Michael Jackson Book Club Review: “The King of Style: Dressing Michael Jackson”

June 16, 2021

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The King of Style: Dressing Michael Jackson
Rating: 5/5

“The King of Style: Dressing Michael Jackson” by Michael Bush

Do you remember how you spent hours sewing sequins onto a white material glove you bought in a store, wondering how the *the* glove was made? Or how you did the leg kick and ended up chasing your black Loafer, asking yourself what was it that HIS Loafers had, that prevented them from slipping off during all those insanely energetic moves? Or how you were running late because you spent too much time in your walk-in wardrobe, and wondered how Mr. Magic was able to change within seconds between the songs?

I too remember asking myself those questions – but it was before “The King of Style: Dressing Michael Jackson” satisfied my seemingly bottomless curiosity and showed me (inside out!) how the clothing magic was made.

This book about clothes could be a model itself: it is simply a feast for the eyes. Quite weighty (after all it is chalk coated paper that ensures pristine quality of the pictures inside) and big (slightly reduced B4 format), the book is a grand showpiece. The dustcover is a picture of a single, unmistakable, trademark item: Michael Jackson’s black leather military jacket for the opening of the Bad World Tour: the epitome of iconic. Static and smoothed, as if showing off its intricate details, the jacket seems to be radiating with the stored energy of its owner, which once electrified us all. But what is beneath it, on the hardcover of the book, is a major surprise: a photo of the little containers with beads, badges, pins, all those glittery and shiny embellishments that would make the future icing of jackets, stylized royal badges and other accessories that turned heads. By this juxtaposition of the pictures on the dustcover and the hardcover, the book seems to be making a promise: “There is a lot going on behind of what you see as a complete item of clothing, especially a legendary one – and we are going to delve into the detail.” And I am sure books talk not only to editors, as myself.

“The King of Style…”, apart from being a reminder of Michael Jackson’s perfectionism that extended to the field of fashion, is yet another confirmation that the King of Pop was a visual artist on a par with being a musical artist. It is a story about extraordinary inspirations – or about an extraordinary mind that saw the potential in ordinary things. It is also the story of combining contradictions: two designers in a little studio creating fashion classics for arguably the most famous person on the planet, varying, chameleonic outfits while staying consistent with the image, creating military or fancy clothes that are comfortable and stretchy enough to dance in them. The details are not to be spoiled here, everybody deserves their moment (which, I can guarantee, will prolong to “I don’t care what time it is”) with this book and its stories – accessible and fascinating even for those who are not best friends with needle and thread.

But most important, it is the story about what Michael Jackson used to call “the greatest gift of all”. What does it mean? Brad Sundberg, Michael’s sound engineer, once recalled a talk between Michael and Brian Vibberts. They were discussing what love is all about. Michael then told Brian that if one could inspire someone to do their best and to be their best, that was the greatest gift one could give. And this is exactly what the story presented by Michael Bush tells us. Every bold idea that MJ came up with was accompanied by “I know you can do this for me, Bush.” It was more than just an order for another item of clothing – it was essentially a prompt for the other person to do their best. As Bush tells us, not only had this sort of affirmation coming from the King of Pop himself pushed him to create clothes he had never dreamed of creating, but also made him literally an inventor, with his own patent.

What I appreciated in particular was the author’s decision to skip the period we all wish we could forget: the trial. Although in 2012, when the book was published, neither the author, nor the fans could imagine how far the character assassination of Michael Jackson can go, the decision to leave out the ever-present matter of allegations was the best one. “The King of Style…” is immersive and puts the focus where it belongs.

Knowing how much attention MJ paid to sustaining the mystique and the illusion, one may wonder whether the revealing of technicalities in this book spoils the “magic”. I did wonder, too. However, a popular saying goes: who has magic needs no tricks. Michael Bush suggested the same thing when he wrote: “He [Michael] had magic because he truly believed it. He didn’t believe in can’t or won’t.” His magic lives on. Proof? I was perfectly aware of the technical side of performing the lean in front of a live audience when I went to see “Thriller Live” three years ago in Wrocław. Then “Smooth Criminal” came, the dimming of lights, the whole group of dancers went on to defy gravity and I lost my mind all over again.

Magdalena Rzasa

Michael Jackson Book Club Member