ELVIS' FANS FORCED HIM TO WEAR GAUDY COSTUMES

ELVIS' FANS FORCED HIM TO WEAR GAUDY COSTUMES

NEW YORK (Wireless Flash) -- Today (Jan. 8) marks the 66th anniversary of the birth of Elvis Presley. Although the King often gets kidded for the gaudy outfits he wore in his later years, his former costume designer, Bill Belew, tells "TV Guide" that Elvis was forced to go glitzy because fans demanded increasingly ornate outfits. Belew says he still recalls one outfit that he regrets Elvis never wore onstage: A diamond-studded jumpsuit that was planned for a proposed European tour. Belew says Presley wanted especially large stones positioned in strategic places so he could touch them and make laser beams shoot out of them.