From Dez Dickerson via @startribune:
'We were trying to dress as outrageously and outlandishly as we could. We were doing two shows at the Roxy in L.A. Between shows, [manager] Bob Cavallo came back and went through his list of critiques. For Prince, it was, "You're wearing these Spandex pants with no underwear. It's obscene." When Bob left, Prince got that look on his face. He said, "Bob wanted me to wear underwear, so I'll wear underwear." So he went out in his underwear. Period.'
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From funku.fr, an excerpt from an interview with Andre Cymone:
'My sister, who studied European fashion and always kept magazines around the house, was a big influence. She also made most of the stage outfits for me and Prince before and during his early solo career. She made the infamous trench coats and the animal print vest and bottoms that Prince wore back then...We would try different things, and if, or should I say when they had an effect, we would push it further to try to find the absolute edge. Our clothes, our hair, sexually taunting, overtly provocative sexual behavior was first of all natural for both Prince and myself and I think Dez as well. We were all front men and it was definitely part of the entertainment factor.'