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How does a 70-something millionaire rockstar dress? Any way he likes. Paul McCartney's had a long and winding road from 1960s mop-top pop star to "Forbes" No. 2 celebrity for charitable causes and No. 29 on its Celebrity 100, with $71 million estimated earnings. Of all the Beatles, Sir Paul's signature style has been the most traditional -- except for the psychedelic "Sergeant Pepper" era, when clothing took a detour. Decades later, the former Beatle is composing opera and wearing bespoke suits -- some designed by his daughter Stella McCartney.
Yesterday and Today: Designing in the Family
McCartney's rock-star-around-town look is usually a tailored jacket and trousers, often with white or dark tailored shirt and no tie, sometimes with "trainers" -- British for sneakers. He patronizes several Savile Row tailors, including Henry Rose, who works with McCartney's daughter Stella; Stella McCartney designed the wedding dress for McCartney's third wife, Nancy Shevell, as well as Paul's wedding suit. His favorite scent is said to be Guerlain's Vetiver, a woody scent; that's in keeping with the man who wrote "Heart of the Country" and who can be spotted -- according to the PETA website -- in an animal activist T-shirt.
Influenced by Animal Activism
When McCartney embarked on his solo career after the Beatles' split, he and his first wife, Linda Eastman, moved to the country for a simple life; he grew a heavy beard and dressed down in jeans and sweaters. It was the start of his advocacy for vegetarianism and animal rights. He told a PETA interviewer that while he wore a fur coat during filming of the movie "Help!" back in the 1960s, he now considers it animal cruelty. Stella McCartney's clothing designs also avoid leather and fur in favor of vegan materials.
The '70s: Magical Mystery Tour
After the Beatles finished their last tour together in 1966, they embarked -- along with the rest of the hippie youth culture -- on a psychedelic journey that resulted in some of their best albums and most colorful fashions. McCartney and the rest of the band wore satin, military-style suits in neon colors for "Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band"; McCartney's was light blue. They wore rainbow-colored bell bottoms, flowered shirts, beads and pop-art style or India-influenced accessories as they wore their hair long, grew mustaches and tuned into meditation.
'50s and '60s: Meet the Beatles
At the dawn of Beatlemania in 1964, the band's manager, Brian Epstein, wanted the four to upgrade their scruffy bar-band look. For their American debut on "The Ed Sullivan Show," he had them dress in identical collarless gray suits, ties and short, stack-heel boots that quickly became known as Beatle boots. To recreate McCartney's "Meet the Beatles" album look, simply wear a black turtleneck with skinny slacks and boots. The shaggy, bowl-cut hairstyle -- symbolic of youthful rebellion at the time -- is neat and relatively short compared to later rockstar standards.
- Forbes: The 2014 Celebrity 100
- PETA: PETA / Features Sir Paul McCartney and PETA VP Dan Mathews Reflect on Two Decades of Activism
- Daily Mail: Paul McCartney Lets Wife Nancy Take Centre Stage in Hot Pink Dress at Daughter Stella's Fashion Show ... As He Moans About Being Famous
- The Hollywood Reporter: Nancy Shevell's Wedding Dress Designed by Paul McCartney's Daughter Stella McCartney
- Costume and Fashion Source Books: The 1950s and 1960s; Anne Rooney (page 27)
- Guerlain: Vetiver
- Kevin Winter/Getty Images Entertainment/Getty Images