By their 1972 American and European tour, The Rolling Stones had been together for over ten years, and had garnered a reputation as the “The Greatest Rock 'n' Roll Band in the World”. The title had been conferred on them by their tour manager on their 1969 US tour, and it stuck with them ever since. The 1972 tour, labelled “one of the benchmarks of an era” by Dave Marsh (an American music journalist), was covered by well-established writers such as Terry Southern (screenwriter of Easy Rider) and Truman Capote. This was a first for a rock tour, and indicative of how the tour was perceived culturally.

The Stones tour coincided with the explosion of the glam rock movement in British pop. David Bowie’s androgynous alien and Marc Bolan’s glitter pixie were dominating Top of the Pops and Melody Maker and their stylistic influence on the British music scene was palpable in nearly every band of the time. Mick Jagger, as a performer, had an element of adrodgyny about him and the glam style fitted perfectly with his stage personality. The costume for this tour was specially designed for him by Ossie Clark, famed for his romantic flowing gowns and unabashed show-stopping garments. Jagger had become a client of his in the late 1960s, and Clark had created this voluptuous outfit for this tour in the glam style, reminiscent of costumes Bowie had been pictured in - an all-in-one velvet jumpsuit, with large areas uncovered to show off Jagger’s lithe body.