The initial Beatles lineup, featuring original members Stuart Sutcliffe and Pete Best, was inspired by the ‘Teddy Boy’ style of the Fifties, donning leather jackets and more hair gel than a Year 7. It was their manager, Brian Epstein, who encouraged them to drop this look prior to their 1963 debut album Please Please Me. Epstein instructed the band not to swear or smoke on stage, and to adopt suits and smart haircuts as their go-to – the classic Beatle look was born.
The Beatles from 1966 onwards were the embodiment of ‘flower power’.
Paul was never as much of a fan of LSD, certainly not as much as John and George were, but he embraced the psychedelia-inspired fashion that came with it. Far from the rather basic, drab clothing worn in the early days, The Beatles from 1966 onwards were the embodiment of ‘flower power’. A trip to Sweden in 1967 saw Paul wearing a swirl-pattern waistcoat reminiscent of Kandinsky’s concentric circles, as well as a pink flower in his hair. McCartney was also, of course, the driving force behind Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band and its colourful reinterpretations of 1800s military uniforms.
Aside from a brief period in the early seventies when he decided to become a farmer in Scotland for no discernable reason, Paul embraced the fashion of seventies pop-rock throughout his time in the band Wings. Fans turned up to the tour for 1975’s Venus and Mars to find McCartney sporting a mullet and sequin top combo, beating ABBA at their own game.
The greying hair, the stripes, the suits; we never knew how lucky we really were.
For whatever reason, 1990 saw Paul discover what zebra pattern is, and proceed to never wear anything else for the next five years. By this point, McCartney was in his fifties and entering his DILF era, and my word it was special. The greying hair, the stripes, the suits; we never knew how lucky we really were. It’s a shame, therefore, that the 1990s somewhat represented a ‘step back’ for the ex-Beatle, who spent the decade focussed on writing operas (yes, he did do that, because of course he did).
The 21st century has seen Sir Paul release some of his most exciting work yet, with 2005’s Chaos And Creation In The Backyard and 2020’s McCartney III being among the singer’s best. However, time takes its toll, and ‘the cute Beatle’ is now a grandad. The fashion trends of the last 20 years have never been part of his wardrobe, and as such Paul has gone back to his roots, embracing the smart suits that characterised Beatlemania so many years ago.
