Russell Colley: Tailor to the Stars
Behold the first pressurized suit developed in 1934 by Russell Colley who later designed the space suits for Mercury, Gemini and Apollo. Read more about him here. 
In 1934, Colley was handed a new assignment: help daredevil pilot Wiley Post reach the jet stream and break new altitude records. Post needed a pressurized suit, and Colley designed him one using his wife’s sewing machine. The pressure suit had three layers: the innermost one was long underwear, the middle layer was a rubberized air pressure bladder, and the outer layer was made of rubberized parachute fabric. Rubber boots, pigskin gloves, and a diver’s helmet with a removable faceplate were added.
Post tried the suit on September 5, 1935 and reached an altitude of 40,000 feet, an unofficial record. He eventually reached 47,000 feet in the suit.
Colley eventually left Goodrich to work for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). There, he designed the space suits used by the Mercury astronauts. All six original Mercury astronauts went to Akron to be fitted by Colley for their suits, which were two-ply silver nylon coated with neoprene. He said his design was inspired by a tomato worm.
After Shephard’s flight aboard Freedom 7, the Akron press dubbed Colley “First Tailor of the Space Age” and Goodrich saluted him as “Father of the Spacesuit”. (from wikipedia)
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