Michael Jackson: From his tailor Michael Bush (3)

Read Part Two of this article here.

Tour outfits

Before heading out on tour, Bush would go to Michael’s ranch, Neverland, where he would watch Michael dance for hours so that if the outfits he designed weren’t suitable for the stage and didn’t give Michael the necessary freedom of movement, he could revise them. "The outfits had been thought through and deeply considered. Everything was done with calculations."

Bush says that as the stadiums where Michael performed became bigger and bigger, his pants became shorter and shorter, so that his white socks would be seen better from a distance.

"Michael was worried that not everyone would be able to enjoy his show in the same way. He said that people standing in the back rows had paid the same as those standing in the front rows. He wanted all of them to be able to see him on stage."

Stage outfits had to be designed to reflect his movements, so Bush and Tompkins would spend hours watching Michael dance to understand his moves well. Bush says that whether Michael was busy with the tour or not, he practiced dance for five to six hours a day. Michael carried a single piece of hard wooden dance floor (specifically for dancing) with him around the world.

Michael preferred Chinese silk and stretch fabrics for his outfits. Bush says: "Tight, stretchy clothes gave Michael a well-shaped body and worked well for Michael’s dancing."

Weight loss, insomnia, sex, and vitiligo

With a height of 178 cm (5 feet 10 inches), Michael was a tall, very thin man. Bush says:

"If you turned sideways, you couldn’t see his body. He was so thin he didn’t have hips. We put special elastic bands around his waist to keep the pants in place on his body. When you took the clothes off and pulled them, the water would run out."

The idea for the military jackets came from here. These jackets fit him perfectly and displayed a firm, strong build. Bush says:

"His body was under his command and control, and the clothes drew people’s eyes to them."

Bush says that unlike many showmen who have sexual relationships with their female fans, sex was not part of Michael’s identity. When he performed on stage, it was like he was flirting with his fans, but no one was ever allowed to touch him.

The skin disease vitiligo, which caused his skin color to turn white, was also a problem.

"There was a misconception that he intentionally made his skin white. But in reality, it was only makeup to even out his skin tone. He had white patches on his skin that kept spreading."

From the very first tour (BAD Tour), Bush realized that Michael had trouble sleeping. He lacked long, deep sleep at night and only took short naps.

"Resting was difficult for him. During tour days when there were no concerts, he handled business matters. There was always something to do, and he had to take care of it. He didn’t have any fat tissue in his body at all, and he ate very, very little. From the beginning of a show to the last song he performed, he would lose two kilograms of body water. There was an extreme amount of pressure on him because if even one concert was canceled, it would affect the entire tour."

Michael’s waist size was equal to 71 cm (28 inches), but in the middle of a concert—and before he performed Beat It—by cutting two kilograms of body water, his waist size would reach 69 cm (27.25 inches).

The tailors had come up with solutions to reduce Michael’s size. In the dressing room, clothes of the same style and color were arranged in order by size. Bush says:

"If we hadn’t prepared several sets of clothes in different sizes, there would come a moment when, with just one movement of his body on stage, his pants would separate from his waist and fall around his legs—and then that performance wouldn’t be magical anymore!"

Michael told Bush: "Never let them see my legs. If that happens, I’ll lose all of them."

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Source: eMJey.com / Reuters & Associated Press