How did you get the name ‘Treflyn Tight Trousers’?

It was fashionable at the time. Trousers were tight at the top and flared out at the bottom. I used to wear tight jeans at the beginning of my career, and people just started to call me ‘Treflyn Tight Trousers’. Nobody else wore trousers as tight as me!

Did you make a conscious decision that this was going to be your style?

I wasn’t aware at the time that women looked at men that way; I thought it only happened the other way round! When I was performing on stage it didn’t occur to me that what the women thought of me was half how I sang and half how I looked! I wasn’t a pop singer so I wasn’t used to being fashion conscious. Image wasn’t as important to me as the melody or my guitar. I was offered a shot at the big time in Manchester, but I was only a young lad from the country and had no desire to go to the big city. After that I gave singing up for a while until the Welsh music scene was born, I then sang in concerts and Welsh entertainment nights called ‘noson lawen’.

Did you like the 1970s crazy fashion?

Oh yes. I used to go shopping in a shop in Bangor called Cream Zone that sold a lot of great clothes.

Why did you change your image?

I was performing in a cabaret act in Caersws and as I sang I went across the floor towards a table with three gentlemen sitting drinking champagne. After the show one of them came up to me and said, “Gordon Hills, Tom Jones’s manager”. He said that he had listened and watched me perform, and that I needed an image, I was too plain, too ordinary. He then suggested that I should wear catsuits!

How did a young man from Porthmadog get a hold of such outfits?

I would catch the train from Bangor to Euston station. When I got there I hopped into a taxi and went to Soho where I came across a shop called Colin Wilde. I went into the shop and there was a long haired man behind the counter, he looked like Buffalo Bill with a beard. There were pictures of Cliff Richards and Shirley Bassey and everyone who was famous at the time. I used to go to places like Barmouth to sing and the place was always full. The word was out that a man from Porthmadog was performing wearing catsuit so everyone came by to see if it was true!

Was this the first suit you bought?

These trousers used to have a very wide flare and I never thought flares would come back into fashion. I have to say that I regret taking the flare in for the 1980s, but flares weren’t fashionable then. But this is the first suit I bought from Colin Wilde in London.

This black and gold suit is fantastic!

I had to go down to London to look at this suit because I couldn’t understand the description over the phone. He kept on saying the word brocade and I had no idea what brocade meant!

This suit has a very large collar, where did this come from?

I got this suit in 1977 when Elvis died – a tribute to him. These trousers used to have a wide flare as well. On the back it has my initials – TJ – Treflyn Jones. I’m very fond of white and I still wear a lot of it today.

This is a bright suit that’ll make you stand out in a crowd.

That’s the whole idea! I wanted a flashy suit, and I thought why not go for pink!