Rock Glam Royalty: David Bowie

By. McKayla Marohn


“It’s loud and it’s tasteless/I’ve never heard it before,” David Bowie sings in his 1980 hit, “Fashion.”

The song was released as a critique of the conformity and corruption promoted by the fashion industry. For Bowie, fashion symbolized anything but conformity; it was a mode of self-expression that could be shaped and shifted to produce infinite results. Consistently pushing past the realm of normalcy, Bowie turned each piece he wore into an artistic marvel through manipulation of clothing, hair and makeup. 

Culturally, Bowie reflected a shifting political and social scene. From the whimsy of the 1970s to the more economically focused 1980s, Bowie was undergoing his own reinvention. Each era presented an identity that put a spin on the standards of fashion. From unitards to tailored suits, Bowie, on paper, may have appeared to be one of many embracing these styles at the time. However, the artistic approach he took to each piece transported his looks beyond the stylistic limits of his peers.

Bowie’s style evolution predates his explosive career of the 1970s and ‘80s. He spent the majority of the 1960s working on breaking through the musical bounds, but was never able to truly distinguish himself from the crowd. It was not until the public’s introduction to Ziggy Stardust, a character of Bowie’s breakout album, “The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust”. Bowie embodied androgyny and eccentricity through Ziggy Stardust. His performance wardrobe in this era was largely full of bright colors and sparkling bodysuits. 

Image Courtesy of Frank W Ockenfels/Vogue

Image courtesy of Brian Duffy/Vogue

Moving through Bowie’s discography, we come next to “Aladdin Sane”, an album cover that is practically a trademark of Bowie’s image. The multicolored lightning bolt jutting across Bowie's face, paired with his pale, bare chest, is an image that electrically radiates to all viewers. “Aladdin Sane” and its predecessor, “Ziggy Stardust,” were two electrifiers in the glam rock movement. Bowie never feared the public’s perception of his appearance or style choices, a fear that would otherwise have held him back from true self-expression.

We see a radical shift in Bowie’s style, moving from the extravagance of “Ziggy Stardust” to more modest styling choices. This stylistic shift was in tandem with Bowie’s move to Berlin, where he hoped to get away from a world that had propelled his drug use into addiction. At this time, Bowie was much more likely to be photographed in two-piece, colorful suits. 

Every couple of years, Bowie would undergo a complete reinvention of his on-stage persona. It was not necessarily that he found an interest in the fashion itself, but rather the disguise and allure it involved. His fashion was not just an accessory to his career, but a crucial aspect of his musical identity. Bowie mastered the art of shape-shifting through style from album to album.

Through his final projects, Bowie continued to use fashion to characterize his on-stage persona. Bowie passed in 2016; however, he has continued to leave the world of music and fashion in awe. He is remembered for lasting influence as a rock star, an artist and a fashion pioneer. 

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