Michael Jackson was picky about how he dressed because he wanted to be noticed. Because of this, his outfits had a lot of little details that made people wonder what they were for and why they were there. For example, Michael Jackson’s jackets almost always had a patch on the right sleeve, and some of them also had the number “777” sewn on them.
Bright Side is very interested in Michael Jackson’s clothes, and we’re ready to let you in on some of the secrets behind them!
#1: Why he wore smaller outfits at the end of his shows
Michael Jackson’s dance moves were very hard on his body, and when he performed, he gave it his all. By the show’s end, he would usually have lost up to 5 pounds, and his waist would have shrunk by an inch. So he could show off his dance moves, his clothes needed to fit well, so each new one was a little bit smaller than the last one.
#2: How his skinny shoes worked
Michael Jackson’s shoes had a V-shaped clasp at the bottom of the heels that helped him resist gravity. He could use it to hook onto a nail in the floor and do his famous 45-degree forward tilt. But to do that and keep his whole body straight, he also had to have a lot of core and leg strength.
#3: Why he wore only one glove
Michael had a skin disease called vitiligo, which caused patches of his skin to lose color. It began on his hand, and he tried to hide it. And he thought that wearing two gloves would make him look too regular, so he only wore one.
#4: Why the right sleeve of almost every jacket had an armband
Michel Jackson just wanted his clothes to stand out from the rest. And having a wristband on one of your sleeves makes you stand out. Michael also liked to make his fans wonder what was up with that wristband.
#5: Why do his coats have 3 No. 7s sewn on them?
Michael was his family’s seventh child. Also, he was born in 1958, which makes him 77 years old.
#6: Why he never had his shoes shined
Once, the singer’s managers were worried about the state of his shoes, so they asked the person in charge of his wardrobe to polish them. He did it, but Michael was very angry about it. He said that the leather was worn down just the way he wanted it, and that cleaning it would make it too slippery for him to dance on.
#7: He wore white pants because
Michael liked white socks for more than one reason. No one else was wearing black shoes with white socks. Also, when he danced, they would catch the light and draw attention to the way his feet moved.
#8: The reason he taped his fingers
A big part of Michael Jackson’s dance moves was moving his hands. So he and the people who make his costumes decided to wrap white tape around his fingers to make them shine brighter. Michael also thought it would be more interesting to only tape his index, ring, and pinkie fingers. Fans would ask him why only his third finger was taped. This made him laugh.
He wouldn’t mean to when Michael danced, but he would put his two fingers that weren’t taped together. Fans would think this sign meant something secret, making his shows even more strange.
#9: What do the letters CTE stand for on his jackets
There is no meaning to these letters. Michael’s costume makers made him a few new shirts in the 1990s. He liked them, but he wanted to add letters to the shoulder pieces. He said it didn’t matter which ones, so the people who made his costumes put all the alphabet letters in a hat and randomly picked three. The letters “CTE” came from this.
Do you think Michael Jackson knew how to dress well? Is there a certain outfit of his that you really like? In the comments, please tell us what you think!
