FilmstreifenPaulpurple.gif (38877 Byte)

1973 1974 1975 1976 1977-78 1979 1980 1981 1982-83 1989 Firehouse
helmets

PAUL'S COSTUMES

Destroyer/Rock and Roll over tours 1976 &
Psycho Circus variations

paul76a.jpg (47828 Byte)With Destroyer, KISS were entering a whole new era... being superstars! And naturally the costumes had to reflect this!
Paul's costume (as seen in picture A) was a black all-over leotard, open at the chest (as usual!). For the first time ever, Paul's outfit also had sleeves. The costume seems to show the flow of energy through Paul's body, with the main energy-center being Paul's crotch!
There were at least two versions of the costume, but it takes a keen eye to tell them apart! Compare the pictures of his shoulder (picture B and C) and you'll see that they are different!
There were at least three different pair of boots used with the Destroyer-outfit. In picture D you can see the first pair used. These are clearly the boots from Paul's previous costume (see picture C in the 1975 section), spray-painted black. The paint job is not that good, because you can clearly see a silver star through it (circled in). These boots were only worn at a couple of early photo sessions. The first photo session with the prototype Destroyer outfits, shows Paul also wearing the 1975 boots, without any spray paint.  
The first real pair of boots for the Destroyer outfit is the ones seen on picture E. They had silver tips, and black heels and platforms. 

paul76b.jpg (48163 Byte)For encores and photo shoots Paul would sometimes wear a full-length satin coat (seen in pictures F to H). It had green feathers on the collar and the cuffs, and were split up the back (as you can see in picture G and H). Picture H also gives you a good look of Paul's costume from behind!
Picture I shows Paul in the Destroyer outfit, with a belt (circled in).
Photos of that are very rare, but here you have it! He also used the belt with the Destroyer costume for a few concerts... pictures of that are even rarer! 

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Paul was the only one to change his costume for the Rock And Roll Over tour. The reason for Paul's change, was probably that he was unhappy with the Destroyer-costume, especially the sleeves! But the new outfit was not ready for the first shows of the Rock And Roll Over tour, and for those shows Paul wore his Dressed To Kill/Alive! costume... picture J shows the band backstage, with the rest of the band (only Gene is seen here) in their Destroyer outfits, and Paul in the older one. So far I haven't seen any live photos of this combination, but from eyewitnesses I know he did play some shows in this costume! 
The new costume (as seen in pictures K to N) was very similar to the Destroyer costume, except it didn't have sleeves!! Paul would also wear his feathered cuffs (seen in picture K) and a studded belt (seen in picture L) with that costume. The belt had also been used with the Destroyer costume a few times, as I mentioned earlier. 
The boots for this costume were basically the same as the Destroyer boots, except for the paint job. On these the heels and platforms were painted silver (picture N). 

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The Destroyer costumes were also used as base for the Psycho Circus era outfits. But there were many changes. I think Paul's Psycho Circus outfit shows exactly what was wrong about Destroyer outfit... namely the sleeves. The new version (seen in pictures O to S) had a detachable top, so Paul could run around "top less". Without the top the costume would look very similar to Paul's 1974 outfit (or outfits, more appropriate). It had a broad, purple garter-belt around the waist (picture O and Q), with studs, rhinestones and chains. There were also chains similar to this, on Paul's The Elder outfit. The belt had a big star made from rhinestones in the middle!
The costume also seemed somewhat darker than the original costume. Both photos and video footage of the original costume shows it to be rather dark gray instead of black, but the Psycho Circus version was pitch black.  
Paul had surgery in his right knee just after the Reunion tour, but during the Psycho Circus video shoot he suffered another injury... this time in his left knee! Another operation was performed on him, just about a month before the Psycho Circus tour was scheduled to start. The injury was not completely healed though, because when the tour started in Europe in late February 1999, Paul was wearing a protective brace on his left knee (circled in on picture R). The brace was as pitch black as the rest of the costume, so it was actually hard to see from the audience, but photos from the tour shows it clearly. 
Picture S is a shot of the Psycho Circus costume from behind... there is not much to see, however! Just Paul's big ass, the laces for the garter-belt, and the reception unit for Paul's ear monitor.

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There were different chokers to each of the three tours:
Picture T shows the normal Destroyer tour version, which was a broad choker with a large "diamond" in the middle, surrounded by rhinestones. It was the one in picture U, that was the most common, however! As you can see, this version has more rhinestones around the "diamond", almost resembling a spider. You can also see Paul's treasured necklace, the one with a large black stone pendant.
A few pictures shows Paul with the choker seen in picture V: a basic leather choker, with three rows of pyramid shaped studs.
Picture W shows the Rock And Roll Over tour choker: a smaller choker with two rows of small, pyramid shaped studs. Also in this picture Paul is wearing a necklace, this one with a small silver spoon!!
Picture X shows the Psycho Circus/Farewell tour variation. It has a pattern of studs and rhinestones, with some large "gems" in the middle!

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Many thanks to Jan Laursen for letting us use these pages.
Here is the link to his website:

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