Fashion History: Freddie Mercury
Mercury was born on September 5th, 1946 on the Island of Zanzibar. Freddie was not actually born Freddie Mercury but rather Farrokh Bulsara. His early beginning in fashion started with a British-Indian boarding school uniform designed to mimic British uniforms, but be suitable for the hot climate. Though he came from a very wealthy family, once his parents moved the family to west London they decided they wanted to live the traditional middle-class British lifestyle. Freddie decided that he wanted to study art, but he had none of the qualifications to apply, so he studied fashion instead. After doing well in his course, he went on to study graphic design and illustration. Freddie was highly influenced by the mod-style of the 1960s and followed his parent’s rule of fitting in as well as his art teachers rule of always being one step ahead in fashion (though I would argue he was at least four steps ahead).
A little while after Freddie started school, he got really into the artist Jimi Hendrix. Hendrix was becoming extremely popular at the time and had an ostentatious and over-the-top style which Freddie started to mirror. This was also around the time Freddie met his soon to be Queen bandmates Brian May and Roger Taylor. During this time Freddie got really into the fashion scene of Kensington. He went on to graduate college and left behind the idea of blending in and realized that he was really born to stand out.
He fell in love with a store named Biba where he met the love of his life Mary Austin. After their instant connection, they fell in love and went on to get engaged but when Freddie came out as bisexual to her the relationship was broken off. It’s clear that fashion not only influenced his professional life, but also his personal life.
After the band scouted their bassist John Deacon, they changed their name from Smile to Queen. Freddie drew an amazing logo for the band which had each of the band members horoscopes on it.
Once the band started to book more gigs, Freddie started to wear his outrageous and over-the-top outfits. These on-stage looks that went so far beyond the average 1970s outfits were so past normal I don’t understand how he even survived. One article written by The Guardian wrote in 1974 described the look Freddie wore to the interview as “tight oyster-grey satin pants, an antique market cream satin blouse, and a scarlet red victorian bed jacket.” I don’t even know what that means but it sounds ridiculous and glorious.
The looks Freddie wore on stage came from a plethora of places from Viva to his local market stalls. Eventually, he began to reach out to designers, one being Zhandra Rhodes who designed clothes for all four bandmates. The clothes were nature inspired and definitely stood out, which was exactly what Freddie wanted. Mercury used his knowledge of fashion and garment making to better his performances by being very particular with fabrics flexibility and appeal. Another really interesting piece that Freddie often wore during performances were leotards. The flexible outfits made it easy to move around in and allowed Freddie to give his performances his all. Freddie used quite a lot of Camp in most of his performances and songwriting.
One of his biggest inspirations was the poet and playwright William Shakespeare. Shakespeare lived during the Elizabethan Era where tights were commonplace and men dressing up in very feminine outfits was also something that was done a lot on stage. Freddie was also obsessed with Ballet where it was common for male dancers to wear tights, hosiery, and leotards in order to perform because of the fabrics stretchability. In reality, Freddie’s fashion choices weren’t outrageous or crazy at all, they were just a stroke of brilliance from a man who was already seventeen steps ahead of everyone else. This also made me realize that Freddie’s fashion could have also been a way for him to attract a different audience.
I think one of their most interesting travels was to Japan because there was quite a variety of photos taken that showed a range of 70s looks from all the band members. There were flare pants, go-go boots, and full denim sets. What more could you possibly ask for?
Freddie, being his adventurous self also got really into Kimonos. Probably almost as much as Alessandro Michele. It seemed the trip to Japan only fueled Freddie’s desire and love for Kimonos. My personal favorite image of Freddie is him wearing this extremely long complex Kimono. And while I love the crazy pattern and embroidery, my favorite part is the bottom of the robe with all the dirt inside of it. This small detail most would find gross or irrelevant shows that Freddie really performed and didn’t allow the clothing to stop him from doing his job. Despite the high price tag of the garment, he was willing to get down and dirty to give his audience the show they came for.
Freddie continued to wear his crazy outfits throughout the seventies from the oversized jumpsuits to Paco Rabanne leotards
By the end of the early 80s, in keeping with Queen style of never staying stagnant, Freddie stitched up his look. He cut his hair and went for a slicked back style. His 70s glam rock days were over and he traded the bell bottoms for skinny jeans. Here are some of his best 80s looks.
First, we have Freddie’s 3-piece leather suit minus two pieces. This does perfectly demonstrate Freddie’s new style but still stays consistent with his over-the-top looks. It’s interesting to see how he switched his feminine 70s looks for a more rugged masculine style without adding any less originality.
Next, we have this amazing shirtless Olympian look. Mercury was definitely the reason for the sweatband craze.
Then there is the famous Wembley yellow jacket look Freddie is so commonly depicted in. It’s obvious why pop culture fell in love with this bold jacket.
Style icon Freddie Mercury may be dead, but his fashion influence is still very much alive.
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