The Fashion Spot

The world is still in shock, mourning the death of the King of Pop and saddened over never being able to witness what was sure to be an epic tour. During rehearsals for his nationwide ‘This Is It’ tour, many on set reported that Michael Jackson was in great shape and doing a terrific job of dancing, further fueling rumors that his death may have been the result of tampering – with his death comes huge insurance pay-outs.

Theories and autopsy results aside, People magazine got a glimpse of the tour’s costumes, which were created by designers Dennis Tompkins and Michael Bush. Tompkins told the magazine that on Jackson’s final night of rehearsal he “was doing the moonwalk. Everything! He did the whole show at full performance level. He was like, ‘When are we going to London? Let’s go. I’m ready.’ Working with Michael for 25 years, we had never seen his creativity at this level.”

As for the actual costumes, here is some of what People magazine found out about the 26 iconic Jackson looks that were re-created  for each of the songs he was to perform:

• Fiber-optic lights were sewn onto the red leather “Thriller” jacket for a light show timed to the music.

• Jackson was going to wear his signature crystal glove and socks which caught the light allowing even those sitting far away to see.

• For the Jackson’s “I Just Can’t Stop Loving You” performance regimented, military look was created.
• It has been reported that when he died, Jackson was a mere 112 pounds. Tompkins told People that his waist was 27 3/4 inches, which had to be taken into consideration when designing the star’s clothing.
• Jackson’s new Billie Jean suit held 7.5 lbs. of Swarovski crystals and 60 lights.

Hopefully we will get to see some of this fashion fierceness when the DVD of Michael Jackson’s final performance is released.

Images courtesy of the Fashion Spot forums.