Love
Gun-Alive II tour 1977/78 &
Reunion tour variations
Paul's
Love Gun outfit was quite a complex one. Picture A shows the basic costume, a black
leotard with stars down the side. There's a deep cutout for the chest, with a silver and
rhinestone trim.
Picture B shows the full costume. Note that the picture shows the Reunion tour version of
the costume! But as this was a very faithful re-production of the original Love Gun/Alive
II period costume, it makes no difference.
Over the leotard Paul wore a black, pinstriped vest (picture C). Thanks to the mirror in
the background on picture C, we can also see the back of the vest. Also seen clearly on
this picture is the belt, which Paul wore around his waist.
Picture D shows the silver garter that he would sometimes wear, as well.
There also belonged a black, sequined jacket with tails to the outfit (picture B). It had
rhinestones on the lapels and cuffs, and the inside of the jacket was silver.
Picture E shows a couple of star studded and feathered cuffs, that Paul often wore in
photo shoots in both 1977 and 1996, but as far as I know these were only used in concert
during the Love Gun/Alive II tour, and not on the Reunion tour!
Picture F is a close-up of
the boots. The platforms were painted black and silver. Actually, these boots were
originally supposed to be a part of Gene's Love Gun outfit (take a look in the Gene
section underneath here), but as Gene decided to keep his monster boots from the Destroyer
outfit, these boots became Paul's instead. There is a small difference between the
original boots, and the ones used for the Reunion tour (picture G). Each boot had two
chains hanging from a steel ring, one of which went around the ankle (on the right in
picture F), while both chains went around the back on the Reunion version (as it is
clearly visible in picture G.)
If you look closely on the boots in picture F the heels had not yet been covered with
black leather. This picture is from an early photo session, and the heels were black as
soon as KISS hit the road in the summer of 1977.
For the bands bow to the audience, just before the encores (both in 1977/78 and 1996/97),
Paul would wear the satin coat seen on picture B in the 1976 section! Picture H shows
another feathered jacket, usually worn by Paul, when playing the intro for Black Diamond
(at least on the Reunion tour shows!).
Some pictures from 1978 shows Paul with a different
jacket (picture I)! This was used in the "KISS meets the Phantom" TV-movie, and
in several photo shoots for the solo album promotions. Also notice the alternative belt in
picture I. Compare the stars on Paul's thighs on picture A above here, with the stars on
the outfit on picture I. The stars on picture I, are made from a silver fabric, and sewn
on the costume as patches, whereas the stars on picture A are made of rhinestones. So
there were at least two different leotards for the 1977/78 outfit!
Picture J shows a different costume used for a few photo shoots around the release of the
solo albums. It was a pair of black and silver tights with a broad leather belt with
studs, and Paul would sometimes wear the jacket from picture I, and the Love Gun boots
(picture F) with that. For a few in-store appearances Paul would wear the jacket see in
picture K. The jacket had a silver sequin pattern down the lapels and sleeves. The
same design would appear again in Paul's 1983 outfit!
The belt seen in picture J and K was used again after the make-up and costumes were
dropped in 1983. First Paul wore it on the Lick It Up tour (as seen in picture L), and was
later used by Gene (as seen in picture M) on the Animalize tour in 1984/85!!
Neckwear!! As if the
costume from this period wasn't complex enough, there was also several different chokers
around Paul's neck!
The first pictures of the costume shows Paul with the choker seen in picture N: two rows
of rhinestones in the middle, with a pattern of small studs and rhinestones at the edges.
Picture O shows Paul with what looks like the choker from the Destroyer costume, the one
with the big "diamond" in the middle. I have only seen this one photo of it, but
I'm pretty sure that it's the Destroyer choker we see here!
The choker in picture P is similar to the Destroyer choker, but instead of one large gem,
there are two smaller gems placed above each other. It only appears rarely in pictures
from this period!
Another little seen choker is seen in picture Q... actually this is the only photo I ever
saw of it! It was a leather choker, with two rows of flat, round studs. I might be wrong,
but it could be the one Paul also used in 1974.
Photos from late 1977, early 1978 shows Paul with the collar in picture R. It was
several large gems, surrounded with a pattern of rhinestones, and small studs!
For the reunion at the Grammy Awards in February 1996 (picture S), Paul wore a collar
similar to the one seen in picture R. It was a reproduction, however. Compare picture R
and S, and you'll see that the gems are placed with greater distance between them on the new
version. Paul is also wearing a necklace that he often wore in the 70's in picture S.
The picture S collar was only used at that one event... for the remainder of the
appearances (live and on TV) Paul wore what is seen in picture T. It's a leather choker,
with two rows of round, flat studs, similar to the one seen in picture Q.
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