.hmmessage P { margin:0px; padding:0px } body.hmmessage { font-size: 10pt; font-family:Verdana }Where were you when you heard about Michael Jackson’s sudden death?
I was at my computer around 4:30 p.m. (ET) yesterday when a news flash from TMZ came across the screen. The legend, the 
laughing-stock, the entertainer of the century, had been rushed to the hospital after a 911 call saying he had collapsed in his Los Angeles home.
About an hour later, my husband told me he just got a call saying MJ was dead.
Jackson was a fashion force. His style was emulated by fans and non-fans alike. First, with his brothers he helped pushed the acceptance of the Afro into the mainstream and made black kids around the world proud to wear a fro.
He later sparked runs on white suits, floodwater pants, red leather jackets, military jackets, studs, white socks with loafers and - though I’d rather forget - the jheri curl.
Jackson had a profound effect on dance style and the clothes one had to wear to effect those moves. Like major pop-culture directors before and after him - James Brown, Madonna, Bob Marley - Jackson was able to make intelligent, self-possessed people emulate him from head to toe.
His impact on the lens through which we view fashion shoots and videos was profound. Suddenly, after Jackson’s spate of videos, we saw that the medium could convey as much style and emotion as a full-length movie.
A huge gap in the hours of coverage I’ve watched and the thousands of words I’ve read since his passing is the characterization of MJ as a has-been. What’s missing is the potent observation that Jackson was newly idolized by a young generation.
Any hip youths into fashion or into music is “hip” to Michael Jackson. Kids are into studying his style, studying his moves, listening to his music. I bet a lot of those London tickets weren’t just bought by babyboomers like me but a lot of 20-somethings who wanted to see MJ live; a lot of kids who know Justin Timberlake’s professional genealogy.
It is these kids as well as mature fashion insiders who lit the match of an MJ style revival a few years ago, one that is still burning today. It’s part of the Eighties redux. Fashion historians will settle the intruiging question: Did the MJ fascination spark the landslide Eighties tend that is everywhere in fashion or will Jackson be a footnote to it?
I think I already know the answer. What are your thoughts?
*Photo licensed to: Photorazzi.com
fashionscape season after season. Although she’s just a baby-boomer, Sui may well feel like she’s done a lifetime of designing. A thoughtful Jack White talked about her impact on pop culture before presenting the statuette.
- posed for pictures and I believe, must have known he had won the most anticipated award of this night. I, of course, using my usual mental telepathy, was wearing Ralph Lauren ( a black tuxedo jumpsuit). It’s the first time I ever wore Ralph head-to- toe or to an event.
jeans for over $100 are an oxymoron. But the same look is available for much less if you’re handy with a pair of scissors or a knife or maybe the point is not to be dexterous but to just make rips, the more ragged the better.
of America annual awards gala, a winner will be chosen by the general public. They get to weigh in on who they think is the best designer. Previously, all awards handed out were decided by an exclusive panel of industry insiders from a slate of hand-picked nominees.
s one of the most original takes I’ve seen on shopping on eBay. He views it through the eyes of some of his fashion assistants at the magazine. They reveal a lot of great tips for shopping on the site and really cute finds. Last month, Joe focused on giving us style tips through the new, young workers who have swept into D.C. to work for the Obama administration.
skinny jeans. Later this summer, you can use it to define your waist in a tunic or in a soft silk dress.
of whom have dressed Michelle O., are in the spotlight. The right to 
