Glistening in a rhinestone embellished, button down and black sequin jacket paired
with cigarette pants, his signature penny loafers and all topped
off with a fedora, sparkling socks and his iconic single white glove.
A defining look for a historic performance
of Billie Jean during the Motown 25 television special that almost single
handedly catapulted the respected performer into a global phenomenon.
Many of the 50 million people who watched buying the thriller album in the coming
months, keeping it number one on the billboard charts
for an unprecedented 37 weeks soon making it the biggest selling album of all time.
Michael's appeal transcended race, gender,
age, religion and had everyone from professional dancers to young school
children mimicking his moves in the way he dressed.
The ensemble instantly became his
trademark that he would go on to recreate time and time again to the delight
of millions who witnessed his numerous tours around the world.
Although the silhouette and its elements
are now synonymous with the legendary artist, the original incarnation was
surprisingly haphazard and inspired by various conflicting sources.
Very much uncharacteristic of the meticulous performer,
the look was somewhat thrown together and his attitude to its components were
equally as care free discarding or giving items away to friends and fans with no
foresight into their later significance in his career and enduring legacy.
Having later been declared lost or
auctioned off to avid bidders for a hefty price tag, this is the story
of the Michael Jackson collector's holy grail, the Motown 25 performance costume
for Billie Jean, its creation, cultural impact and where those items ended up.
Here's the detail
feeling apprehensive about performing during the Motown television special.
Given his desire to move away from his
teeny bopper past and reinvent himself for a new generation,
michael didn't have a costume designed especially for the showbiz event
and instead put together an outfit with items he already had.
Jackson never divulged the inspiration behind the Billie Jean look,
but it was likely inspired by the dazzling moves he had planned to make
that reflected the slick sinuous beat of his new track.
Having been long inspired by the likes of Fred Astaire, Charlie Chaplin,
the art of mime and routines performed by Bob Fosse, a form fitting all black
attire with plenty of sparkle seemed appropriate to go alongside his new moves.
Already in his closet, a synthetic blend black long sleeve shirt
customized with punched rhinestones covering the collar chest and rolled up
cuffs created by Beverly Hills based custom shirt maker And Taylor.
Mr. Alex Jackson first debuted this design
during a performance of his solo hit Rock with you and duet ease on down the road
with Diana Ross for her 1981 CBS television special.
Diana also wore a matching version of the shirt as well as Michael's white
twopiece suit as they performed the single from their film the Wiz together.
Jackson decided to bring it out once again
for his legendary Billy Jean performance and after Motown 25,
the shirt remained in Michael's closet for a long while,
being worn by the superstar to industry events and on photo shoots,
with sister Janet even borrowing the item on occasion.
In 2011, the button down resurfaced once again during a Julian's Auction sale
of music memorabilia, largely overshadowed by the sale
of Michael Jackson's original Thriller red leather jacket during the same event,
the dazzling shirt was in remarkably good condition and had an estimate of between
6000 $8,000, but far exceeded that with an unknown
bidder ultimately paying $63,750 for the oneofa Kind piece.
Just as eye catching, the black sequin jacket Michael Jackson
decided to wear on top added another layer of sparkling magic.
But this item didn't come from his own
closet, but instead was fished out of his mother's.
In his autobiography Moonwalk, Jackson goes on to explain that when he
found the black jacket during the thrilling recording sessions,
he thought, quote you know, someday I'm going to wear this to perform.
It was so perfect and so show business that I wore it on Motown 25.
Adding an additional sense of androgyny and a feline quality as its slim fit
and the weight of the garment only exaggerated Jackson's magnetic moves.
After his performance, michael Jackson's childhood idol sammy Davis Jr.
Passed comment admiring his jacket.
As a result, Michael would later give it to the legendary performer as a gift.
Since then, the original sequin jacket has never resurfaced.
Therefore, it is presumed that the family of Sammy Davis Jr.
Are still in possession of the garment,
or alternatively, it has since been given away or discarded.
Many years ago.
Essential to executing his moves were Michael Jackson's black loafers.
The pair of floorsheim Imperial leather shoes were named by the artist,
his magic shoes and featured Jackson's signature on the worn down sole,
as well as a Michael no two marking on the loafers tongue.
Not wanting to take a chance, the performer likely went through hundreds
of the same design during his prolific career.
None so legendary, though, as those Michael Jackson publicly
performed his most legendary of moves for the first time in the Moonwalk.
The shoes were soon given to choreographer
and dancer Lester Wilson, who said Jackson gifted them to him in his dressing room.
After rehearsing with the artist and his
brothers for the special in 2018, the footwear was auctioned off at a,
quote, very conservative estimate of $10,000.
Anything related to Michael Jackson is
extraordinary and to have something so incredibly historical as these shoes worn
by Michael when he first did that now famous Moonwalk is beyond special.
Bridget Cruz, owner of GWS Auctions,
said quote These shoes are in wonderful condition for their age,
with evident signs of use to the souls, the Cadillac description read.
Eventually the mowaka's footwear received
eleven bids and reached a price of over 50 $0.
Another first for the artist that night was Michael Jackson.
Debuting his black wool fedora stamped
Michael Jackson and gold ink on the sweatband.
Jackson is said to have first requested a fedora for the Motown performance.
Quote Please order me a spies hat like
a cool fedora, something a secret agent will wear, stated the artist.
The fedora would instantly become an element of Jackson's iconic style,
worn regularly in public and cemented in other musical productions such as
that of Smooth Criminal and Dangerous, although an element that was employed only
to be worn for a few moments while performing the track.
In 2011, Julian's Auctions put the hat
worn by Michael on this monumental occasion up for sale during a Rock Legends
auction, reaching a whopping $15,360 at the final hit of the gavel.
However, the true holy grail of the whole
ensemble is what we have chosen to feature last.
No one item of clothing is more synonymous
with Michael Jackson and his iconic style than his sparkling single white glove.
The artist would sport several renditions over the years during its extensive tours,
with countless mass produced imitations created for concerts and Halloween
costumes alike, but none with such indelible significance
as the glove itself that became so iconic from that very moment onward.
Michael spoke about the evolution
of wearing the single glove as a stage costume piece in his autobiography.
I had been wearing a single glove for years before Thriller.
I was wearing it on some of the old tours back in the 19th.
Wore one glove during the off the wall
tour and on the cover of the live album that came out afterward,
but it hadn't gotten a lot of attention until Motown 25.
I thought that one glove was cool.
Wearing two gloves seemed so ordinary,
but a single glove was different and was definitely a look.
That look was something that became known
as Michael's trademark and arguably has as much historical significance within pop
culture as Dorothy's Ruby red slippers from The Wizard of Oz.
Apparently made in a hurried fashion,
not unlike the spontaneity and last minute creation of the performance itself.
It was made using a cream leather golfing glove.
The glove had an adjustable velcro flap
on the back of the hand with a single white snap at the back of the wrist.
Other gloves from this era,
as made by costume wear Bill Whitton, were covered with individually handswn
Swarovsky crystals, a meticulous and time consuming process.
However, this glove had mesh web
of faceted rhinestones handcut to the glove's shape.
Rhinestones were completely absent on the palm, presumably to allow Michael
to easily hold the microphone with either hand.
Video footage and photos of Michael Jackson touring as part
of the Jacksons in 1981 show Michael wearing both black and white left hand
gloves made with identical materials and construction.
The strips of rhinestone mesh used on the gloves matched the materials
and style of Michael's costumes created for that tour,
therefore suggesting that, like much of the outfit,
the glove was something he already had made and worn many times before.
His televised performance of Billie Jean.
Following his performance that evening, Michael gifted the glove to longtime
friend Walter Clyde Orange, one of the founding members of the Commodores.
Orange knew Michael Jackson and his family
since the summer of 1971 when the Commodores toured
with the Jackson Five as their opening act, traveling coast to coast with family
on this and subsequent tours in the years to follow.
Michael and I had a long running joke when we would see one another.
He refused to give me his autograph,
saying that I was more famous than he was, Clyde recounted.
Both groups would then go on to perform at the Motown 25 tribute show.
After Michael went behind Orange and put
his hands over his eyes and said, quote Guess who?
Quote I knew who it was because I felt the one glove on his left hand and no
glove on the other, the Commodore remembered.
When he once again asked Michael for his
autograph, the Billy Jean singer gave him the glove he wore that night instead.
Whenever I saw him after that,
I teased that I would return the glove in exchange for his autograph,
but he always refused, Orange recounted when he put the glove up
for auction with an estimate of between $40 to $60,000.
Only a mere few months after
Michael Jackson's sudden death and during a massive resurgence of interest in his
life and career, the sale caused an incredible buzz
and a bidding war commenced, finally closing at the colossal bid
of $430,000 made by Hong Kong based a businessman Hoffmann Ma.
After achieving such a high price tag
in 2019, there were high hopes for the equally sparkling attire
Michael Jackson wore on his magic feet that evening in 1983.
The flashy socks he first busted out his
iconic moonwalkin were reportedly given to his later manager Frank Delayo and had
an estimated price of between one to $2 million on Gotta Have Rockandroll.com.
Along with the crystal covered socks would accompany a signed letter from Michael
to Frank presenting the gift to him as a token of appreciation for keeping him
on his toes throughout the Jackson's famous Victory tour.
Also part of the package came a letter
from the late delayed's wife attesting Michael war the socks for his debut
moonwalk during the TV special, along with a certificate of authenticity.
However, Howard Weitzman,
attorney from MJ's estate told TMZ upon hearing news of the auction that,
quote the estate does not believe the socks being auctioned
by Gotta Have Rock and Roll.com are from the Motown show.
Frank Delayo was not Michael's manager at the time with the iconic performance
in the Motown 25 TV special, he continued, quote the letter supposedly given to Mr.
Delayo is dated two and a half years after
the March 1983 show and the person who made the original socks worn
at the NBC special has confirmed these are not the originals.
When the estate thinks MJ items are not as
presented, we feel an obligation to speak out so no buyer or fans are misled.
As a result of this statement,
the auction was quietly dropped and the Jackson socks were left unsold.
So here's the total cost of Michael Jackson's most iconic of a tires.
Based on this, how much would you say the stocks would be worth today?
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deep dives into Michael Jackson's most memorable of looks.
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