Lesson developed by: Betsy G. Hoffman M.Ed. student in Early Childhood Education Peabody College, Vanderbilt University Nashville, TN NUDIE COHN: The Rodeo Tailor Curricular connections: History, Art, Language Arts Objective: Students will learn about Nudie Cohn and his innovative designs. Students will create their own clothing designs with materials provided. Grade: 3rd- 4th grade Prep time: Approximately 5-10 minutes for preparing materials Teach time: Day 1= 15 minutes for overview and introduction Day 2= 1 1/2 hours for Hall of Fame visit Day 3= 30 minutes for initial sketches and material choices Day 4= 45 minutes for creating the costume Day 5= 1 hour for writing and presenting concepts and creations Materials: Costume templates, paper, pencils, paints, markers, sequins, and glitter. Procedures: Day 1: Overview and Introductions Objective: To learn about Nudie Cohn and his background and life. Materials: Recollections of a fan biography and photos of Nudie's designs. 2 Initial questions: Have you ever worn a costume? What made it special? Discussion about decorative accents. Was it worn for a special occasion? Activity: Introduce students to Nudie Cohn. Give students a history of his life and his career. Show photos of his rhinestone-laden suits and boots. (Hand out worksheet) Next steps: Tell the children they will have the chance to see his designs in person at the Country Music Hall of Fame. Compelling questions: What makes Nudie Cohn's costumes stand out? How is he like a picture book illustrator? Day 2: Field trip to the Country Music Hall of Fame To give the students a chance to see the original Nudie Cohn designs. Materials: sketch pads and pencils Day 3: Initial sketches and material choices Objective: To begin thinking like a costume designer. Children will learn to think about designs related to a specific theme or topic. Materials: Costume templates, paper, pencils, paints, markers, sequins, and glitter. Initial instructions: Before the students begin working on their ideas, meet as a group to discuss what was observed. Revisit the compelling questions: What makes Nudie's designs stand out? How is he like an illustrator? Discussion: What makes our class special. Are there parts of the day that are favorites? What could we celebrate about our class? What kind of symbols could help illustrate our class? Make a list on a big chart to help the children brainstorm and share ideas. When students return to their workspace, they should be instructed to think about the class some more. What kind of materials, colors, symbols best represent our class? 3 Day 4: Creating the costumes Objective: To create the costumes. Materials: Costume templates, paper, pencils, paints, markers, sequins, and glitter. Allow children to have the space and the materials to work independently. Day 5: Writing an explanation and presenting ideas and finished creations Objecitve: To give the students the time to synthesize their ideas into a written explantation. This will allow for self-reflection. Materials: paper and pencil Conclusion: Children will have a greater understanding of where Nudie Cohn came from and how he became a master tailor for the stars. Students will recognize the importance of planning before attempting to create. Students will come to understand the complexities of choosing materials to best illustrate their concept. Assessments: The planning stages: Did the student take time to consider the various components of the lesson? Allow the students to follow a checklist to stay on task and self assess. Have each student present their costume and explanation to the class. This activity will aid students in improvement of oral language skills as well as critical analysis. Resources: Nudie's website: nudiesrodeotailor.com Articles: Dixon, Chris. A Rhinestone Cowboy Who Grabbed Cars by the Horns. The New York Times. September 4, 2004. Book: Cabrall, M.L. & Nudie, J.L. (2004). Nudie: the rodeo tailor. Layton, Utah: Gibbs Smith Publishers. Beard, Tyler. (1993). 100 years of western wear. Layton, Utah: Gibbs Smith Publishers. Teacher's note: Extensions Create paper mache boots and have the students design and decorate them. This project would give students a stronger idea about creating 3D works. Have students write a research paper on the life of a famous costume designer. Visit the studio of Manuel Cuevas (who assisted Nudie in the 50's and 60's then took over with highly embellished costumes). See attached article about Manuel. 4 Recollections of a fan: The life of Nudie Cohn By JOHNNY WESTURN. Excerpt from: 100 Years of Western Wear by Tyler Beard Nudie Cohn was born Nudka Cohn in Kiev, Russia, in 1902. His father was a poor bootmaker. When Nudie was eleven years old, his family immigrated to the United States. Nudie got his famous name at immigration, not in Hollywood, when his name was misspelled on entrance papers. Nudie worked a variety of jobs in Brooklyn N.Y. before moving to California at age sixteen to pursue a boxing career. At nineteen, he began getting non-speaking parts in movies in Hollywood. To earn more money, Nudie began whipping up costumes on an individual-order basis. While hitchhiking across the country to visit his family in New York, in Mankato, Minnesota, Nudie met his future wife Bobbie. 5 In 1934 Nudie and Bobbie married. With $300 between them, they returned from New York, to Mankato to open a tailor shop. In 1940 they sold it for $2,700 and moved to Los Angeles. Nudie worked in a few tailor shops, and was beginning to notice that Western tailoring was up and coming in Los Angeles. Turk had been in L.A. for at least 15 years before Nudie rolled into L.A. Turk was making fancy western suits for the Maddox brothers and Rose, and making equestrian riding gear, and other cowboy tailoring. Viloa Grae also had her shop in L.A. doing her fancy embroidery, which was her specialty. It didn't take long before the celebrities started to line up at Nudie's door. Tex Williams got to know Nudie well and gave Nudie a horse and saddle for auction for $150. to get his first sewing machine. Nudie set up shop in his garage. Once again Tex Williams gave Nudie his second big brake when he asked Nudie to make costumes for Tex and his band. This was really the beginning of Nudie's success, he opened his shop in North Hollywood in 1947. He turned out thousands of garments. Hank Williams was one of the first in Nashville to wear a Nudie suit and after his big success everyone in Nashville Wore Nudie's suits. Throughout Nudie's career, he continued to make costumes for the movies (mainly westerns). John Wayne had clothing made by Nudie. Colonel Parker, Elvis's manager had Nudie make Elvis a 24k gold lame' suit at a cost of $10,000.for Elvis and $9,000 profit for Nudie. By the late 1960's Nudie had become a living California legend. I was 19 years old and drove to L.A. from San Jose CA. to see Nudie's shop and it was quite the place, pictures on the wall of every star that Nudie made clothes for Steve McQueen, Johnny Cash, Roy Rogers, Buck Owens, David Allan Coe, Liberace, Clint Eastwood, and the list goes on forever. On the counter, I remember belt buckles all along the front of the counter that say things like to Nudie from Hank Williams jr. and many other people who given Nudie belt buckles. To the Left of the shop was the tailor area, and a room for suits to be picked up. I remember seeing a suit waiting for Merle Kilgore to be picked up on the wall rack. Nudie crossed the boundaries of fashion. He influenced the western wear industry for nearly forty years. In 1984, at age 81 Nudie succumbed to cancer. More than 800 people came to the the funeral all wearing Nudie suits, Dale Evans gave the eulogy. Country Music would have never been the same without Nudie, and the golden age of western wear might not have existed without Nudie Cohn, the original Rhinestone Cowboy. The shop closed for good in 1995. 6 Manuel: Nashville's Couture Cowboy From Jan Duke, Your Guide to Nashville, TN. This article was found on www.nashville.about.com/od/nashvillesfamous/a/manuel.htm All that shines really is Rhinestones and Gold Meet Nashville's Couture Cowboy: Manuel For the last several decades, in Nashville and across the world, he is simply known by the single name of Manuel (pronounced man-well). Manuel was born, Manuel Arturo José Cuevas Martinez, on April 23rd, 1938 in Michoacán, Mexico, and was the fifth of eleven children of Esperanza and José Guadalupe Cuevas. Manuel's was taught to sew at the age of seven, by his older brother and tailor, Adolfo. He has made his own clothes ever since. During this time Manuel mastered a wide scope of the clothier's art, including leather working, hat making, silver working and boot making. Manuel then attended the University of Guadalajara majoring in psychology before leaving his native Mexico for Los Angeles in the mid 1950s. In Los Angeles, Manuel he took on several low wage jobs and eventually landed a job with master embroiderer, Viola Grae. Manuel was working for Viola Grae when he met Nudie and Manuel joined Nudie as his head tailor at Nudie's Rodeo Tailors in the early 1960's. Manuel worked along side Nudie for fourteen years. While at Nudie's shop, he quickly became head designer and primary creator for many of Nudie's clientele, he also became Nude's son-in-law when he married Nudie's daughter Barbara.