Freddie Mercury’s World – Part 9 – Stage Fashion

Two photos side by side. On the left we see Freddie Mercury posing proudly on stage, pumping his right fist into the air. The bare-chested singer has a royal red robe with gold decoration and white fur trim draped over his shoulders, and an ornate gold, gem-studded crown with white fur trim on his head. He's also wearing white trousers. In the background, beneath the bright colourful lights that illuminate the stage, Brian May is standing with legs astride as he plays the guitar. The photo on the right, meanwhile, shows a silk waistcoat painted with a colourful design incorporating individual portraits of Freddie Mercury’s six beloved cats. It is on display over a black shirt.

Here’s the penultimate collection in my series of amazing items that I saw on my visit to Freddie Mercury: A World Of His Own, the exhibition that took over Sotheby’s in 2023.

We’re now turning our attention to the On Stage auction, where items relating to Freddie’s songwriting and performing – some of which are very recognisable and important to big Queen fans like myself – sold for a total of £9,476,740! Most of the clothing shown here is from that auction but, as with previous posts, there are a few pieces from other auctions mixed in as well.

As ever, you can click on the images to enlarge them and the item names to read more, and I hope you enjoy seeing the wide selection I’ve included here.

Contents

Cloak & Crown

The most special concert-related item went under the hammer in the Evening Sale. The stunningly beautiful hand-made cloak and crown, which were designed by Freddie’s close friend Diana Moseley, were worn by Freddie at the end of every show on Queen’s Magic Tour (except for Slane Castle in Ireland where he only wore the crown), while their version of God Save The Queen blared out.

A white board on the Freddie Mercury timeline in Sotheby's. Alongside a picture of an ornate crown is text that reads 1986 - Freddie Mercury's signature crown and cloak ensemble. Created for Freddie to wear on the 1986 'Magic' Tour, this crown and cloak ensemble was designed by Diana Moseley, in response to Freddie's request for a suitably outré outfit to wear at the climax of each show. It features an imitation-gold and jewel-encrusted crown, with four dipped arches, supporting a diamante-studded monde and jewelled spike, while the red velvet cape is trimmed with imitation ermine.
A huge royal red cloak with gold decorations and white fur trim, accompanied by an ornate gold crown, on display in the Freddie Mercury exhibition, with people keenly taking photos of it from mall angles.

With any other performer, strolling out in such attire might seem far too grandiose and pompous and egotistical. But with Freddie it suited him perfectly, because he was indisputably the king of his craft and Queen were rock royalty.

Close-up of the top section of a royal red cloak with gold decorations and white fur trim, accompanied by an ornate gold gem-studded crown with white fur trim, on display in the Freddie Mercury exhibition.
A gold, very ornate, gem-studded crown with white fur trim in the Freddie Mercury exhibition.

The final show on the tour in Knebworth was the last concert Queen ever did with Freddie as frontman, so it’s all the more poignant that this outfit is the last one that he was seen on stage in, and the photo by Richard Gray on display shows that iconic moment. That photo also filled a wall in the shop and graced the cover of the accompanying hardback book. It’s such a glorious, defining image of him.

Freddie Mercury posing proudly on stage, pumping his right fist into the air. Bare-chested Freddie has a royal red robe with gold decoration and white fur trim draped over his shoulders, and an ornate gold, gem-studded crown with white fur trim on his head. He's also wearing white trousers. In the background, beneath the bright colourful lights that illuminate the stage, Brian May is standing with legs astride as he plays the guitar.

The cloak and crown – with the crown rotating on the display so it glittered from all angles – had an estimate of between £60,000 and £80,000. But they both eventually sold for a whopping £635,000 to an ecstatic bidder who, according to Sotheby’s, literally jumped for joy in the bidding room! And why wouldn’t you? For me it felt a like a huge privilege just to get up close to it, and thank you to the other visitor who kindly took a photo of me next to it.

Glen smiling as he stands in front of Freddie Mercury's cloak and crown ensemble. It consists of a huge royal red cloak with gold decorations and white fur trim, accompanied by an ornate gold crown. Glen is wearing a black t-shirt on which is the cover of Queen's Made In Heaven album, which shows Freddie Mercury's statue at Montreux in Switzerland, looking out over Lake Geneva.

The ensemble was shown with a set of ten travelling trunks, which themselves went for £88,900, well beyond their £8,000 – £12,000 estimate. And the walls of the room were filled with disc sales awards, which I’ve already looked through extensively in a previous post.

A set of large aluminium travelling trunks and suitcases, with gilt-brass locks and decorations, and black plastic riveted edging, in the Freddie Mercury exhibition. Draped over them is a huge royal red cloak with gold decorations and white fur trim, accompanied by an ornate gold crown.

Music Video Outfits

There was a whole section of the gallery devoted to special outfits that Freddie wore in music videos, on stage and on various other occasions. Many of them were displayed on life-size 3D-printed mannequins of him, which was a nice touch. And there was also a room designed to feel like a walk-in wardrobe, filled with hundreds of pieces of clothing. So it was all very cool to explore.

I won’t be listing every item, obviously, as there were hundreds of them. And I can’t identify every single one anyway, given that many were bundled together on racks that you could flick through, while others just didn’t have lot numbers clearly on display and I haven’t worked out what they are.

But I have been able to identify quite a lot of the garments that were on display, and we’ll start with the ones used in some of Queen’s and Freddie’s classic music videos, some of which are typically quite elaborate.

  • A lavish ceremonial military-style jacket (sold with a blue silk cummerbund for £457,200) – Worn by Freddie at his 39th birthday party, a “drag ball” at Henderson’s nightclub in Munich in 1985. Footage from that night, and more filmed a couple of days later in the club, was used to make the fun music video for Living On My Own. He also wore the outfit on stage at the Fashion Aid event that year, a little-known spin-off from Live Aid that I’ll say a bit more about during my next post.
A highly ornate short fitted jacket in a ceremonial military style. It is made of black silk with black velvet cuffs and waistband. The lapels are edged in white with silver piping, the white metal buttons are embossed with a crown motif, and there are large silver shoulder epaulettes with a rose button and silver coil fringing. The right chest has two white metal imitation star medals, one centred with a red jewel-like cabochon, the other with an embossed crown motif.
Close-up of a highly ornate short fitted jacket in a ceremonial military style. It shows a large silver shoulder epaulettea with a rose button and silver coil fringing. An on the chest next to it are two white metal imitation star medals, one centred with a red jewel-like cabochon, the other with an embossed crown motif.
  • Fur jacket (sold with a pair of silver satin flared trousers for £76,200) – This was one of Freddie’s favourite garments that he wore a great many times between 1973 and 1977, most visibly to the public when the band performed Killer Queen on Top Of The Pops in 1974.
Half-length jacket with long pointed collar. The front is covered with fur from shoulders to chest, the pocket fronts and the upper half of the long sleeves, while there is also a black jersey tie belt that isn't furry.
A white board on the Freddie Mercury timeline in Sotheby's. Alongside a photo of Freddie Mercury sitting casually while wearing a fur jacket and a white scarf is text that reads 1974 - Freddie's 'Killer Queen' Jacket. This jacket, a staple of Freddie's wardrobe from 1973 onwards, made its first public appearance on the BBC's Top of the Pops on October 11th, 1974, when Queen performed their breakthrough hit 'Killer Queen'. The jacket went on to be worn during the mid-1970s on numerous occasions and clearly occupied a special place in Freddie's heart; he probably spent the longest period of time wearing it than any other garment in this collection.
A half black and half white long-sleeved elastane catsuit with deep scooped neckline and integral feet, the right half white, the left half black.
An asymmetrical scarlet elastane catsuit, the right side and arm made of intricate red lacing, the left side with long sleeve, the stirrup legs with diagonal pleats overall in a vein-like pattern. The torso is embellished with thirteen ‘eyeballs’ of white plastic, hand-painted in black and brown, surrounded by red velvet ‘eyelids’ with hand-drawn black outlines extending up the torso to the shoulder. The back has a detachable decorative ‘spine’ made of layers of different fabrics in red, black and gold cut to resemble flames, one end with a sheaf of long plumes worn at the left shoulder, including peacock and ostrich.
Close-up of an asymmetrical scarlet elastane catsuit, the right side and arm made of intricate red lacing, the left side with long sleeve, the stirrup legs with diagonal pleats overall in a vein-like pattern. The torso is embellished with thirteen ‘eyeballs’ of white plastic, hand-painted in black and brown, surrounded by red velvet ‘eyelids’ with hand-drawn black outlines extending up the torso to the shoulder. The back has a detachable decorative ‘spine’ made of layers of different fabrics in red, black and gold cut to resemble flames, one end with a sheaf of long plumes worn at the left shoulder, including peacock and ostrich.
Red-coloured accessories to the outfit Freddie Mercury wore in the video for It's A Hard Life. There are two matching cuffs with Velcro fastenings. The larger right-hand cuff has a pointed end resembling a gauntlet, decorated with an ‘eyeball’ and panels of red glitter edged with gold elastic on a satin ground, edged in padded red velvet. The left-hand cuff has an ‘eyeball’ on red satin ground edged with red velvet. There are also two lower leg adornments, each with a row of six ‘eyeballs’ on a red lurex ground edged in gold braid. The reverse is cut to resemble a vertical row of four flames, with ‘silver’ tips of fabric resembling fish scales concealing the Velcro fastening. They are trimmed at the top and bottom with padded red velvet.
  • Made In Heaven video outfit (£45,720) – Another elaborate outfit, this time designed by Diana Moseley for Freddie’s solo single Made In Heaven. The beautifully choreographed video allowed him to fully embrace his love of ballet and pretend that he’s king of the world.
The elaborate red and black outfit worn by Freddie Mercury in his video for Made In Heaven. It includes a black asymmetrical vinyl bodice with one left sleeve ending in a point and fastening at the wrist with vinyl straps, the front covered with diagonal lines of black stitching with long straps to tie around the waist. Draped over this is a voluminous red silk cape, designed to be worn diagonally across the back, gathered at the neck and trimmed with red jersey fabric, with long red straps wrapping under the arms and around the torso to fasten.
Close-up of the elaborate red and black outfit worn by Freddie Mercury in his video for Made In Heaven. It includes a black asymmetrical vinyl bodice with one left sleeve ending in a point and fastening at the wrist with vinyl straps, the front covered with diagonal lines of black stitching with long straps to tie around the waist. Draped over this is a voluminous red silk cape, designed to be worn diagonally across the back, gathered at the neck and trimmed with red jersey fabric, with long red straps wrapping under the arms and around the torso to fasten.
A short-sleeve Hawaiian-style shirt with pointed collar. The black background is printed with a pattern of bird of paradise flowers in bright pink and green. There is also a left breast pocket, and the shirt is fastened with white plastic buttons.
2 blue outfits hanging on a wall. At the top is an electric blue cotton shirt, with two breast pockets. This is paired with a blue and white polka dot silk tie. Meanwhile, on the bottom is a blue cotton waistcoat printed with white polka dots and black Japanese characters, with four slit pockets to the front. This is placed over a sky-blue cotton shirt with black buttons.
  • Hand-painted cats waistcoat (sold with a black silk shirt for £139,700) – This stunning piece has portraits of Freddie’s 6 cats, painted by Nerissa Ratcliffe. And it also has a particularly poignant significance, as it’s the waistcoat Freddie wore in his final and very moving music video for These Are The Days Of Our Lives. The video was produced in black and white, but Freddie’s last official colour portrait was also taken during the shoot in this outfit.
  • Hand-painted koi carp waistcoat (sold with 5 other items of clothing for £13,970) – This was painted by a fashion business called Dunford Wood. It’s not used in a video, but is included here because both waistcoats were highly cherished gifts from Donald Mackenzie, the partner of Freddie’s personal chef and friend Joe Fanelli, and all of the proceeds from both lots were donated to the Elton John AIDS Foundation.
A silk waistcoat painted with a colourful design incorporating individual portraits of Freddie Mercury’s six beloved cats. It is on display over a black shirt.
A hand-painted silk waistcoat with a design of Koi carp swimming in turquoise water, the carp in shades of orange, red, yellow and black with gold accents. It is on display over a yellow shirt.
A white board on the Freddie Mercury timeline in Sotheby's. Alongside a close-up picture of cats on a colourful waistcoat is text that reads 1991 - Hand-painted waistcoat. This waistcoat, designed by Nerissa Ratcliffe, features colourful individual portraits of Freddie's six beloved cats: Delilah, Goliath, Oscar, Lily, Romeo and Miko, all of whom lived at Garden Lodge at the time of his passing. It was worn in Freddie's final onscreen appearance in the video for 'These Are the Days of Our Lives, shot in May 1991.

Other Outfits

  • Japanese bomber jacket (sold with a pair of trousers and a pair of clogs for £40,640) – Freddie wore this several times during the 70s, and it’s particularly associated with the album and tour for A Night At The Opera. I really like this because of the gold and red colours, and the patterning of crane birds.
  • Rainbow-coloured satin arrow appliqué jacket (£203,200) – Worn during the 1982 Hot Space tour, and I like how vibrantly colourful it is.
A lavish jacket trimmed in scarlet, the sparkling gilt fabric woven with an elaborate pattern of gold and white red-capped flying cranes, which are highly auspicious Japanese symbols. The jacket also has a scarlet crêpe collar, upper sleeve panels, and elasticated cuffs and hem. It fastens with scarlet buttons and is finished with scarlet stitching to the seams.
A colourful jacket, cut in short matador style. It has a purple satin ground covered with numerous padded satin arrows in a myriad of bright colours edged in black, the arrows stitched individually in a dense cascade pattern descending in size from the shoulder to the hem and giving an overall effect of movement, similar to the feathers of an exotic bird, lined in black satin and fastening at the front with Velcro.
  • Black, red and white leather arrow stage jacket (sold with a pair of red elastane leggings for £190,500) – Freddie wore this during what would turn out to be his last ever performance in the USA, even if he didn’t know it at the time, when Queen made their only appearance on Saturday Night Live on 25 September 1982. He also wore it on some later tours elsewhere in the world, and in several promotional photos for the band.
A black leather jacket with red accents and white arrows, with scarlet zip detail to the cuffs, sleeves and front panels, and in four horizontal bands outlining the waist. The jacket is embellished at each shoulder with three white leather arrows with red stitching.
A white board on the Freddie Mercury timeline in Sotheby's. Alongside a close-up picture of 3 large white arrows pointing down on a black leather jacket is text that reads 1982 - Freddie Mercury's arrow leather stage jacket. This jacket was worn for Queen's first and only appearance on 'Saturday Night Live', on 25 September 1982 - Freddie's last ever performance in the USA, at the end of Queen's "Hot Space America" tour. The jacket also references three arrows in the full title of the April 1982 single 'Body 'Language', the title finishing with an up arrow followed by a set of 3 left-facing arrows one above the other.
  • Sparkling party-worn jacket (sold with burgundy velvet trousers and a black silk scarf for £38,100) – This was worn by Freddie at his 31st birthday party in 1977.
A jacket made of black, red, blue and olive striped lurex with pointed collar and elasticated hem, the front and cuffs fastening with circular clear plastic buttons.
Burgundy velvet trousers, embellished with diamanté in an elaborate shooting-star pattern, the front and back pocket edges and belt loops embroidered with double and triple rows of diamanté.
A black sleeveless and footless elastane catsuit with low scoop neckline, the front hand-sewn with a sparkling swathe of large imitation diamonds stretching from the right shoulder across the body to the left leg, ending behind the thigh.
A black and white striped long sleeved elastane catsuit slashed to the waist, with integral feet. Each vertical stripe is a separate narrow panel stitched alongside its opposing colour, while the cuffs are edged in black and the soles of the feet are shaped entirely from black.
  • Knebworth shirt (£33,020) – Freddie was wearing this on 9 August 1986, when arriving by helicopter in Knebworth for what would be his final concert performance with Queen. He also wore it during Christmas that year in Garden Lodge.
  • 41st birthday party shirt (£24,130) – Worn by Freddie for his party at Pikes Hotel, Ibiza on 5 September 1987.
A brightly coloured long-sleeved cotton shirt printed with a design of crowns, horses and saddlery in red, green, yellow and turquoise, left breast pocket, fastening with imitation brown horn buttons.
A brightly coloured short-sleeved shirt incorporating two different patterns, one in green, red, yellow and turquoise incorporating crowns, horses and saddlery motifs, the other in shades of fuchsia pink, lime green, purple and turquoise incorporating rearing horses and abstract patterns, cut slightly shorter at the front than the back, with white metal button fastening.
  • Live Aid rehearsal top (£50,800) and backstage vest (£25,400) – These were the only two items of clothing related to the iconic charity concert that were identified within the Sotheby’s sale.
  • Gold’s Gym California vest (sold with another vest and bomber jacket for £19,050) – Freddie was snapped wearing this off-stage during Queen’s 1986 Magic tour.
  • Knebworth stage vest (£107,950) – Another significant item from Queen’s final gig in Knebworth in 1986, this vest was worn by Freddie on stage for the first 12 songs.
A white board on the Freddie Mercury timeline in Sotheby's. Alongside a close-up of a black drawing of a cowboy on a horse swinging a lasso on a yellow t-shirt is text that reads 1985 - Live Aid vest. Queen's show-stopping 20-minute appearance at the global charity concert on July 13, 1985, has been described by rock critics and peers as simply the greatest rock performance of all time. Having delivered the greatest single set of this historic day, Freddie exited to rapturous applause and headed to his dressing room, where he donned this yellow vest. He then spent a few hours socialising backstage before getting ready for his next performance, an acoustic set with Brian May and then, the all-star finale which rounded off a truly momentous occasion.
A white mesh sleeveless top with black, grey and yellow vertical stripes to left-hand side.
A yellow cotton vest, the front printed in blue with a small cowboy on a bucking horse, with an indecipherable word drawn with the cowboy’s lasso.
A blue cotton vest with red trim printed with yellow lettering ‘Gold’s Gym California’ and in white with a caricature of a weightlifter.
An athletics vest of yellow mesh edged in royal blue cotton, the front decorated with brand lettering and logo ‘Champion’ in royal blue with a touch of red, though the blue on the letter C of the logo is a bit faded.
A white cotton ribbed vest with the Superman logo hand-stencilled in red, yellow and black ink.
A white cotton T-shirt printed with a colour photograph of Freddie Mercury, Queen and their manager John Reid with their BPI presentation awards for the album A Day At The Races.
  • Flash t-shirt & red vinyl trousers (£44,450) – This combination was worn by Freddie on stage during The Game tour in 1980-81. The vinyl trousers were often paired with other tops as well, and had been part of Freddie’s new macho look from 1979, around the same time he decided to grow a moustache.
An ivory cotton T-shirt decorated on the front with large hand-stencilled lettering saying Flash, coloured in red and outlined in black.
A pair of red vinyl jeans.
A white board on the Freddie Mercury timeline in Sotheby's. Alongside a close-up picture of the large red Flash logo from Flash Gordon on a white t-shirt is text that reads 1980 - Flash. In 1980, Queen were commissioned to soundtrack Mike Hodges's cinematic version of the 1930s comic strip character Flash Gordon. The soundtrack album and single 'Flash' were both global hits and rocketed Queen's global profile even higher.
A biker-style jacket of distressed brown leather with large zip fastenings to front, diagonal pockets and cuffs, one flap pocket with press-stud fastening to left side, and integral belt at hips, fastening with a white metal buckle.
A white scarf with a double row of black zig-zag patterning at either end and black and white fringing. It's draped over a fine wool black jacket, the front decorated with four diamond shapes picked out in white metal studs. The collarless jacket also has padded shoulders, rounded lapels, fitted waist, raglan sleeves and single button fastening.
A cropped black velvet vintage jacket printed with a pattern of gold flowerheads, with a fur collar, flared sleeves, and the open front with art deco diamante clip fastening at the waist. The material has three pleats either side of the front fastening, lined in cream silk, the cuffs additionally lined with black silk. This is hung over a blue and yellow striped T-shirt, the blue stripes woven with the words ‘CUB SCOUT’ in yellow and studded with diamante.
A black fitted jacket, pleated at the shoulders.The black shirt is heavily embroidered in yellow thread with a flower design. It fastens at the front with seven black fabric buttons and corresponding fabric loops. It's paired with a white nylon short-sleeve wrap-around top with a lightly frilled edge.
  • Adidas high-top sneakers (£127,000) – It’s a lot of money for a pair of shoes, but they became Freddie’s favourite style to wear on stage in 1985 and 1986, so this pair are no doubt very well worn.
White cotton sneakers with black felt stripes and cream suede toes and heels. The Adidas brand logo is printed in black on the tongue of each shoe, and they have white laces.
  • White Queen (£25,400) & Black Queen (£27,940) designed by Wendy de Smet based on Freddie’s ideas (along with a black Spine Suit that sold for £57,150, which I might have the other black catsuit mixed up with). They were worn on stage during the 1975-76 A Night At The Opera tour, including a couple of them during Queen’s appearance at the Hammersmith Odeon on Christmas Eve 1975, where Freddie is pictured in the background photo.
A catsuit of black stretch satin slashed to the waist at the front with angular, shaped neckline decorated either side at the top with several frond-shaped tabs. Both the deep cut front and long tight sleeves have zip fastenings. The suit also has slightly flared legs.
White catsuit with deep-cut zip-fastening front from waist to curved stand collar. The long narrow sleeves are zipped at the cuffs and embellished with four quilted panels terminating in points to resemble bird wings. The slightly flared trouser legs are similarly applied with quilted bird-wing adornments, and these wrap-around trouser leg panels graduate in width from their apex below the knee to their widest point at the foot. Each trouser leg also has a stirrup of ribbed webbing at the base,
A black and white photo of Freddie Mercury performing on stage wearing his white winged catsuit.

Conclusion

And that’s it for the fashion side of things, I hope you found that interesting as always. It means there’s just one more post to go, where we’ll be looking at other items relating to Freddie’s performing and songwriting. So I’ll see you tomorrow for that!

Unknown's avatar

Author: Glen

Love London, love a laugh, love life. Visually impaired blogger, culture vulture & accessibility advocate, with aniridia & nystagmus, posting about my experiences & adventures.

Like what you see? Leave a comment!