Why Did David Byrne Of The Talking Heads Wear A Large Suit?

May 2024 · 1 minute read

In a long-ago interview that Byrne conducted with himself — in which he dressed up in his trademark suit to answer questions and donned a variety of disguises to ask them — the musician explained the genesis of his oversized suit (via YouTube). He suggested that the suit was a visual cue underscoring not only his personal aesthetics, but also his conception of music.

"I like symmetry, geometric shapes," Byrne said. "I wanted my head to appear smaller, and the easiest way to do that was to make my body bigger. Because music is very physical, and often the body understands it before the head."

According to Put This On, Gail Blacker, the designer behind Byrne's oversized suit, has said the suit was "more of an architectural project than a clothing project." And that's certainly in keeping with Byrne's arch conceptual framework. The original suit was also light grey, a hue reportedly chosen to fit the stage lighting and to accentuate Byrne's dance moves.

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