In 1963, The Beatles were headed to the toppermost of the poppermost. Although there is debate over which single was their first U.K. number one hit, From Me To You went to the top of the charts in May. The group's first number one hit in America was I Want To Hold Your Hand. It entered the charts in January of 1964, and in the first week of February, just before their arrival, the song jumped to number one. 

The Beatles look evolved with their growing success and popularity. They no longer wore their round neck collarless suits. Their stage suits were always a variation of the traditional English Chesterfield, however, in early 1964 the lads had a special suit designed for them by Douglas Millings. The winged velvet collar suit was made for their debut American television performance on The Ed Sullivan Show on February 9th, 1964. They joined the club of their musical idols, Elvis Presley and Buddy Holly, who'd previously performed on the programme. The former sent them a telegram prior to their performance to congratulate them.  

The black suits they wore on Ed Sullivan were mohair, four button jackets with three button cuffs. They had no outer pockets, but the fully lined inside had double breast pockets. The double vent back allowed them to move more freely when they performed and also made running from fans easier. They continued to wear narrow ankle drainpipe trousers. The slacks also had tab adjustments on the waistband to make the drainies smaller at the waist and eliminating the need for a belt.

“...We went back to Germany and we had a bit more money the second time, so we bought leather pants and looked like four Gene Vincents, only a bit younger."

- John Lennon, ‘The Mersey Sound’