King of Style

Here's an interesting article written by Booth Moore about Michael Jackson's costumes and a bit about the two designers who helped create his iconic style, L.A. based Michael Bush and Dennis Tompkins. They were working on his costumes for the tour that will now never happen, as originally intended. Swarovski provided jewels for his encrusted jackets and who knows what else. What a sight that would have been! The costumes must be almost finished by now as the tour was to start in mid-July - I wonder if we will ever see them? So much work and expense - I'm sure that AEG will try to make use of their investment, and I hope it's tastefully done. Gulp.

I like this observation by Mr. Moore:

"It was his face, though, that seemed to hold the most fascination for the public. The never-ending speculation about his rhinoplasties fueled a cultural obsession with plastic surgery as Jackson pursued an ideal of beauty that for him was always just out of reach."

Here's a fashion blog that has a lovely retrospective of his looks through the years and its influence on current fashion.