How to look fab

No, you can8217;t live in a yellow submarine but if you want to look like the Beatles, you can start wearing them

One day, a little over five years ago, Russ Lease decided that what the world needed was historically accurate, reasonably priced reproductions of Beatles clothing: stitch-for-stitch copies of the distinctive outfits the famous musicians wore in concert.

Luckily, Russ was in the position to provide them. With his brother, he had owned the Pants Plus clothing store in a suburban Maryland mall. Russ knew the clothing industry. And he knew the Beatles. A fan since childhood, he8217;s a leading collector of high-end Beatles memorabilia: signed letters, rare albums, old performance contracts, one of 8220;The Beatles8221; drumheads from the front of Ringo8217;s bass drum.

At a Sotheby8217;s auction in 1994, Russ had paid about 5,000 for a tailored tan jacket, size 39 regular, with epaulets, pleated breast pockets and Nehru collar. It was the so-called 8220;Shea jacket,8221; the very jacket Paul McCartney wore when the Beatles performed at Shea Stadium on August 15, 1965.

Recently, Russ, 50, slipped on a pair of white cotton gloves and eased a headless mannequin out of a locked display case. He unbuttoned the Shea jacket and removed it from the form. The fabric was clean and unwrinkled, although there were sweat stains on the acetate lining. Russ8217;s idea was to reverse-engineer the jacket and create an exact duplicate.

He found a master tailor in Lehighton, Pa., named Pete Camioni. The two spent four days poring over the jacket, taking measurements, making sketches. Today, you can buy your own Shea jacket 8212;in tan or black, sizes 38 to 508212;for 295 from Russ8217;s company, beatlesuits.com.

Next, Russ duplicated the frock coat Ringo wore on the cover of the 8220;Abbey Road8221; album. The original8212;size 34 short; Ringo is tiny8212;is in another display case. Russ also sells the collarless suits from the Beatles8217; early days, the narrow-lapel jackets and drainpipe trousers they wore on 8220;The Ed Sullivan Show8221; and the velvet-collared sharkskin suits seen at the end of 8220;A Hard Day8217;s Night.8221;

These outfits are a godsend for people whose job requires them to dress as John, Paul, George or Ringo. These are the hardworking Beatles tribute bands.These groups8212;with such names as the Mersey Beat, the Beat Club, BritBeat, the Beatalls, the Beatlads, the Fab Four, the Fab 5, Fab Forever and Almost Fab8212;were cruising thrift shops looking for clothing that could be altered and made to look vaguely Beatlish.

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8220;Some of it is kind of back in style now,8221; Russ said of the clothes, made at a factory in Pennsylvania that also sews police uniforms. 8220;Then I think there are people who just want to have it to hang in the closet. I have a fair amount of women customers who want the Shea jacket in Paul8217;s size8212;not to wear it, not to give to their husband, just to have it in their collection.8221;

There is something Shroud of Turin-like about the clothes. Looking at them brings a flood of associations. .

So, Russ, have you ever put on Paul8217;s jacket?

8220;I8217;d be lying to you if I said I didn8217;t,8221; he said. 8220;When you get Paul McCartney8217;s Shea jacket, you have to put it on and slap on a Hofner bass and look in the mirror and see how it looks.8221;

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah!

8212;John Kelly / LAT-WP