Here’s a musical idea for a costume from the Eighties for Halloween or a theme party.
One of the most iconic albums of the 1980s was undoubtedly Michael Jackson‘s Thriller, the artist’s sixth studio album. The titular single was the seventh single released from the album, and there was a thirteen minute music video entitled Michael Jackson’s Thriller, considered to be the most influential music video of all time and the first to be inducted in the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress.
Once past the first scene in the video, where a Michael dressed from the 1950s turns into a werewolf, it turns out that this is actually a film, called Vincent Price’s Thriller (Price did a substantial spoken part for the song), which Michael and his girlfriend are watching, which is where the costume comes from.
For those with a more morbid nature, this would also serve for a dead celebrity costume, which could be either worn as-is or you could go as a zombie Michael with some zombie makeup, especially as Michael appears as a zombie in the music video – making it more accurate and possibly less in potentially bad taste.
The Head
There are only two items that could be considered for the head. The first is Jackson’s hairstyle, which could be done with a wig or, with the right hair, hair gel. The other would be a Michael Jackson mask, which may also include the hair with it.
The Body
The primary item in a Thriller costume is the distinctive red and black jacket that Michael wore in the video, which was designed especially for him by Deborah Landis, the wife of the video’s director, John Landis. With this being custom made, getting an identical one would be tricky by now. Fortunately, there are some close enough for costume parties replica fancy dress ones available.
In the video, Michael is wearing red trousers of a colour to match the jacket. These are slightly short, to reveal his white socks, and he is also wearing black shoes.