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Black Dragon Suit-History in Photos


DavidZoso

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Must have been smelly at the end...

Ha ha ha eoooowwwww, yeah.

Presumably he stopped wearing them when he outgrew them; I can verify that a 29" waist does mature a little with time.

I must be the only person on this site who didn't care for costumes, as nicely designed as they were, beyond velvet cropped jackets and skinny jeans.

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Ha ha ha eoooowwwww, yeah.

Presumably he stopped wearing them when he outgrew them; I can verify that a 29" waist does mature a little with time.

I must be the only person on this site who didn't care for costumes, as nicely designed as they were, beyond velvet cropped jackets and skinny jeans.

Actually Shadecatcher I am not a fan of them either. I much prefer when he dressed in "regular" clothes onstage. I loved what he wore during most of the 75 tour when it looked like he ran out of clean clothes and had to wear shirts and pants that didn't match. The western style shirt and plaid pants comes to mind.

Of course I will always love what he wore at the 1970 RAH show.

Edited by Texas Melanie
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Actually Shadecatcher I am not a fan of them either. I much prefer when he dressed in "regular" clothes onstage. I loved what he wore during most of the 75 tour when it looked like he ran out of clean clothes and had to wear shirts and pants that didn't match. The western style shirt and plaid pants comes to mind.

Of course I will always love what he wore at the 1970 RAH show.

Oh my gawd, plaid pants and a western shirt - that's right up there with socks and sandals. A good rule of thumb is that the clothes should not be screaming louder than the music.

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  • 1 year later...

I knew about that limited dragon suit use ! Thanks for doing a pictorial history of it on stage ! Jimmy's waist was a 28" - he said it himself in an interview when a writer asked "Do you still have your dragon suits?"

Another historical Led Zeppelin note - right here - John Bonham on a few occasions joined John Paul Jones on co-lead vocal parts for the "town crier" singing part on Battle of Evermore. If you look closely at the acoustic set pic above from 5/28/1977 - Maryland - you can the microphone up by Bonzo's face. He sang on "Battle of Evermore" - that night for sure - you can look it up here on Youtube and listen to it.

Maybe he was feeling it that night and wanted to sing considering it was 3 days before his birthday ?!

Bonzo stops for the most part on singing once it's time for the tambourine playing. He does come back in at 3:35 mark and you hear him again at the 3:46 to 3:51 mark helping Plant out - during the mandolin and singing break before the outro kicks in too.

Actually click on the link below to hear it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mP6xPAl4Jww

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The Zodiac signs to the left of Jimmy's crotch on the dragon suit are his Astrological birth sign at the top (Sun sign), which is Capricorn /-/ then his Ascending sign (Rising sign), which is Scorpio /-/ then his Moon sign, which is Cancer.

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  • 3 years later...
On 4/9/2012 at 9:47 AM, stumpy said:

ive recently returned from holiday and met the maker of the JP dragon suits. She was amazed that anyone was interested in them but really pleased. He nickname is Coco and she currently lives in the UK. I read the posts to her and she wanted me to post on her behalf. She said the JP wanted the suits to reflect the Chinese year of the dragon which was 76 - 77. The original suits have her name embroidered in the hem of the trousers. Originally she made the trousers and then the jacket as JP had a white bolero jacket at the time. The dragon is snapping at the crotch area (a joke) the signs of the zodiac are embrodered into the fly. She also says that she made a matching guitar strap whcih nobody mentioned. The final appearance of the suit was Madison Square Garden and it was later displayed in America and stolen from the museam. (Ican't recall where). She is happy to answer any questions as i am in contact with her. Her nickname has nothing to do with Coco Chanel!.

Hello. I'm a music journalist, trying to track down the seamstress who made Jimmy Page's white and black dragon stage outfits, for a story for LA Weekly. I've read here and elsewhere the designer was a then Los Angeles-based seamstress known as Coco. Read on this particular thread she was living in the UK in 2012. If anyone has a way to contact her and/or knows here full name  please email me at matthewbwake@gmail.com. I would really appreciate the help and time. Below is some of my previous work for LA Weekly.
http://www.laweekly.com/music/how-a-custom-guitar-made-in-redondo-beach-saved-appetite-for-destruction-6807261
http://www.laweekly.com/music/inside-the-strange-hidden-world-of-offstage-touring-musicians-6539027
http://www.laweekly.com/music/master-recordings-from-abbey-road-to-born-to-run-could-be-lost-forever-without-archivists-help-7575450
 

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  • 2 years later...
  • 8 months later...

Mic, if you happen to read this at some point: I'm not sure about the material, but I'd guess it's a blended cotton or possibly silk. Silk and satin tend to be more Jimmy's style, but since the material isn't as shiny as, say, the poppie suit I don't think it's satin at least. Additionally, I think it could get washed in a normal wash instead of dry-clean only, since I've only heard about the poppie suit not being cleaned for the whole tour. Also, cotton is a cool material that takes up sweat easily which is great for stage performances.

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On 7/10/2019 at 5:34 PM, Mic said:

does anyone know what material the black Dragon suit was made from? 

The pants and jacket were different fabrics. Pants look like they were made of black velvet, the jacket probably a thicker synthetic/polyester or canvas type material.

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On 12/11/2012 at 3:00 PM, Shadecatcher said:

 

Ha ha ha eoooowwwww, yeah.

Presumably he stopped wearing them when he outgrew them; I can verify that a 29" waist does mature a little with time.

I must be the only person on this site who didn't care for costumes, as nicely designed as they were, beyond velvet cropped jackets and skinny jeans.

He did not outgrow them...he shrunk. His weight loss between 1975 and 1977 was very noticeable. When he wore the black dragon pants in 1975 he did not need a belt to hold them up. When he wore them the second night of the L.A. Forum on June 22, his pants fell down. You can even hear Robert exclaiming "Jimmy's trousers have fallen down". He needed belt in 1977.

By 1979, it was a moot point as punk rock had made such rock star frippery passé.

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  • 4 weeks later...
  • 1 year later...

Someone had mentioned that Jimmy's black dragon suit - pants and jacket were made of different material - that is correct. Jimmy clarified that the pants were black velvet and the jacket was made of black silk crepe. As for the first person who posted the LA Forum pics - March 27, 1975 - the first night Jimmy wore the dragon pants - Jimmy resolved that the question about why he didn't have the matching jacket - that last night of the US Tour in LA. The jacket had not been made yet.  Jimmy has clarified that the dragon suit has held up quite well over the years. 

He only wore the black dragon about 7 or 8 times on stage - in his whole LZ career. It may seem like more times bc it's so iconic, but he didn't wear it much. I'm pretty sure he wore the white silk dragon poppy suit a bit more. 

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Also on Jimmy's black dragon suit - somewhere in another post - in this very forum - some of the LZ road crew and it might have been some ShowCo guys mentioned how Jimmy's black dragon suit stunk to high heaven, bc it was not washed at all. Jimmy was concerned of a dry cleaner destroying it or possibly damaging it or maybe even someone stealing it.  They mentioned how it was hung up in the back of a tour bus for a few drives and the people sitting closest to it - could smell the stench. Not insulting anyone - just sharing 

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