That Jacket!

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Sunday was not only the premiere of Adam's Starlight and David Bowie medley performances but heralded the debut of The Jacket. Yes, it was time to finally don the jacket that he (and Kris) got so excited about way back in an interview shortly after Idol finished. We caught a glimpse of it during 20/20, he told us it was leather with spikes and detachable tails, and then he gave us another peek when he tweeted us a photo of it.

He was so excited about wearing it, it was infectious and endearing. It has, as expected, plenty of embellishents in rivets, spikes, grommets, panels and rhinestones. The colour of the leather is a greyish green and looks like it was unevenly spray-painted with a deep electric metallic blue. I assume that was part of its customisation. On first seeing the spikes, they were smaller than I expected. I think I expected them to be along the magnitude of those shoulder cages he wore during his KISS performance. He wore it with verve so it didn't seem OTT and strangely looked quite classy, just as he did against KISS and their more vulgar ensembles. Coming from a theatre background, I think Adam understands the distinction between the roles of costuming and clothing more than most. This jacket leans more towards the costume side and belonged with him there on that big stage.

I thought the whole look was fabulous, and the jacket is like an eerie iridescent exoskeleton. The tails conjure up images of him as a rocking circus ringmaster ruling his twisted post-apocalyptic glittery blue world filled with giant fantastical arthropods and magical mysterious creatures. I feel that the jacket is a little like armour, representing our debilitating fear of being, following, and expressing ourselves freely. When he took it off, he shed the AI image, proudly showing us a camper, sexier side with his dancing and revealing more flesh than we'd seen on the show. It wouldn't surprise me because of his passion for fashion, that he might draw inspiration from a piece of clothing to build upon. He successfully achieved his vision of “post-apocalyptic-rocked-out-space-disco-funk” with the jacket, the moves, the lighting and all the backdrops of planets and stars and galaxies and disco-balls. You have to admire that he probably worked out the all visual aspects and staging in minute detail to deliver us pure other-worldly escapist pleasure. He is showing us how it's done, proving himself to be the Glittery Alien From Planet Fierce.