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King of Pop’s costume guru rolls into town

Watch ‘This Is It” one time through, and it’ll be clear to you: Michael Jackson had some amazing jackets.

I mean, of course the first thing you will notice is the late King Of Pop was on the verge of the going on one of the greatest concert tours that the world has ever seen. And then you’ll notice, at the ripe age of 50, Jackson could still do dance moves in his sleep that top-paid performers train their whole lives to merely mimic.

Then after that, you’ll notice his jackets.

Even though the whole movie takes place during rehearsals where all the back-up dancers are clad in their most comfortable sweats, Jackson — in every frame — has his flood pants paired with blazers that would make Sgt. Pepper green with envy.

It’s no secret that Jackson’s style was just as much a part of his iconic image as his dancing. And now Michael Bush, the gentleman responsible for dressing the beloved performer for so many years, has compiled his designs into a book: “The King of Style: Dressing Michael Jackson.”

Bush, who will be signing copies of his book in San Francisco on Tuesday tells the Examiner:

“Sewing was the last thing I ever wanted to do, and I ended up making some of the most photographed clothes in the world. It’s very humbling.”

Growing up helping his mother with an alteration business he detested, Bush found himself thrust back into the dressing scene in his ’20s. In 1985, he worked as a dressing assistant for “Captain EO,” where he met Jackson for the first time:

“When I met Michael, he was having some problems with costumes. He needed them to perform as well as he did and wanted them to be as interesting on the hanger as they were on him. He knew what he needed.”

Bush himself shot most of the photos in the book, with a camera that Jackson had bought him when the two started working together. Bush told the Examiner:

“He saw my slides and kept saying, ‘You should do a book,’ and I kept saying, ‘Yeah, right.’ He was just one of those mentors that could see all the different levels of how you become an artist.”

Bush will be signing copies of his new book “The King Of Style: Dressing Michael Jackson” at Book Passage at the Ferry Building at 6 p.m.

Last modified December 13, 2012 10:30 am

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