Editing Judas Priest (section)

=== Fashion ===
In addition to the sound, Judas Priest are also known for being revolutionary in [[heavy metal fashion]].<ref name="Bukszpan" /> In the band's early years, they dressed in hippie-style 1970s outfits, but as the decade drew to a close, the rise of punk rock made this look outdated, so the band began wearing simplified wardrobes on their 1978 tour. For the 1979 tour, Halford adopted his now-trademark leather-and-studs look, inspired by punk fashion and [[leather culture]]. The rest of the band adopted a similar style which became prominent at the time of their 1978 release, ''[[Killing Machine]]''. This style would go on to be adopted by many heavy metal bands in the early 1980s, especially those of the [[new wave of British heavy metal]] and early [[black metal]] movements.<ref>{{cite news |title=Hell Bent for Leather/Killing Machine Info Page| publisher=Judas Priest Info Pages |url=http://members.firstinter.net/markster/KILLINGMACHINE.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070702171452/http://members.firstinter.net/markster/KILLINGMACHINE.html |archive-date=2 July 2007}}</ref> To this day, it is not uncommon to find metal artists and fans sporting such a look at concerts.

In a published quote on the back cover of [[K. K. Downing]]'s autobiography ''Heavy Duty: Days and Nights in Judas Priest'', Downing said that Judas Priest "had a bit of an identity crisis from the beginning. There was always a bit of a question mark about the band's look. To me, it never seemed to say anything—and in the earliest days of our career, I suppose I actually saw that as a good thing."<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.blabbermouth.net/news/k-k-downing-i-think-judas-priest-had-a-bit-of-an-identity-crisis-from-the-beginning/|title=K.K. DOWNING: 'I Think JUDAS PRIEST Had A Bit Of An Identity Crisis From The Beginning'|work=[[Blabbermouth.net]]|access-date=16 July 2018}}</ref>

Downing claims that he was the one who came up with the band's black-leather look back when he first started in the music business. He explains, "I had this Heavy Metal attitude inside of me. I had it all of my life. When I got into Judas Priest I knew I had a band that had a great name. I knew we were a great band ... but something was not quite complete. The leather and studs image came along and it all started to complete itself. We had the album cover with the razor blade ... and Heavy Metal was born, mate. I was a youngster and it came to me. Around 1976 is when it happened. The band took to it and got on with it, really."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://classicrockrevisited.com/show_interview.php?id=1284|author=Wright, Jeb|title=K.K. Downing – Wild Nights & Lots of Words!|publisher=classicrockrevisited.com}}</ref>

Although Halford adopted the gay leather fetish wear for the band's look, he stated that he "had no interest in [[S&M]], [[Dominance and submission|domination]] or the whole [[queer]] subcult of leather and chains" because he is a [[Conventional sex|vanilla]] gay man. He feels that fans of the era also did not suspect a homosexual or [[Kink (sexuality)|kink]] subtext in the leather-and-studs look.<ref>{{cite web |website=Rock and Roll Garage |title=Rob Halford recalls why Judas Priest started using leather |first=Rafael |last=Polcaro |date=December 10, 2020 |url=https://rockandrollgarage.com/rob-halford-recalls-why-judas-priest-started-using-leather/ }}</ref> However, following Halford's coming out as gay, modern listeners often identify Judas Priest as having queer themes in their lyrics and fashion.<ref>{{cite web |date=August 6, 2019 |website=Kerrang |first=Sam |last=Moore |title=We Need To Talk About The Queerness Of Judas Priest|url=https://www.kerrang.com/we-need-to-talk-about-the-queerness-of-judas-priest }}</ref>