David Bowie may have been as renowned for his ever-changing styles as he was for the influential music he wrote and performed.
Through constant reinvention, from the hippie era, to the glam rock of the 70s, to the highly image-focused world of 80s pop, Bowie was the original pop-music chameleon, changing his style to fit his music while leaving a long-lasting influence on fashion and pop culture.
Here’s a look at just a few of those styles:
Davy Jones
David Bowie’s began his career in the mid-60s as a guitar-strumming singer-songwriter, performing under his birth name wearing vests, blouses and tweed jackets. Bowie felt compelled to change his name when he noticed he was at risk of being mistaken for Davy Jones of the Monkees.
Ziggy Stardust
After years of flirting with several images, Bowie took on the theatrical persona of Ziggy Stardust in 1972, and immediately shot to fame. The enigmatic character was part science fiction, part glam-rock and had Bowie donning makeup and spike hair, platform heels, and silver lame costumes – all shocking fashion choices for a man at that time.
Bowie later said he created Ziggy Stardust out of “arrogance” but also out of a genuine need to innovate. “I thought that was a beautiful piece of art, I really did. I thought that was a grand kitsch painting,” he later told a journalist from Meloldy Maker.
Aladdin Sane
Both a break from and a continuation of Ziggy Stardust, Aladdin Sane still featured the spiky hair, though this time dyed orange. The 1973 album of the same name stood out in part by Bowie’s choice to wear makeup in a lightning bolt across his face. A pun for “a lad insane,” Bowie has said the character was inspired in part by his brother Terry, who lived with schizophrenia.
Halloween Jack
Bowie next emerged as a character called Halloween Jack for the release of his 1974 experimental concept album, Diamond Dogs.
Keeping the spiked hair of Ziggy Stardust, but dying it a shocking red, Bowie donned an eyepatch and a look that reflect the dystopian vision of a post-apocalyptic world laid out in his album. A far cry from the typical pop star look of the time, it was an image that many said helped inspire the innovators of punk rock.
The Thin White Duke
Bowie completely revamped his image when he emerged as the Thin White Duke for his 1976 album “Station to Station.” The look saw him dressed as an old cabaret singer with a nasty side, sporting an unbuttoned dress shirt and vest, slicked-back hair and a cigarette.
The Duke was meant to look like a hollow man who sang empty love songs and may have reflected Bowie’s own descent into a cocaine habit that he has said consumed his days at the time.
Let’s Dance
For Bowie’s 1983 album “Let’s Dance” -- a huge commercial success that spawned an equally popular concert tour -- Bowie revived a bit of his Thin White Duke look, but with a distinct more elegant and refined style, with a large peroxide-dyed pompadour and colourful big-shouldered suits.
'Labyrinth'
Bowie again turned heads when he emerged as Jareth, the Goblin King, the antagonist of the 1986 movie Labyrinth, an adventure fantasy film directed by Jim Henson, and produced by George Lucas. Though the movie was a box office disappointment, it later became a hit on home video and for many of Bowie’s younger fans, served as their introduction to Bowie’s storied career.
Illustrator Helen Green released a video just days before Bowie's death showing 29 images she drew of Bowie to mark his 69th birthday that illustrate his career-spanning looks.
Happy Birthday David Bowie!I drew 29 career-spanning images of David Bowie for the final animation at the end of the video; from Davie Jones (during 1964, when he released his first single 'Liza Jane' with the King Bees) to a recent image of him taken by Jimmy King, 2014, around the release of 'Sue (Or In A Series Of Crime)'. David Bowie (Official) David Bowie News(FB video best viewed in HD!)You can find the GIF version here:http://dollychops.tumblr.com/post/107517113745/happy-birthday-david-bowie
Posted by Helen Green Art on Thursday, 8 January 2015
