ESSAY 11 CLOTHES MAKE THE POP STAR “Fashion, turn to the left, In Essay number five, “Dancing Queens”, I discussed how an important part of the tremendous appeal of Pink Lady lay in their incredible dance routines and how they became synonymous with Mie and Kei, helping them to become so amazingly famous. This time out, I discuss the final part of the Pink Lady legend, that being the marvelous costumes the girls wore. Along with the singing and the dancing, the costumes went a long way in helping mold the legend that was Pink Lady. When Mie and Kei performed on Star Tanjo, the girls didn’t wear anything spectacular, just plain white shirts and bellbottomed overalls (Mie in blue, Kei in red) as their charm and talent carried the day. But after the girls came under the management of Trust & Confidence, everything changed as their bosses came up with the idea of dressing the girls in flashy costumes. While not an original concept (borrowed from Motown of course) since other girl groups, from Peanuts in the early 60’s to Candies in the early 70’s wore matching outfits, it was Mie and Kei whom I thought revolutionized the whole idea, and, in turn, it became part of their legendary mythos. When the girls made their official debut as Pink Lady, they had been completely transformed. Out went the overalls, replaced by slinky minidresses as the girls went from sweet to sexy in nothing flat when they performed “Pepper Keibu”, the first in their catalog of famous hit songs. Look at it as an extreme pop star makeover. That was only the start as each new song Pink Lady turned out was accompanied by both a new dance routine, AND a new outfit to dazzle their fans, the only constant early on being short skirts that showed off their great legs, and high heeled silver sandals the girls practically wore to death between their 1976 debut through early1978. |
|
 |
|
 |
||
|
|
|
ABOVE: The legs (and snazzy shoes) that helped launch a legendary J-Pop phenomenon |
|
|
|
(Aside: Don’t ask me to explain this, I’ve never been able to, not even after over thirty years, but for some inexplicable reason, watching Mie and Kei performing, or simply posing for pictures in those shiny silver shoes---and I’m guessing the girls had several pairs apiece---fascinated me like crazy. To this day, that hasn’t changed, something about those snazzy sandals the girls wore back in the day captivated me to no end. Maybe I have a subconscious shoe fetish, your guess is as good as mine.) After the first five outfits, which included those memorably saucy flapper dresses from my favorite song, “Wanted”, Mie and Kei began wearing costumes that, for the most part, matched the theme of the songs the girls sang, beginning with my all-time favorite outfits----the silver sequined bodysuits with matching antenna hats and knee boots from “UFO”. The first time I saw the girls in those dazzling outfits, it was literally love at first sight, I had never seen anything so inventive as those costumes matched perfectly with that sci-fi themed song about aliens and spaceships. In fact, the girls even wore a gold version of those fantastic outfits! Next up were the cute, petal pink rompers, matching baseball hats and ankle high, silver boots for “Southpaw”, another winner as that was my second favorite costume, and it must’ve been pretty darn popular with the fans as I’ve seen Mie and Kei wear that outfit in pink, white, blue and black sequin. For “Monster”, we had perhaps the sassiest costumes ever: yellow, asymetrical halter tops with short, black, feathery skirts and black, high heeled sandals. Those outfits were eye-opening and displayed a tremendous sense of imagination while leaving very little to same, if you know what I mean. When “Tomei Ningen” came out, Pink Lady’s costumers threw fans a serious curve with Mie and Kei wearing---gasp---PANTS!!! Grant you, these were gauzy, beige, see-through, harem girl pants tucked into gold boots plus beige, see-through, puffy sleeved tops over white bras and hot pants. Awfully enchanting indeed. Then came “Chameleon Army” and it’s military styled theme with the girls sporting sequined green vests, white sequined hot pants, white and green lace-up boots with one green sequined glove (left hand), topped off by a beret for Mie and a garrison hat for Kei. Those outfits certainly brought fans to attention! |
|
|
|
 |
 |
|||
|
|
|
|
|
Mie and Kei in costume: circa 1977 |
Mie and Kei in costume: circa 2003 |
|||
|
|
|
|
|
Now, I left Japan in early December of 1978, so I never got to see what the girls wore from 1979 on. In fact, I didn’t see those costumes until around 2000. “Zipangu”, with its tropical island theme was unique in that the girls had two variations for outfits: the first being gold sequined vests over matching tube tops, hot pants and boots. But it was the alternative costumes that really caught me eye as those outfits sported an East Indian theme with vests, halter tops, harem girl pants and boots, all of which I thought were awesomely cool. Trust me, folks, you haven’t lived until you’ve seen Kei in a turban! The costumes for “Pink Typhoon” were dirt simple. Since the song was a take-off on “In The Navy” by the Village People, Mie and Kei were decked out in sailor suits. Now, since we’re talking about Pink Lady, the girls wore the prerequisite short skirts instead of trousers. C’mon now, did you expect anything different from them? I don’t know what the girls wore for “Nami Nori Pirates”, but when Mie and Kei came to America to promote their one and only U.S. single, “Kiss in the Dark”, the girls wore glitzy, sequined Vegas styled showgirl outfits in lavender when they performed on the Leif Garrett Special. Slick! And on it went, from the late 70’s, the early 80’s, the numerous reunions and TV appearances through the years and right on up to Pink Lady’s 2003-05 reunion tour when they trotted out even more fantastic outfits to wow the crowds. Far and away my fondest memory of PL’s 21st century fashion sense were those flaming red Flamenco dresses Mie and Kei sported for “Carmen ‘77” early during their tour. Remember, I was there (Yokohama, August 26, 2003) and saw them live! Ooh-la-LA! The great songs, the amazing dance routines and, lastly the eyepopping outfits all combined to make Pink Lady the J-Pop legend that they are to this day. The visual angle of two beautiful girls in dazzling costumes was a main draw that helped establish the appeal and popularity of Pink Lady to their fans. If Mie and Kei had worn just plain old clothes, or even dressy clothes while performing, the music and dance routines wouldn’t have had so much as a fraction of the same incredible impact as when the girls sashayed onstage in all those wild and wonderful costumes they wore. To that end, I bow in gratitude to the creative minds at T & C who had a huge hand in helping Pink Lady become the megastars they are, thanks to that all important visual angle. And now, for a pictorial to accompany this feature, please go to Pink Costumes |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|