So, here in Texas I perform with a local cast in Houston, and sometimes get to guest perform in Dallas and Austin. I write a monthly newsletter that I take wherever I'm going. I was researching some stuff for my April issue - which has both Tim Curry and Sue Blane's birthdays in it.
I was trying to tie it together a bit. Tim Curry and Sue's costumes. I wanted to mention the jacket. I had heard something about him getting it from a biker in London, but I couldn't find any sources to back that up. So I asked around and got some fabulous insights!
Apparently Tim bought the jacket from Malcolm McLaren's shop "Let It Rock". According to Wiki, he sold "clothing (dead stock, military surplus) and objects he'd sourced. When the shop became a success, he enlisted the help of his then-girlfriend Vivienne Westwood who customized and repaired original clothing and made facsimiles." Tim said the jacket came from a dead biker. Which honestly, sounds like something Vivienne or Malcolm would have made up just to give the piece more provenance, but that's just my opinion.
Okay, so here's what really got me thinking about the jacket. Doesn't it seem weird to have Ducati, BMW, Royal Enfield, Hells Angels, Nazi patches, etc... all on the same jacket? It's really all over the place. Street bikes.. racing bikes... nazi shit.... When you look at other Teddy Boy jackets, they don't quite look like this.
But here's my theory. The jacket probably came in partially adorned... but I'd bet anything Vivienne (or maybe even Malcolm) threw a WHOLE lot more stuff on it. Maybe surplus pins they had... deadstock patches... just really decked it out with anything and everything. It's completely in line with the info from Wiki (quoted above) and Vivienne's early M.O. (and someone who maybe didn't know a lot about Motorcycles...)
