Gene's 'End of the Road' Costume - One of His Best...to Worst.

[kenn.ace]

Worst. All of the KISS costumes from 2009 onward have sucked.

[Red_Walrus]

Really like them all. In a recent 3 sides David said Gene mentioned Creature of the Black Lagoon torso and it really does look like a starting point for what became Genes first EOTR costume.

[BigJohnsFirehouse]

The Returns suit was also a throwback to that.

[Doose]

40 years ago Gene was menacing with just some cloth and leather.

[BigJohnsFirehouse]

GREAT point.

And the stage was empty apart from the drums and some candles.

[Doose]

Gene's worst costume was the bulky one he wore on the HITS tour that took up the entire back of the stage.

[kenn.ace]

They just look ridiculous. All of them.

Yup, I did not like any of the new costumes.

[Bandit1974]

They just look ridiculous. All of them.

Yup, I did not like any of the new costumes.

Me either. KISS looks ridiculous. And why shouldn't they? They are simply TOO OLD to be doing this anymore.

Gene looks like a giant armadillo in that costume. He should change his name from Demon to "Armadillo Boy."

[Bruce]

They are simply TOO OLD to be doing this anymore.

That was true even before the Reunion Era. Its absolutely incredible that KIϟϟ has subsisted on the same show, the same setlist and for a generation, now. And I mean that -- this band has an uncanny knack for defying the odds. Truly incredible. And they're still not done, yet.

[scottbassist]

I hate it. He looks like he’s trying to be a transformer or something. It’s too big and bulky. And for a man that’s put on weight (which I’m not critiquing or shaming because it happens) I just think the design decision to create something that takes up even more space is just...puzzling.

Gene has recently lost a ton of weight.

Yeah, I thought by the time they hit Little Rock (August 2019), Gene had slimmed down some. Maybe not? I had nosebleed seats so it was hard to tell.

[KissKing73]

You mean that guy out of Toronto designed those outfits? No wonder why they suck. They need to get someone else in charge of this stuff.

[DAVIDYR1]

You mean that guy out of Toronto designed those outfits? No wonder why they suck. They need to get someone else in charge of this stuff.

Let me correct your misinformation. The guy from Toronto only designed and fabricated Gene’s.
The others were designed by the great Wendy.

David

[strutter78]

Gene’s is definitely the worst. That cod piece looks like shit. The finish looks beyond fake. Gene’s “manager” should seek out alternatives. Almost anything would be better. It’s too much. Not cool and needs to change before they return.

[Kissoff]

All four members look stupid. That’s honestly how I feel about it. Eric looks the dumbest.

And that finger pointing has got to go. So lame and over used now.

[BigJohnsFirehouse]

Gene looks like an obese ninja turtle.

[BigJohnsFirehouse]

Sad thing is that after a decade and a half Gene has actually slimmed down quite a bit. He’s in better shape than he has been since 2005. But you wouldn’t know it from his massively oversized walnut shell costume. It’s hugely unflattering.

[torgotheme]

Hard to beat Eugene's recent "candy corn" costume. But at least he had a snack closeby to gnaw on during the drum and guitar solos.

[Much Too Soon]

653EE1A7-20B1-4518-8EA3-94613FAC46A3.jpeg

Gene looks like a giant pill bug in his EOTR costume. It’s hideous.

[Phyllis Simmons]

Generally speaking the recent costumes aint all that great; and the 4 guys are starting to look just a little silly. However I'll say this.

When I last saw KISS in 2015 I noticed that the costumes looked really good from the floor under stage lighting. I remember the studio photos from then - the suits kinda looked like cheap Halloween costumes.
However under stage lights, wow they looked pretty damn good. I guess the material they make them from is designed to do this? The way it catches the light and reflects it - maybe? Has anyone else noticed this?

[Strutterer]

Generally speaking the recent costumes aint all that great; and the 4 guys are starting to look just a little silly. However I'll say this.

When I last saw KISS in 2015 I noticed that the costumes looked really good from the floor under stage lighting. I remember the studio photos from then - the suits kinda looked like cheap Halloween costumes.
However under stage lights, wow they looked pretty damn good. I guess the material they make them from is designed to do this? The way it catches the light and reflects it - maybe? Has anyone else noticed this?

I've noticed this as well. They look the weirdest in a flat environment, like an interview or meet and greet. I saw an interview with Gene and Paul in costume the other day (forget where). They looked like Halloween costumes. On stage, they look like pros.

It might be the HD cameras we have today, but going back to the heyday, the costumes were extreme in normal settings but never looked like Halloween costumes. Even on the Mike Douglas show, Gene's homemade outfit looks fine compared to the normal people.

I find Gene's current costume more of the same. Anything's better than the banana spikes from the previous era.

My real issue is Paul. The Starchild doesn't need all these dangles and crap on the boots. He looked his best in the Alive! era with a toned down look relative to the other guys. They keep taking Stan's Love Gun look and adding more tassels, zippers and dangling things. It's not good.

[BigJohnsFirehouse]

Hard to beat Eugene's recent "candy corn" costume. But at least he had a snack closeby to gnaw on during the drum and guitar solos.

Monster costume is almost ten years old now. 2012.

[BigJohnsFirehouse]

They keep taking Stan's Love Gun look and adding more tassels, zippers and dangling things. It's not good.

They added a cowboy fringe to the bottom of his EOTR waistcoat a few shows into the tour to hide his gut hanging over his belt. What was that about leaving the party a little early again?

[Ratmir]

They refuse to understand that less is more. If you look at classic costumes, for example Pauls Love Gun costume - the base is a simple black leotard. It made him look slim and tall and it made the important elements - boots and jacket stand out.
With his current costume - every square inch is covered with rhinestores, multiple patters on top of one another, chains, buttons, fringe. It makes him look bulkier and shorter and it looks too busy, it's hard to distinguish any element.

Gene I think is just too old. For example, apparently he dislikes tight armor around his arms, this is why his later costumes (2017 Creatures is the best example) were disproportionally and ridiculously wide arms. The designer of the EORT coistume did a great job improving this, and his initiall costume had slick nice looking arms. But as the tour went on it was betting wider, now it's back to being ridiculous. So it was by Gene's request, why else? But if he doesn't want to look cool, why even do that anymore?

[BigJohnsFirehouse]

Paul’s EOTR boots look like balloon animals and I’m pretty sure Gene’s boot heads are so stupidly big because he’s got proper shoes hidden in them. He’s had issues with his feet and legs in recent years. Roadie had to run out and help him down off the platform during the first song on some shows last year.

[Tito]

I find the idea that any version of this costume was one of Gene's best hysterical.

[jkiss]

.

[Soylent Gene]

You mean that guy out of Toronto designed those outfits? No wonder why they suck. They need to get someone else in charge of this stuff.

Let me correct your misinformation. The guy from Toronto only designed and fabricated Gene’s.
The others were designed by the great Wendy.

David

Why did you make the dragon heads on his feet so damn big? They look hilarious!

[BigJohnsFirehouse]

[sabresaxon]

The costumes of the modern era have the uncanny valley affect of being different yet familiar, so they just look weird.

[Pete2174]

70 something men in Kiss armour & boots is always going to look silly.

[BigJohnsFirehouse]

Sometimes less is more.

[KissCannibal]

40 years ago Gene was menacing with just some cloth and leather.

And a whole lot younger....

[jannep17]

Gene looks a ninja turtle.

[Tito]

Gene looks a ninja turtle.

Or a walnut.

[Sam T Serpent]

You mean that guy out of Toronto designed those outfits? No wonder why they suck. They need to get someone else in charge of this stuff.

Let me correct your misinformation. The guy from Toronto only designed and fabricated Gene’s.
The others were designed by the great Wendy.

David

I don't have a problem with the shape of the tour design, i actually think it sits on his body better than the pre-tour design. My only gripe is the finish on it. It needs to be darker.

I only photoshopped the armour plates to be darker, no other modifications have been done to the photo.

Screen Shot 2021-04-11 at 7.43.35 am.png

[sneed78]

You mean that guy out of Toronto designed those outfits? No wonder why they suck. They need to get someone else in charge of this stuff.

Let me correct your misinformation. The guy from Toronto only designed and fabricated Gene’s.
The others were designed by the great Wendy.

David

I don't have a problem with the shape of the tour design, i actually think it sits on his body better than the pre-tour design. My only gripe is the finish on it. It needs to be darker.

I only photoshopped the armour plates to be darker, no other modifications have been done to the photo.

Screen Shot 2021-04-11 at 7.43.35 am.png

Yes the darker armor is absolutely an improvement... the same problem he had with the tin foil Dynasty/Unmasked costume.

His initial, darker Dynasty armor looked killer, but then he went the Reynolds Wrap route.

This one looked great, almost had an H.R. Giger vibe:

[Sam T Serpent]

You mean that guy out of Toronto designed those outfits? No wonder why they suck. They need to get someone else in charge of this stuff.

Let me correct your misinformation. The guy from Toronto only designed and fabricated Gene’s.
The others were designed by the great Wendy.

David

I don't have a problem with the shape of the tour design, i actually think it sits on his body better than the pre-tour design. My only gripe is the finish on it. It needs to be darker.

I only photoshopped the armour plates to be darker, no other modifications have been done to the photo.

Screen Shot 2021-04-11 at 7.43.35 am.png

Yes the darker armor is absolutely an improvement... the same problem he had with the tin foil Dynasty/Unmasked costume.

His initial, darker Dynasty armor looked killer, but then he went the Reynolds Wrap route.

This one looked great, almost had an H.R. Giger vibe:

Going even further, updating his makeup from the stupid thin makeup to the thicker dynasty makeup.

gene1-12.png

[BigJohnsFirehouse]

So weird that he does his makeup so horribly every night.

[Luchino]

So weird that he does his makeup so horribly every night.

someone has to ask him that.. it's not a mistake, it's not he's doing it wrong.. he does that (or used to do when there were concerts) on purpose every time..for some reason I would LOVE to know, he thinks the demon makeup should look like that.. I guess like based on the KISS Icons image
It would be interesting to hear what he has to say about the different variations over the years

[BigJohnsFirehouse]

Pretty sure he was going for the more thin spidery COTN era style about ten years ago and that looked ok, I guess, but now it’s just a mess with a big straight line under his eyes and the one point on the side of his eye totally oversized. If we saw it on a tribute Gene we would say it was terrible.