Topic: The Blues' Sharpest Dresser

[Mr.OMuck]

And then there's this...Junior "One man hat crusade" Wells!

[uncle bud]

Daddy Stovepipe was pretty snappy:

[Coyote Slim]

Robert Johnson... of course...  Didn't Johnny Shines say Johnson always looked sharp, even when Johnny was "lookin' like a dog"?  Of course Johnny himself had interesting fashion sense with his polyester suits...

I'll second Mr O'muck's nomination of Big Bill as well.

I remember Johnnie Otis's grandson saying on the radio that Lowell Fulson was always dressed sharply.

Personally, I always liked Robert Pete Williams western get-up...  "Cows like music..."  Charley Patton was also said to have worn fancy western wear.

What about the shabbiest dressers (another thread perhaps)?  RL Burnside comes to mind...

And for the nomination for the most "conservatively" dressed I'd vote for Tampa "dresses like a banker" Red.

[Chezztone]

Going by the photographic evidence -- Lonnie Johnson or Georgia Tom Dorsey. That's in the male category. Is that all that y'all are interested in? Or are you just neglecting the women? Ma Rainey gets my vote.

[Mr.OMuck]

If we're doing Women I'll take Bessie Smith in full feathered regalia. If we're extending things into R&B then Tina Turner's "Proud Mary " mini, would have to be the livin' end!

[doctorpep]

"If we're doing women..."? I know I am! Ha-ha -_-

[Coyote Slim]

Memphis Minnie!!!

[Mr.OMuck]

Memphis Minnie over Tina Turner?@#$%^&*!!??

[mississippijohnhurt1928]

I always did like Blind Willie McTell's suit.
And his cute little hat too. 



And dig that chain!

[mississippijohnhurt1928]

And Carl Martin, of course.





I also enjoy Martin's less conservative look. 

[blueshome]

Tampa Red - tie & tails.

[Richard]

You have to have a hat, no question.

[dj]

I've been trying my best to resist this thread, but it's finally gotten to me.  My winners are:

Sophisticated Urban Division:  Lonnie Johnson.  In virtually every picture I've seen of him he could go head to head with Fred Astaire.

Rustic Department:  Ishmon Bracey.  In two of the 3 Bracey photos I've seen, he looks like he just spent a year's salary on clothes.

Meritorious Fashion Service Award:  Gus Cannon, for that picture of him as a young man where he's wearing what looks like a Bavarian hunter's jacket and is apparently on his way back from playing at the Munich Oktoberfest.     

[lindy]

No one beats Eddie Cusic in making sartorial statements on-stage.

Lindy

[mississippijohnhurt1928]

I do like Funny Papa Smith's suit and bowtie. (Or is it The Black Ace??)