The document discusses David Bowie's influence on fashion through a retrospective exhibition on his life and work at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London. It highlights some of the iconic costumes Bowie wore for performances as Ziggy Stardust and how they influenced designers like Kansai Yamamoto. The document also discusses Bowie's unconventional and androgynous style which challenged gender norms and how it continues to inspire artists today.

1. David Bowie’s Glitter
Apocalypse
by Lesley Scott
Fashiontribes.com

2. (cover image: source)
Bowie Mania
If you think you've been seeing a lot of Bowie everywhere - both now & back-in-the-day - you're not having
(chemically-induced) flashbacks. On top of a new album, the legend is being honored by the V&A with a
new exhibition that's up until 11 August 2013.
(image: source)
Been seeing a lot of Bowie everywhere? No, you're not having (chemically-induced) flashbacks. He
is being honored by the Victoria & Albert Museum in London with a new exhibition.

3. *David Bowie is* at the
If you think you've been seeing a lot of Bowie everywhere - both now & back-in-
the-day - you're not having (chemically-induced) flashbacks. On top of a new
Victoria & Albert Museum,
album, the legend is being honored by the V&A with a new exhibition that's up
until 11 August 2013.
2013
(image: source)

4. “David Bowie is”
"David Bowie is" features more than
300 objects, including handwritten
lyrics, original costumes, fashion,
photography, film, music videos, set
designs and Bowie's own
instruments.
(image: source)
"David Bowie is" features more than 300 objects, including handwritten lyrics, original
costumes, fashion, photography, film, music videos, set designs and Bowie's own instruments.

5. Unprecedented Access
to all things Bowie
The exhibit curators were given
For the first international
unprecedented access to the David
retrospective of his Archive for the first international
Bowie
retrospective of his mega-extraordinary
extraordinary career, the "David Bowie is" features more
career.
exhibit curators were 300 objects, including handwritten
than
given unprecedented original film, music videos, set
lyrics,
photography,
costumes, fashion,
access to the David Bowieand Bowie's own instruments.
designs
Archive.
(image: source)

6. A mega brand
sponsors an indie one.
The exhibit is
being sponsored The exhibit is being sponsored by
by Gucci, which is Gucci, which is ironic, given it’s
a bit ironic, given about paying homage to an icon of
the man in individualism. At least some of all
that cashish they rake in for
question is an icon festooning anything that moves with
of individualism. their logo is a good thing.

7. The Bowie Effect
When a museum this
prestigious devotes (&
promotes) an homage to
When a museum this someone on this scale,
prestigious devotes (& expect to see the fallout
promotes) an in-exhibit to walking the high-fashion
such a high-profile, runways & strutting down the
successful star and style- world’s streetfashion
chameleon, expect to see catwalks.
the fallout coming soon to a
streetfashion catwalk &
high-fash runway near you.

8. Kate Moss /
Vogue cover
Kate Moss on the
cover of French
Vogue
(source)

9. Get that Bowie
look
That Bowie look
…for less!
(image: source)

10. Givenchy
Blazing a trail
in a blazer
Givenchy (source)
(source)

11. in black & white
Richard Nicoll (source)
Richard Nicoll (source)

12. With a
Parisian twist
Jean Paul Gaultier
(source)

14. Bowie on
the Runway
Walter Van Beirendonck
F’13

15. Do you speak "My earliest memory of David Bowie
was as Ziggy Stardust when I was
about 14 or 15 years old. I was
Bowie? fascinated by Bowie as a human
being, his music and his ever-
"My earliest memory of David Bowie was as changing looks. I loved the codes he
Ziggy Stardust when I was about 14 or 15
years old. I was fascinated by Bowie as a was playing around with and was
human being, his music and his ever- fascinated by the messages he was
changing looks. I loved the codes he was
playing around with and was fascinated communicating through his looks,
by the messages he was communicating interviews, live-performances and
through his looks, interviews, live-
performances and records. The
records. The combination of all of that
combination of all of that was just so was just so overwhelming to me. In
overwhelming to me. In that moment, I that moment, I realized that image
realized that image and clothes were a
form of communication. Ultimately, Bowie and clothes were a form of
was the reason that I got interested in communication. Ultimately, Bowie
fashion."
was the reason that I got interested in
- Belgian fashion designer Walter Van fashion.” (source)
Beirendonck
-Belgian fashion designer
(Illustration by Miguel Villabobos for Black Book 1999; source) Walter Van Beirendonck

16. Gender-Bender
"Bowie's shameless
androgyny helped
women express their
masculine strength
without losing their
feminine glamour and
sensuality."
(source)
- Gucci creative director &
longtime Bowie fan,
Frida Giannini
(image: source)

17. Ziggy from Mars
"Space travel inspired much of
David’s work. His big
breakthrough came when he
invented Ziggy Stardust, a
character he said would look
as if he came from Mars.”
(source)
- from Lipstick Legends by
Bowie’s ex-wife, Angie

18. The hair maketh
the (wo)man.
“That hairstyle had a definite
effect on David. It made
him look stronger and
wilder and, if possible, even
more sexually ambivalent.”
(source)
- Angle Bowie

19. The sheer power of image
It wasn’t long before David Jones from Brixton had transformed himself into
Ziggy, a lithe, red-headed, face-painted, polysexual alien. (source)

20. Ziggy played guitar Ziggy played for time, jiving us
that we were Voodoo.
The kids was just crass,
He was the naz
Ziggy played for time, jiving us that we
were Voodoo With God given ass
The kids was just crass, He took it all too far
He was the naz But boy could he play guitar.
With God given ass
He took it all too far
Making
But boy could he play guitar. love with his ego
Ziggy sucked up into his mind
Making love with his ego Ziggy sucked messiah
Like a leper
up into his mind
Like a leper messiah When the kids had killed the
man
When the kids had killed the man
I had to break up the band. had to break up the band.
I
Ziggy played guitar...
Ziggy played guitar...

21. A Clockwork Ziggy The classic Kubrick film “A
Clockwork Orange”
was Bowie’s inspiration
for the Ziggy Stardust
costumes. In an
interview, Bowie noted
that it wasn't so much
the violence of the film
that was "his thing" as
the the way it was
anticipating &
constructing a world
that hadn't yet
happened.
Plus, the jumpsuits worn
by the film's thugs were
fabulous.
(image: source)

22. Ziggy Fabulous
This cobweb bodysuit from
1973 was designed by
Natasha Korniloff, who was
behind a number of Ziggy
costumes.

23. Behind Ziggy’s
sartorial legacy "He's neither man nor woman,"
observed fashion designer
Kansai Yamamoto about
Bowie in 1973, "which suited
me as a designer because
most of my clothes are for
either sex.”
(source)

24. Bowie & Kansai
“I love his music and
obviously that has
influenced my
designs, but most of
all there's this aura
of fantasy that
surrounds him. He
has flair.” (source)
- fashion designer Kansai
Yamamoto

25. Bowietacular
This spectacular bodysuit by
Kansai Yamamoto was
created for the Aladdin
Sane tour in 1973.
(image by Masayoshi Sukita)

26. Kansai still
resonates
To this day, Kansai's avant-
garde costumes and iconic
platform boots continue to
resonate with artists who
vibe majorly with the pop
culture - including Madonna
and Lady Gaga.

27. About those
shoes!
How right-for-right-now are
these sassy Pelican
Footwear New York sandals
with palm trees carved into
the wedge of the heel?!
Perfect for spreading the
Gospel of Glitter!
(photograph by Mick Rock: source)

28. Suited up for Stardom While the Bowie-as-Ziggy
catsuits tend to run off
with the fashion buzz, the
unsung sartorial stars of
"David Bowie is" are the
suits. Like this dapper
ensemble from 1975.
When Hedi Slimane took
over menswear design
duties at Dior, the decor
minimalist left all the
walls white & blank save
one on which he hung
but a single striking
image: Bowie in this
snazzy tux presenting
Aretha Franklin with a
Grammy.

29. Of the moment
“His ability to be simultaneously
androgynous and highly
sexual, game-changing in
the 1970s, still resonates
through popular culture
today.”* Like this suit, for
instance, which is said to be
one of influential designer
Phoebe Philo’s influences.
*from the Guardian review of "David Bowie is"

30. “Suited”
for Mars
This suit from the early 1970s
was made for the Icon from
Mars by Freddie Burretti.
(photograph by Mick Rock)

31. Freddie
Bowie met Burretti at a
flamboyant London nightclub
Burretti
where he was puttin' on the
glitz in a white spandex
sailor-themed ensemble he
had made. Burretti worked
for a Greek tailor during the
day & then spent his free
time creating fabulous new
outfits to wear out at night.
He ended up working almost
exclusively for Bowie for a
period.
Such a sassy, sparkly sartorial
legacy!
(image: source)

32. (image: source)
"Bowie's house is
decorated in a science
Bowie meets
fiction mode: a gigantic
painting, by an artist Burroughs
whose style fell midway
"Bowie's house is decorated in a
between Salvador Dali science fiction mode: a gigantic
and Norman Rockwell, painting, by an artist whose style fell
hung over a plastic sofa. midway between Salvador Dali and
Norman Rockwell, hung over a
Quite a contrast to plastic sofa. Quite a contrast to
Burroughs’s humble two- Burroughs' humble two-room
room Piccadilly flat, Piccadilly flat, decorated with photos
of Bryan Gysin - modest quarters for
decorated with photos of such a successful writer, more like
Bryan Gysin - modest the Beat Hotel in Paris than
quarters for such a anything else.”
successful writer, more
like the Beat Hotel in
Paris than anything
else.”

33. Ground Control…
“Soon Bowie entered, wearing “Soon Bowie entered, wearing
three-tone NASA jodhpurs. He
three-tone NASA jodhpurs. He
jumped right into a detailed
description of the painting jumped right into a detailed
and
its surrealistic qualities. description of the painting and
Burroughs nodded, and the surrealistic qualities.
its
Burroughs nodded and the
interview/conversation began.”
interview/conversation began.”
(image: source)

34. “The three of us sat in the room for two hours, talking and taking
lunch: a Jamaican fish dish, prepared by a Jamaican in the Bowie
entourage, with avocados stuffed with shrimp and a beaujolais
nouveau, served by two interstellar Bowieites."
The three of us sat in the
room for two hours,
talking and taking
lunch: a Jamaican fish
Lunch
dish, prepared by a
Jamaican in the Bowie with Bowie
entourage, with
avocados stuffed with
shrimp and a beaujolais
nouveau, served by two
interstellar Bowieites."
(images: source)

35. B&B
So starts the fabulously-
oddball (Bowie &
Burroughs?!) feature in the
(image by Terry O’Neill: source)
February 1973 issue of
Rolling Stone.

36. Bowie Legged
Trousers
In the early 70s, Bowie tended
to favor a prim & classic
buttondown tucked into a
wide-legged pant & paired
with a big heel (which have
always gone together...like
Fred & Ginger, or better
yet, PNB & jelly).

37. Style observers have
Bowie’s Bones remarked on more than
one occasion that his
"Hunky Dory" period
seems straight outta the
1935 film Sylvia Scarlett
starring another high-
cheekboned beauty,
Katharine Hepburn.

38. During the mid-70s,
the rumor-mill worked
Trippin’ like
During the mid-70s, circulated about the
artifacts from Ancient Egypt that
overtime, speculating
about the artifacts from
Ancient Egypt that
an Egyptian
filled Bowie’s home, where he
burned black candles, fretted about filled Bowie’s home,
having his semen stolen by witches
(!), watched bodies fall past his
where he burned black
windows (!!) - & even received candles, fretted about
secret messages from The Rolling having his semen
Stones. stolen by witches (!),
bodies falling past his
windows (!!) - & even
secret messages from
The Rolling Stones.
(image: source)

39. Cali Dreamin’
According to Bowie
biographer David "According to biographer David
Buckley, his state Buckley, his state of "psychic terror"
of "psychic terror" lasted from 1975-76. Later, Bowie
lasted from 1975- would comment about L.A. that it
should probably be "wiped off the
76. Later, Bowie face of the earth".
would comment
about L.A. that it
should probably be
"wiped off the face
of the earth".
(image: source)

40. Hungry…for style
The fleas are now the size of
rats, the rats the size of cats.
However, some things haven't
changed: the humanoid
inhabitants are still packs of
dogs.
Welcome to Hunger City.
A distorted howl & spoken-word
snippet of things to come in
"Future Legend.”
(Diamond Dogs, 1974)

41. For his 20th
studio album,
Earthling Chic Bowie wanted
to channel the
electronica-,
industrial- &
For his 20th studio album,
drum/bass-
Bowie wanted to channel the
culture of the
electronica-, industrial- &
period. "I really
drum/bass-culture of the
thought it
period. "I really thought it
would be great
would be great if we could
if we could
do...almost a sonic
do...almost a
photograph of what we were
sonic photo-
like at that time," he noted in
graph of what
one interview.
we were like at
that time.”
(source)

42. Bowie David Bowie: There's something a
lot more pagan about your work
compared, say, to Gaultier. Your
in McQueen things work at a more organic
level.
Alexander McQueen: I gather some
influence from the Marquis de
Sade because I actually think of
him as a great philosopher and a
man of his time, where people
found him just a pervert. (laughs) I
find him sort of influential in the
way he provokes people's
thoughts. It kind of scares me.
- from Bowie & McQueen (Dazed, 1996)
an interview by Bowie of the designer
responsible for the Union Jack coat on
the cover of 1997ʼs Earthling.
(image by Frank W Ockenfels 3 - source)

43. Bowie & Kansai
"Whether it's wearing kitten
heels with a Thierry Mugler
suit or adopting Japanese
silhouettes before that
aesthetic was widely known in
the west, he articulates and
synthesizes the avant garde
for a mass audience.”
- from the Guardian review of
"David Bowie is"
(image: source)

44. “He is a product of
Surrealism, of Dada, of
In the moment the Modernist arts. He
is body-based, always
completely in the role
“He is a product of Surrealism, of Dada, he is playing. His
of the Modernist arts. He is body-
tremendous physical
based, always completely in the role
he is playing. His tremendous virtuosity, his
physical virtuosity, his understanding of
understanding of costume and how costume and how it is
it is an imaginative projection of
an imaginative
your body, is part of the biggest
thing about him: he is so deeply projection of your body,
emotional. I’m so happy with the is part of the biggest
return of David Bowie.” thing about him: he is
so deeply emotional.”
- author & pop-culture critic Camille
(source)
Paglia on "David Bowie is"
-author & pop-culture critic
Camille Paglia on
"David Bowie is"

45. “Until the Beatles came along, the
previous models in rock were that you
had a hit, then recycled that until you had
bored everyone. I think Bowie picked up
that idea of constant change in a more
extreme way…
Saying he was gay at the same time as
he had a wife gave the message: this is
pop music, this is an area for play,
experimentation, have fun. It’s a place
outside the norms of society, where you
can try different things in a performative
way.”
(source)
- music writer Jon Savage on "David Bowie is"

46. as David Jones " The carefully choreographed
pose, the angelic face, the
calculation of the gaze
suggest much about the
teenager who would become
the protean figure known as
David Bowie…Immediately
apparent is his
understanding of body
language, image and the
importance of seduction —
elements that have played a
vital role in the career of a
pop star who was a
performance artist before
that term was widely used.”
(source)

47. *digs out velvet platform boots, applies glitter to entire body & logs into
Paypal account to see if a trip to London is in the financial stars*
Now check it out for yourself!
(image: source)

48. About Lesley Scott
Lesley is the EIC of
Fashiontribes.com.
She harbors a raccoon-like love
of all things shiny & purdy &
has been blogging about it for
the last decade. (Yes, there
was Internet 10 years ago.
Smartass.)
Her latest book, How to Work with Bloggers,
covers the Dark Arts of corralling cats for fame,
fortune & fabulousne$$.

49. Stalk me!
Really, I don’t bite. That often. And I’m
all over the usual Social Media
suspects every day if you get the
urge to reach out.
Blog
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Email: Lesley @
Fashiontribes.com