1979: Michael establishes his white sock/black shoe combo during his final stage with the Jackson Five.
Ever since I first heard the news about Michael Jackson’s death last week during a business trip in Portugal, I’ve been obsessively following the news surrounding it online and in the newspapers. Like most ’80s babies, I had strong, mixed emotions about it.
As tragic as his life was, his music conjured up vivid childhood memories for me. I was obsessed with “Thriller” and distinctly remember secretly trying to will my mom into giving me a Jheri curl (thank goodness she never did) rather than styling my hair in the usual ponytails for school. On top of that, my very first story for my first magazine job (at Jane), involved my tracking down Michael’s Thriller co-star Ola Ray for a “where are they now?” kind of article.
It’s interesting for me, as an American, to see how his passing has resonated around the world. His music was playing in every single taxi, store and restaurant I walked into in Lisbon. All of the international newspapers offered to me on my flight back featured him on the cover, with four, six and eight page spreads devoted to his life and legacy. Most of them focused on his ever-changing face, with think pieces examining how his plastic surgery reflected inner conflict about his race and sexuality among other issues.
But few have really looked at the way his personal style evolved, which is odd considering the major influence he’s had on this year’s trends thanks to Balmain. In a recent interview with the AOL blog Stylelist, Phillip Bloch, who dressed Michael for an Ebony magazine cover shoot (which turned out to be his last photo shoot ever) noted that Michael was not very knowledgeable of the high fashion world. He asked Phillip if the famous British designer Paul Smith was American and if the legendary Japanese designer Yohji Yamamoto was Italian.
The fact that Michael wasn’t looped in to the high fashion world says even more about his trend setting as an artist. Whereas his face may have reflected an uncertainty about his racial and sexual identity, his distinct, sartorial trademarks (the white glove, glittery socks, bow tie and red leather jacket for instance), which began to emerge very early on in his career, displayed a certainty of self as a performer. And rather than constantly re-invent his wardrobe, the way he did with his face, he instead stuck with a formula and perfected it, adding on bombastic pieces that mirrored his growing superstardom. There was the color palette: red, black, white, gold and silver. And then the building blocks: the loafers, cowboy boots, regal military jackets, boxing championship style belts, space-age metallic tops, moon boots, and showy suits. It was over the top in many ways, yes. It was also very telling, revealing a self-loving side of himself that the plastic surgery eventually overshadowed. Off stage, he may have been an emotionally disturbed and conflicted man (I still cringe at the footage of baby Blanket dangling over that balcony). But on stage, he was the king of pop.
(above, left) 1979 – Michael reveals a new ‘do and a penchant for bow ties and sequins
(above, right) 1983 – The singer’s red leather, zippered jacket becomes the It item of the ’80s.
(above) 1988 – Jackson rocks a boxing championship style belt that reflects his winning sales on his “Bad” tour.
(above) 2001 – Revisiting an iconic look for his 30th anniversary show.
