David Bowie is a major figure in the musical industry, and since
the mid-1960's he has been revolutionizing the sounds of modern music.
His work in the 1970's, however, is often seen as his most
ground-breaking and innovating. Even though his music is a large part of
his image, his style definitely takes the cake.
Bowie is also
known for his alter-egos. His most famous one, Ziggy Stardust, emerged
in 1972 during a very early beginning of the glam rock era that
so-famously took over the 1970's. Below I've given a list of several of
Bowie's biggest alter-egos and how you can dress like them.
Ziggy Stardust
Obviously Bowie's most famous ego, Ziggy Stardust was created in 1972 for the cleverly named album,
The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars. Ziggy
is
the human manifestation of an alien. He is attempting to give humanity a
"message of hope in the last five years of its existence." Although
Ziggy's message is positive, the character himself is the ultimate rock
star: he is sexually promiscuous and a near drug addict, and eventually,
he is destroyed by the fans he inspired. His tale is tragic, but his
fashion sense remains strong.
You don't have to paint a giant
gold circle in the middle of your forehead in order to become Ziggy, but
his other fashion styles remain a bit odd. Being a rock star, he
dresses mainly in flamboyant arrays of stripes, gold, and glitter. He
sometimes wears large boots in an almost go-go sense, padded shoulders,
shirts that expose his chest, and tight pants. His fashion may not be
one to wear to school, but its one that surely shows off the most
exciting part of its era.
Aladdin Sane
Aladdin Sane is the followup album to Ziggy's and was released in 1973.
The title itself is a play on words of "A lad insane." Bowie himself described
Aladdin Sane
as simply "Ziggy goes to America." Also inn Bowie's words, Aladdin Sane
comes from "wanting to be up on the stage performing my
songs, but on the other hand not really wanting to be on those buses
with all those strange people... So
Aladdin Sane was split down the middle."
This kind of "schizophrenia,"
as Bowie describes it, was conveyed on the cover by his makeup, where a
lightning bolt represents the duality of mind, although he would later
tell friends that the "lad insane" of the album's title track was
inspired by his brother Terry, who had been diagnosed as a
schizophrenic. (I'm sorry, I got lazy and copied most of this from Wikipedia!)
Unfortunately Aladdin doesn't wear too much besides his signature
lightning bolt eye makeup. But his hair and dazzling facial designs help
to shape him as a character and make him yet another one of Bowie's
signature characters.
Halloween Jack
Halloween Jack is from David Bowie's 1974 concept album,
Diamond Dogs.
Halloween Jack was described as a "real cool cat" who lived in the
decaying and dead "Hunger City." Although Halloween Jack isn't described
too much as a character, you can clearly see the Ziggy Stardust
influence through Bowie's hairstyle and glam rock attitude.
Halloween Jack is dressed quite similarly to Ziggy in the sense that
they both dress like glam rock stars. Glitter is evident in both of
their outfits of choice as well as multiple colors, lots of material
(scarves, multiple layers, etc.), and a flamboyance. However, Halloween
Jack provides his outfit with an eye patch to give glow to that sort of
Halloween-esque.
The Thin White Duke
The Thin White Duke takes his name from the title track of his 1976 album
Station to Station,
in which the Thin White Duke is mentioned. He typically dressed in
white shirt, black pants, and a waistcoat. He was a man who "sang songs
of romance with an agonized intensity while feeling nothing." The Duke
was a
hollow man who sang songs of romance with an agonised intensity while
feeling nothing," or "ice masquerading as fire."
For Bowie himself, The Duke was "a nasty character indeed,"
and later, "an ogre for me."
Although the Duke is a negative character, he does dress quite
fashionably. Apparently at this time in Bowie's life, he said that he
lived on "red peppers, cocaine, and milk," leaving him skinny as ever
and physically fragile. He hate replaced his signature red mullet with
sleeked back cut, the red dye fading to his natural blonde locks.
Overall, Bowie's famous personas have rocked the world. Although these
are only a few, their fashions and attitudes have shaped the glam rock
world and musical generations yet to come. Hopefully this article will
teach you how to perfect your Bowie costume for Halloween next year!
