- Photo Courtesy of Ken Ellis, Taken by Gavin Morrison
- Bowie at Neo in August 1980 with Noni Martin and Noe Boudreau
As much as David Bowie exuded his own charisma, he understood how fashion could be harnessed to magnify his power and presence: an Alexander McQueen Union Jack coat, faux-punk finery dotted with cigarette burns; or a black jumpsuit by Kansai Yamamoto sporting flared legs and thick grooves, making the wearer appear like some kind of anthropomorphic vinyl record. Amid the costumes and sensory overload of “David Bowie Is”, the retrospective at the MCA, it’s understandable if visitors blithely pass by a lowly white loincloth, a literal undergarment included in one of rock’s most eccentric and influential wardrobes.
Bowie’s Chicago performances from August 5 to August 31 created a stir, says Hofsiss. Security at Chicago’s Blackstone Theater (now the Merle Reskin Theatre) “went through the roof,” and the show sold out every night, bringing in an atypical theater crowd focused on seeing Bowie’s onstage transformation. Bowie “did them a favor by expanding the makeup of the audience”—Hofsiss remembers during one performance having to ask theater security to politely tell a patron, who was wearing a black leather jacket embedded with Christmas lights, to turn off his clothing during the show.
“I’ve seen aquariums and planetariums and that dreadful Museum of Science and Industry, which is like a paean to General Motors. Quite ghastly in its corrupt values—including its splendiferous Muppet presentation, where you pay $1.50 to get in, see fifteen stuffed Muppets in a glass case, and then that leads to a shop where you can buy merchandise! I mean, it was a fucking disgrace.”
