Terrible Analogies

Born in Kiev in 1902, immigrated to the United States in the 30′s, Nudie Cohn was intent on becoming a boxer, but through fate and circumstance he instead fell into tailoring.  In the 40′s, Nudie and his wife Bobbie began making clothes out of their garage.  So popular were their designs that soon movie stars and rock gods began to clamor for Nudie’s services.  

Credited with being the first man to sew rhinestones on to clothes, his relentless self-promoting brought him to the attention of such acts as Elvis Presley, Hank Williams, Gram Parsons, ZZ Top, Wilco, and Roy Rogers.  Ever the eccentric, Nudie would places stickers of his face on to dollar bills and give them away to those in need, stating, “when you get sick of looking at me, just rip it off and spend it!”

Nudie was also into cars, and with the help of GM he began to customize them in western motifs.  Karin and I were fortunate enough to see a “Nudie Mobile” recently, and let me tell ya, this thing was intense; covered in silver dollars, decked out with rifles, handguns, and shotguns, and sporting a set of horns that would make any self-respecting steer blush, this is one car that’s impossible to ignore.