LORRAINE GIBSON is an award-winning journalist of more than twenty years, who cut her writing teeth on her local newspaper. She is widely published in both regional and national titles and is now a freelance writer. She is also the author of Robert Baden-Powell: A Biography (Pen & Sword History, 2022).
Elvis: The King of Fashion arises from childhood memories of her parents playing Elvis records and of watching his films through the school holidays. The films ignited Lorraine’s fascination with the colourful outfits that he wore. Who needed a Sindy doll when you had a singing, dancing Elvis in Hawaiian shirts, Latin boleros, uniforms, sharp suits and prison outfits? Later, it was the iconic fashion looks that Elvis wore through the decades that captured her imagination. So, when pressed by her family about who she would write about after Baden-Powell, she decided it had to be Elvis.
She travelled to Memphis, Tennessee, where Elvis suddenly leapt to fame in the early 1950s. She soaked up its unique atmosphere, walked in Elvis’s footsteps, visited his old haunts and his homes and met endless interesting, welcoming and helpful people, many of whom contributed to her book. Elvis: The King of Fashion is the result.
Lorraine lives in Dorset with her husband, two teenage daughters and Florence, the cat.