Michael Jackson wears a fish-skin jacket during a 1991 stop on his Dangerous tour. It was one of several new spins on the one he donned for the “Beat It” video.
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ON TRIAL
Dressing Jackson for his 2005 child molestation trial was a challenge. “If Michael stepped into the courtroom in a Men’s Warehouse black suit, it’d look like he wasn’t himself,” says Bush, who worked with Tompkins to create conservative pieces with an MJ edge. Jackets were mostly black or in dark earth tones. “We went crazy once and did an electric blue one,” says Bush, “but even Michael said, ‘We can’t go that far.’ ”
So they punched up the vests Jackson wore under his blazers.
Still, Jackson’s behavior during the trial did go a little far, jumping on top of a van before applauding fans. Bush explains: “I think afterwards, he was like ‘Uh-oh,’ but it was just iconic Michael. He’d been onstage his whole life and thought, ‘If they come to see me perform, I have to give them something.’ ”
After his acquittal, Jackson wanted his trial clothing locked up. “I never want to see those again,” he told Bush.
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PEARL-ENCRUSTED JACKETS
“If you tell anyone that a man is going to wear pearls, their reaction is, ‘Huh?’ ” says Bush, but not Jackson. For Jackson’s 1991 Oscars date with Madonna (below left), Bush and Tompkins heard the Material Girl was going to wear white — so the duo, inspired by ancient, pearl-embellished royal costumes, sketched two options. Jackson wore the dinner coat to the Oscars and the military jacket, adorned with nearly 400 pearls, to the 1993 Grammys — accompanied by sister Janet. “Usually with Michael you’d get an applause,” Bush says. “He would do a Japanese bow out of graciousness, and you’d get a hug that said, ‘I can’t believe I get to wear this.’ ” The military jacket became Jackson’s favorite garment of all time and inspired the jacket he was buried in.
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Jackson’s pearl-encrusted Grammy jacket (left) has an estimated value of $8,000 to $10,000.
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THE GLOVE
Jackson’s iconic glove transformed vastly over the years. Though he’d been wearing a modest, self-made one since the 1960s, it wasn’t until he slipped on a version designed for the “Motown 25” special in 1983 that it became a signature accessory. Made by a family assistant, it was covered with 1,619 rhinestones and set the standard for gloves to come. Bush says Michael’s mentality was, “If I go onstage to do ‘Billie Jean,’ and I have no glove, there’s no ‘Billie Jean.’ ” In 1987, Bush stripped the crystals from the glove’s palm, to keep them from interfering with the mike. His hand-stitched renditions took 50 hours to complete and cost between $7,000 and $10,000. In the past, these gloves have fetched six figures. Estimated value: $20,000 to $30,000.
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WHITE SOCKS
Icing just one pair of Jackson’s socks took about 5,000 rhinestones — so fans in the last row of a stadium could see the pop star’s smooth dance-floor moves. But rhinestones cut into his feet until Bush and Tompkins redesigned his socks and removed the crystals from around his foot. It took 80 hours and cost roughly $4,500 to decorate one pair from the ankle up. And while it dazzled onstage, Bush’s professional stitching was no match for Jackson’s steps. Crystals would inevitably fall off during performances, leaving Bush to repair them nightly from his hotel room.
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GOLDEN GORGERINE
It was after a routine business meeting in 1992 that Jackson hinted at needing a “Remember the Time” statement piece. “As I was walking out, he turned to me and said, ‘Isn’t Egyptian jewelry beautiful? And it’s amazing that stuff is real gold.’ ” Not long after, Bush and Tompkins busied themselves creating something reminiscent of Yul Brynner’s costume in “The Ten Commandments.” The result was a chest plate known as a gorgerine, plated in gold and accented with synthetic red stones.
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‘LEAN’ SHOES
When Jackson first tried out these trick shoes, which allowed him to drop to a 45 degree angle in 1987’s “Smooth Criminal” video, he cried. “He was fussing the whole time,” Bush says, “going, ‘This is not going to work. You’re wasting my time, I need to be recording.’ But I said, ‘Michael, lean towards me,’ and he burst into tears when he was coming back up.”
Bush and Tompkins spent three months producing the shoes. Working with an engineer, they created a special pair of boots masked by what looked like ordinary loafers. When attached to bolts on the ground, the shoes allowed Jackson to lean at a deep angle. Jackson was so impressed that he protected the design with a patent, including Bush and Tompkins’ names on it. Estimated value: $6,000 to $8,000.
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FENCING UNIFORM
“Fencing is known in Europe as the sport of kings,” says Bush. “We didn’t figure it out until after we’d done it, but with Elizabeth Taylor dubbing him the King of Pop, [the uniform] just fell right into place.” Initially made in black leather for photos shot by Herb Ritts, Jackson announced he wanted to wear it on his Dangerous tour, and helped sketch the gold one, which caused a stir for drawing attention to his crotch. The buzz has endured, with one of Jackson’s fencing tops going for $37,500 at a Julien’s auction in 2010. Estimated value: $4,000 to $6,000.
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THE DINNER JACKET
“Michael was very shy, even with some of his friends,” says Bush. “[The silverware-adorned jacket] kind of opened the door for him to tell the story of how it came about.” Jackson requested the jacket, his go-to ensemble for dinners at Neverland ranch, with a riddle — asking Bush to guess which object everyone in the world recognizes. In Jackson’s mind the answer was flatware, so Bush and Tompkins added 750 pieces of chrome-plated cutlery to a jacket that ultimately served a purpose larger than style.
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