Mens Style Icon: Michael Jackson 1958 – 2009

There were the black loafers, the spangled glove, the red jacket, the aviator sunglasses, the black fedora, the epaulets, the tassels, the sparkles, the errant curl. Crazed fan or not, it’s hard (if not impossible) to argue that Michael Jackson’s influence on fashion has not been tremendous, pervasive, and, at times, downright irritating. He’d been making headlines for decades for his career moves and his curious personal life–and no doubt his recently sold-out tour–but with his passing on Thursday, we simply want to honor his dedication to the weird and the wild in the world of fashion, something he loved just as much as the music we’re playing again and again.

Michael Jackson’s shopping trips were famed and fabulous events, sometimes impromptu and other times the high-voltage star affair you’d see in the tabloids. Who could forget his $6 million shopping spree on objets d’art with a reporter by his side for the 2003 documentary “Living with Michael Jackson”? Dressed to impress, Jackson blew into Harrod’s in 2005 and dropped $150K in a half hour. In the year following his unusual choice of pajama-bottoms-plus-armband when arriving to face child molestation charges, he snuck to Topshop for a midnight spree. We took a close look inside his closet when Neverland Ranch memorabilia was bundled into 1,000 lots for auction this year. The King of Pop hung onto his collectibles when he reached an agreement with Julien’s Auctions. We’re glad he did.

We tip our black fedoras and take off our glove(s) to the never-outdone Michael Jackson. Sequins or not, you keep on shining. [images courtesy: huffpo, wikimedia]

Michael Jackson Style Gallery