What’s the absolute best each guy looked in full regalia?

[sneed78]

From the initial makeup and costume years of ‘73 to ‘83, in your opinion, what was the absolute apex appearance-wise for each guy?

For me, it’d be:

Peter: 1976 Glitter/Destroyer pics. He looks absolutely badass here and his shag haircut really fits the Catman character:


Paul: 1977 Love Gun cube pics. Completely nostalgic and the pinnacle of the Starchild image-wise; the ultimate rock star:


Ace: 1978 Solo Album sessions. A total “Space Ace”...lookin’ like an extra from Star Trek, either in his silver jumpsuit or piloting his Jendell-bound spacecraft:


Gene: 1979 Dynasty era Xenomorph-Meets-Godzilla costume. This may not have been that usable onstage (with the spider exoskeleton anyhow) but imo, he looks like a complete Demon from hell here. Definitely his coolest “lava” costume before the more silver, tin foil versions:


Eric: 1980...

JUST KIDDING!
All bird brained jokes aside, Eric totally fit his cute and cunning Fox persona when he settled into his more streamlined makeup and orange fur jacket and costume in these NYC sessions:


Vinnie: Yeah, I know, not much to choose from, but in those late 1982 sessions after he’d first joined, he seemed mysterious and kinda edgy to me and totally fit his nickname “Wiz” perfectly.
I was used to Ace making cutesy, spaced out expressions and here’s this new guy gritting his teeth and grimacing at the camera. To my eleven year old self, he seemed just as creepy as the Demon... definitely fit this new, darker, heavier direction my fave band was heading in:

This is the first pic I ever saw of him in a Night Flight ad:


What about you guys... when was each member’s absolute zenith in full regalia?

[BigJohnsFirehouse]

1977-78.

And you gotta give Vinnie credit for looking like a badass straight out of the gate. All the other five guys took a year or two of learning how to look cool in photos. Eric looked goofy in photos the first year he was in the band. Singer and Thayer STILL look goofy and they’ve been there for decades! Either Vinnie was stagemanaged very well or he just had so much overconfidence and ego, but he looks every inch a member of the band in those early shots and he hasn’t even done a gig.

[sneed78]

1977-78.

And you gotta give Vinnie credit for looking like a badass straight out of the gate. All the other five guys took a year or two of learning how to look cool in photos. Eric looked goofy in photos the first year he was in the band. Singer and Thayer STILL look goofy and they’ve been there for decades! Either Vinnie was stagemanaged very well or he just had so much overconfidence and ego, but he looks every inch a member of the band in those early shots and he hasn’t even done a gig.

Absolutely!

[Tito]

1977-78.

And you gotta give Vinnie credit for looking like a badass straight out of the gate. All the other five guys took a year or two of learning how to look cool in photos. Eric looked goofy in photos the first year he was in the band. Singer and Thayer STILL look goofy and they’ve been there for decades! Either Vinnie was stagemanaged very well or he just had so much overconfidence and ego, but he looks every inch a member of the band in those early shots and he hasn’t even done a gig.

Have to agree with all of that + Creatures era for Eric.

[Lofton23rdSt]

1977-78.

And you gotta give Vinnie credit for looking like a badass straight out of the gate. All the other five guys took a year or two of learning how to look cool in photos. Eric looked goofy in photos the first year he was in the band. Singer and Thayer STILL look goofy and they’ve been there for decades! Either Vinnie was stagemanaged very well or he just had so much overconfidence and ego, but he looks every inch a member of the band in those early shots and he hasn’t even done a gig.

In photos he looked good, but he didn't perform well in concert in boots.

[jannep17]

Ace/Gene/Paul/Peter: Love Gun costumes
Eric: Unmasked tour costume
Vinnie: COTN costume

[cason96]

Gene: Creatures with spiked boots
Paul: Creatures
Ace: Love Gun
Peter: Love Gun
Eric: Creatures
Vinnie: Creatures

As you can tell I really LOVE the Creatures era.

[kisswah]

For me it is this costume era and the glitter session. Completely otherworldly.
So many details in the costumes. Check the spike on Gene's codpiece.

[Mr Slow]

Gene 1977/78. He was very lean and the costume was the perfect blend of chrome, chains and monster design.

Paul 1980. The purple sparkle jacket with the feathers and the leotard and boots were awesome.

Ace 1979/80. I love the giant V shaped mirrored chest plate.

Peter 1977. The X bandoliers were cool and Peter’s physique was at its peak.

Eric Carr 1980. Great costume that actually made Eric look like a fox.

Vinnie is pretty obvious as it was his only design.

Eric Singer 2008. He was fit, his hair was great and he had the makeup looking excellent.

Tommy 2019. The best spaceman design in my view and one of my favourite KISS costumes of all.

[Pete2174]

Asylum.

[Bruce]

I know that a more individualized response is being called for, with each member. But as far as satisfying the full regalia aspect, this picture shows them with all that, while still managing to be the least garish of all their "looks." Men in tights never looks good. But the relative restraint, here, is probably the best they were ever going to pull it off ...

[Hotter Than Heck]

For the originals it's Destroyer all the way for all four original members. I love all the outfits from the club days all the way thru to '77/'78

Dynasty/Unmasked was an OK era for all members but maybe a little too spit-shined & Disneyesque

The Elder is uber-interesting but also a bit too tame

Creatures was the coolest look for Eric & of course for Vin since it was his only time in makeup, Creatures was also maybe the 2nd coolest look for Gene & Paul. Each of them looked pretty bad ass on that tank stage in full gear

[peterparker78]

Best: Paul - Destroyer, Ace & Peter same, Gene has never looked cooler or meaner than his Creatures outfit, Eric & VV looked cool in that era too.
Worst; Paul's Elder outfit is dreadful, with Eric's a close 2nd....

[Dr Borgo]

I agree that Vinnie brought a “dangerous” vibe back into the look of KISS. He was good with knowing how to pose. His mouth looks really weird to me though. Always has.

[Kisscandinavia]

Gene 83
Paul 76
Peter 79
Ace 82

[lespaul]

[simmons & stanley]

http://images6.fanpop.com/image/photos/ ... 32-485.jpg

[DeKiLaLoMa]

Destroyer. All of them.
Everything else pales in comparison.

[Sam T Serpent]

This here, PEAK!

[totiefields]

Gene-77
Paul & Ace-76
Peter-75

[Australia1980]

I really like ALL of the outfits from '75-'78 (including the non-stage outfits from the solo album era)

Prior to and after that, there were multiple outfits that I like, but some that weren't so great.

[Metalion_SOS]

Gene: 74, the skinny leather bat.
Paul: 78, feathers, roses etc.
Ace: 78.
Peter: 76.

[rwgriffith]

No issues until DYNASTY aka Super Kiss.

[caligari]

Destroyer. All of them.
Everything else pales in comparison.

THIS.

[Kissoff]

For me it's the wildly unpopular Dynasty costumes.
Paul and Peter looked their best in those I thought. As well as Love Gun era for all four.

[Allamericanman]

I like everything you put up, but for me the Destroyer (especially the glitter and chopper sessions) era are my pinnacle.

[Terry Zeppelin]

Gene's Dynasty/Unmasked look is his absolute worst. I think that look alone killed Kiss' popularity here in the U.S.

I think Kiss' Hotter than Hell look was pretty badass

[spaceace1977]

There are no Eric S. and Tommy photos that would ever match this question. Please don't post any ones of them.

Thank you.

[vinniestkulick]

This, this, this... all day long for Eric Carr.
His big hair look for Unmasked and Creatures kind of made him look like he was a little kid trying to keep up with the big boys. His streamlined bad assery for The Elder really worked much better...

[So Cruel]

Gene 1977



Ace 1975

Peter 1977

Paul 1976

[rwgriffith]

My two favorite looks for KISS are Hotter Than Hell and Destroyer. Best they looked individually or as a group to me.

[Jamcarl321]

I think each guy owned their looks in each era, I was always looking forward to the new outfits each album brought. As much as I loved the Destroyer back in 1976, I got soooo tired of those outfits for Psycho Circus, Farewell, Alive 35 tours.
For me:
Gene - Creatures
Paul - Alive!
Ace - Hotter Than Hell
Peter - Destroyer
Eric - Unmasked
Vinnie - Creatures
Bruce - Revenge
Eric S - Revenge
Tommy - Sonic Boom

[thunderballs]

Eric Carr without the flips on the corners of his mouth

[Mr Slow]

Tommy - Sonic Boom

Interesting. To me, Tommy’s original costumes have gradually improved over the years. The SONIC BOOM one was good but those curled up shoulder pads looked like duck bills!


They refined the SB costume for the MONSTER era and it looked much better. And I think they totally got it right for the current one. This to me is the perfect KISS Spaceman outfit. It looks modern and spectacular but also is reminiscent of everything Ace wore in the 70’s.


It very much captures that 50’s/60’s man from outer space look that the original Ace costumes had. It’s my favourite of all the costumes Ace & Tommy have worn.

[Rockandrolloverman]

Gene- The very first version of his end of the road outfit

Spaceman-end of the road outfit

Carr-creatures ——barely beats out his dynasty outfit

Paul- end of the road or unmasked (with the asymmetrical cape)

Peter- dynasty. (There! I said it!). Love that elaborate jungle God look

[KISSworld1972]

[caligari]

This.

[Ozone1978]

[kiss-1976]

This here, PEAK!

Damn right. April 9, 1976. The planets aligned that day for each of the photo sessions. The absolute peak of their individual and group look.

[caligari]

This here, PEAK!

Damn right. April 9, 1976. The planets aligned that day for each of the photo sessions. The absolute peak of their individual and group look.

[Mr. Kiss]

For me it is this costume era and the glitter session. Completely otherworldly.
So many details in the costumes. Check the spike on Gene's codpiece.


KISS-NYC-June-24-1976-kiss-38593928-2048-1474.jpg
KISS-NYC-April-9-1976-Destroyer-Glitter-Session-kiss-38669962-699-960.jpg

My pick! The Destroyer/ Rock and Roll Over outfits were the best!

[Mr. Kiss]

This here, PEAK!

THE REAL KISS!! ... ...

[So Cruel]

Gene- The very first version of his end of the road outfit

Spaceman-end of the road outfit

Carr-creatures ——barely beats out his dynasty outfit

Paul- end of the road or unmasked (with the asymmetrical cape)

Peter- dynasty. (There! I said it!). Love that elaborate jungle God look

So Kiss in their 60’s/70’s look better than when they were in their 20’s?

[Coventry1973]

Paul's solo album promotional costume in 1978 was (in my opinion) one of the best.... minus the sock.

[monkafunk]

I prefer these early versions of the LG costumes

[Black Ace]

Paul's solo album promotional costume in 1978 was (in my opinion) one of the best.... minus the sock. solo.jpg

For some reason that sock looks exactly like dick and balls.

[Jamcarl321]

I prefer these early versions of the LG costumes

This is one of my favorite posters of this era!