
By Lane Vaughn
On August 12, we’re celebrating the legacy of “Mr. Grand Ole Opry” himself, Porter Wagoner.
Taking the stage in tribute are Rhett Akins, Opry members Mandy Barnett, The Isaacs, Connie Smith, Marty Stuart, Old Crow Medicine Show’s Ketch Secor, and Gordon Mote in his Opry debut.
Porter helped shape the sound of country music from the 1950s through the ’70s with his unmistakable honky-tonk edge. But just as iconic as his sound was his style.
With his signature blonde pompadour and flashy rhinestone suits, Porter was a star both onstage and on screen. The Porter Wagoner Show ran for two decades, featuring guests like Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, and—most famously—Dolly Parton.
His embellished suits were the work of “The Rhinestone Cowboy,” Nudie Cohn, a Russian immigrant whose North Hollywood tailor shop outfitted stars like Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, and Elvis Presley.
In 1962, after seeing Porter perform in Greenville, Missouri, Cohn approached him backstage with a proposition: a rhinestone suit to elevate his stage presence. At the time, Porter was making just fifty dollars a night and couldn’t afford the $350 price tag—so Nudie offered to make the first one for free. It paid off. That one suit sparked a decades-long collaboration, and Porter was eventually rumored to own more than fifty Nudie originals.
At Opry 100 Honors this August, we’ll display one of those suits—worn on the cover of Always, Always, Porter’s album with Dolly Parton. The piece even includes a rare embroidered tag: “Made Expressly for Porter Wagoner, by Nudie.”
Come see it in person, and celebrate the music, style, and star power of Porter Wagoner at the Opry.




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