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. 
