gorgeous costumes! The photos capture them brilliantly.

[Erin]

Very detailed overview of his most elaborate costumes and the designers who made them.