Splendor in the court
They are the men behind the Man in the Mirror. For nearly 20 years, L.A.-based costume designers Michael Bush and Dennis Tompkins have quietly designed most of Michael Jackson’s personal and concert tour wardrobes, tens of thousands of pieces.
They created the war-torn black shirt and pants he wore in the “Man in the Mirror” video and the rhinestone-encrusted American flag jacket he wore during a Washington, D.C., concert to support the victims of Sept. 11. And, since February, they have been outfitting Jackson for what could be his most important performance yet -- in a Santa Maria courtroom.
Each day, Bush wakes at 3 a.m. to drive the day’s outfit -- typically a colorful print vest and a suit with military details -- from his home studio in Los Feliz up the 101 Freeway to Neverland Ranch. There, between 6 and 7 a.m., he dresses Jackson, who always says “Thank you” and gives him a hug, Bush says. The designer returns by midafternoon, in time to help Tompkins put the finishing touches on the next day’s look. Tompkins makes most of Jackson’s costumes with a single fitting. The pair create his courtroom wardrobe using the “Michael mannequin,” built to the singer’s exact dimensions.
Perhaps what they are most proud of is that Jackson has never worn the same thing twice.
“We have two or three tailors around town making jackets because we can’t make them fast enough,” Bush says, sitting in his workroom next to a pair of Jackson’s crystal-covered ankle boots.
They try to get to sleep by 9 p.m., but sometimes they’re up till 11. “And we photograph everything. That, we learned out of fear because we would make something for Michael and he would call us later to ask for a double. Maybe an outfit goes to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland or Madame Tussaud’s in London, and he wants one to keep for himself.”
Jackson, who is facing charges of child molestation, has been criticized in this paper and elsewhere for his flamboyant courtroom attire -- reactions the designers say are unfair. “If anybody else wore it, there wouldn’t be any comment,” says the silver-haired Tompkins.
“The other day on TV, Bruce Willis had on a bright orange suit. Robin Williams wears suits with threads hanging off them and red ties. But nobody comments because of who they are. If Michael Jackson showed up at court in a funeral suit, an Armani, people would wonder what he is hiding.”
And the pajamas? “He was in the hospital that day. And what does everyone wear in the hospital? Pajamas,” says Bush. “I understand the judicial pinstripe mentality,” he goes on. “But that is a part of life Michael has never experienced. So we had to figure out how he could still be Michael Jackson and fit into that mold.”
They began this latest wardrobe project as they had the others -- with research. “We buy every magazine in the world -- men’s, women’s, children’s, interior design, anything with visual images,” Bush says. “Then we all sit spread-eagle on the floor looking for ideas. Dennis gets out his sketchpad and pencil and starts sketching. It’s collaborative. [Jackson] is very open to suggestions.”
The pop star’s directive is always a demanding one: “This is what the world’s wearing; top it.”
“We started with the white suit, and everyone went crazy,” Bush says, referring to the outfit Jackson wore on the first day of his trial. “So we went to dark suits, the navy blues, the blacks, the gray pinstripes, then we put the red double-breasted blazer on him -- well, the world stopped. The red coat got half a page in all the papers.”
The vests that have become conversation pieces during the trial are made from silk from India, jacquards from Europe and faux reptile fabric from ... downtown L.A. Some have rhinestones down the front, others brass buttons.
Jackson loves military details, Bush says. “Uniforms demand attention. They have clean lines, and they fit almost like dance clothes. They are like a second skin.”
Jackson is a frequent customer of British Collectibles Ltd., a shop in Santa Monica. “With all the fine enamel work, British medals are almost like jewelry,” says Tompkins. So over the years, the designers too have amassed a large collection of uniforms, helmets and books on military regalia -- all in the name of research.
Rather than a political statement, the armbands made from gold wire ribbon and sewn onto the right sleeves of Jackson’s jackets are meant to act as a visual pull, Bush says.
“Showtime” is a word that the designing duo uses often. “When we get together with Michael, it’s showtime,” Bush says, with a glint in his eyes. Apparently some of their ideas are too over the top, even for Jackson. “He’s pulling back and saying ‘No, no, no,’ and we’re going, ‘Yes, yes, yes.’ And then I get to Carpinteria in the morning and wonder if it’s too much. We are used to making dance clothes,” Bush says with a grin.
Tompkins points to a baby blue brocade vest that’s in the running for a courtroom outfit. “Sometimes I look at things we do and I think that I would wear them,” he says. “But we can’t afford our clothes.” Rather than keeping the designers on retainer, Jackson pays for items individually. And Bush and Tompkins do have other clients.
A former ice dancer, Tompkins started his career in Hollywood as a cutter and fitter working in the costume department at ABC on shows such as “General Hospital.” During the summer of 1985, while on hiatus from the network, he got a call to work on “Captain EO,” the science fiction short directed by Francis Ford Coppola and produced by George Lucas. “I didn’t want to do it, but Michael [Bush] said it was a great opportunity.”
John Napier was the designer on the project, but Tompkins was the mechanic who turned his sketches into three-dimensional garments. During the filming at Laird International Studio in Culver City, Jackson took note of Tompkins’ talent, especially for making pants cut for dancers. “When he tried them, he said, ‘I can dance in these; I can move in these!’ ” Tompkins remembers. It was the beginning of a long relationship.
Bush, who grew up in Ohio and worked in Las Vegas as a bartender and blackjack dealer before moving to L.A. in the 1980s, joined the “Captain EO” production soon after Tompkins. “When I first told my mom I got the job, she asked me who Michael Jackson was.”
After “Captain EO” wrapped, the pair began building costumes for Jackson’s music videos. “It turned into a weekly job, a daily job and an hourly job. Then there were about five or 10 years when we exclusively touched Michael. We lost all our other clients,” Bush says.
The chrome robot outfit Jackson wore during the 1996 HIStory World Tour was a challenge. “We made a cast for the chest that breaks away onstage to reveal his dance clothes underneath,” Tompkins said. For the 1992 Dangerous World Tour, they crafted 18-karat gold leg pieces.
Though Jackson’s clothes appear extravagant, price is an issue, Bush says. “He’s a businessman. A lot of people assume money means nothing to him, but that’s not true.” Over the years, the designers have used wool, silk, canvas, ripstop nylon, silver, gold, British regalia, police badges, even car parts from the Pomona Swap Meet. They made a jacket with closures crafted from V-8 hood ornaments and another festooned with badges from European race car clubs. “He kept us so busy that every time we touched something, we wondered if we needed it, if it could be turned into something,” Bush says.
Jackson once called in the middle of the night with a question: “What’s the one thing that every man, woman and child in the world knows?” Bush says he asked. Mickey Mouse was the first thing that came to Bush’s mind. But eating utensils were what Jackson was thinking. “He said, ‘How are you going to make that into clothing for me?’ ”
The result was a jacket with knives, forks and spoons hanging from the front like fringe. “Michael calls it his dinner jacket,” Bush says. “That’s the humor, the human side that no one knows.”
As the pair bring out Jackson’s tour books for show-and-tell, ticking off his likes (corduroy) and dislikes (being touched too much), they lament being known only for working with the music legend.
“We will go into a job interview and they’ll say, ‘We don’t need military clothes,’ ” Bush says. “But we can do so much more.”
They have designed costumes for Britney Spears, including the red jumpsuit with a sprayed-on look that she donned in the “Oops I Did It Again” video. (“She had to use a whole can of baby powder to get into it,” Tompkins recalls.) They created the leather evening gown that Denzel Washington’s wife, Pauletta, wore to the Golden Globes in 2001. They also made a coat out of fish skin for Elizabeth Taylor to wear to her 60th birthday party at Disneyland.
And in the corner of their studio is a crystal-covered gown that debuted on a model at a charity fashion show earlier this month. “It’s about 17 pounds. We sewed each crystal on one by one with fishing line,” Bush says. “That’s [also] the kind of detail Michael demands.”
Even as the designers ponder a future that may not include the King of Pop (they have launched a line of vests similar to Jackson’s under the name Vested Interest), they can’t stop talking about him.
“Nowadays there’s not much of a demand for costumes because things in movies and TV are store-bought,” Bush says. “That’s why we have been so gifted with Michael. Because it is always showtime.”
