Priscilla Presley Bought Her '60s Wedding Dress in Disguise — Here’s Every Detail About the Iconic Gown

Priscilla Presley wore a beaded chiffon gown with lace sleeves for her 1967 nuptials to Elvis Presley

For a Las Vegas wedding, Priscilla Presley kept her bridal attire fairly traditional.

On May 1, 1967, Elvis Presley and Priscilla tied the knot in a private suite at the Aladdin Hotel in Las Vegas. The ceremony lasted just eight minutes and was followed by a lavish reception, which featured a six-tier wedding cake that reportedly cost $3,200.

While Elvis opted for a bespoke brocade silk tux for the ceremony, Priscilla wore a white chiffon gown she bought at a local department store. The floor-length gown featured an empire waistline, lace sleeves and pearl embellishments.

Despite its understated appearance, Priscilla’s wedding gown has become one of the most iconic bridal looks in history and helped secure her status as a ‘60s style icon. Elvis and Priscilla’s wedding looks were so popular that Mattel made Barbie dolls of the couple from their big day, which were released in 2008.

Related: Elvis and Priscilla Presley's Relationship: A Look Back

From why she chose the gown to her bridal accessories, here’s everything to know about Priscilla Presley’s wedding dress.

Priscilla shopped for her dress in secret

In order to keep her wedding to Elvis under wraps, Priscilla went shopping for her wedding dress in disguise. In a video for Vogue, Priscilla revealed that she had Charlie Hodge, a musician and vocal coach who worked for Elvis, pose as her fiancé.

“This was such a well-kept secret because we wanted it to be our wedding, with our friends and not to be loaded with paparazzi,” she said. “So, Charlie Hodge went with me and I found a beautiful, beautiful shop, all wedding dresses. They had no idea who I was. I came in with glasses, actually, on.”

Priscilla continued, “I went into the dressing room, I’d come out with a wedding dress and ask Charlie, ‘What do you think, darling? Do you like it?’ People thinking that we were getting married.”

The gown was off-the-rack

While shopping with Hodge, Priscilla visited several department stores, including Neiman Marcus, before ending her search at a shop called Westwood, according to Vogue. She purchased her beaded chiffon gown off-the-rack and only had one fitting.

“It wasn’t extravagant, it wasn’t extreme — it was simple and to me, beautiful,” Priscilla later said, per Vogue. “I didn’t have time to stay there forever and look at dresses; I had one fitting for this dress and that was it, I was out of there.”

Priscilla picked the dress because it was “lightweight”

Priscilla’s wedding dress featured an empire waistline, a free-flowing silhouette popular among brides in the ‘60s. Speaking with Vogue, Priscilla shared that she chose the gown because she was drawn to its delicate design.

“It was something that I liked ‘cause it was very feminine, very lightweight, not too heavy, and it matched very well with Elvis’ suit,” she said in 2022.

She accessorized with a tiara and veil

Priscilla kept her bridal accessories just as understated as her wedding gown. Instead of a floor-length veil, she opted for a three-foot tulle veil held in place by a rhinestone tiara.

However, Priscilla’s bridal makeup was on the more dramatic side and another iconic element of her wedding look. Her beehive hairstyle and winged eyeliner were part of her signature style at the time and representative of beauty trends in the ‘60s.

The dress attracted thousands of viewers while on display

Following the opening of Graceland in 1982, Elvis and Priscilla’s wedding outfits were put on display in the Trophy Building on the estate. Graceland is one of the most visited homes in the United States and receives over 650,000 visitors a year.

The gown was recreated for Elvis and Priscilla

Priscilla’s wedding dress was recreated for Baz Luhrmann’s 2022 film Elvis and Sofia Coppola’s 2023 film Priscilla.

Elvis costume designer Catherine Martin and her team referenced photos of Priscilla’s dress to create their rendition of her iconic outfit.

"We had detailed photos from the archive of what the lace looked like, and we bought several different laces that were all lovingly sewn together to re-create the look as closely as possible," Martin told POPSUGAR in June 2022. "It was entirely hand-beaded and pearled and had several layers of chiffon with a silk underlining.”

Similarly, the costume designer for Priscilla, Stacey Battat, told PEOPLE in November 2023 that she “never saw the real dress” in person and instead referenced several photos from Elvis and Priscilla’s wedding day. She sent the images to Chanel, whom she worked with to create her version of Priscilla’s gown.

“It's important to see it, but if you're not able to see it it is also almost better,” Battat said about not having the original dress on hand. “I feel like even if it looks really, really authentic, which I do think ours do look really authentic, I think they're always some sort of an interpretation.”

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