All Photos By Gail

My ongoing coverage of Sotheby’s auction exhibit,  Freddie Mercury: A World His Own, would not be complete if I didn’t feature one of his possessions as a weekly Pink Thing. Presented here: Freddie’s Pink Suit worn in  the 1987 video for “The Great Pretender.” The official auction catalog describes it as follows:

Lot 254: Freddie Mercury’s two-piece pink suit designed by Diana Moseley, made by David Chambers, and worn in the 1987 video for his solo project, The Great Pretender video. The lot includes the western-style shirt (pictured) and bright pink canvas high top Converse ‘Chuck Taylor All Star’ sneakers, size 9 (seen in the lower left of the above photo, but not worn in the video).

This pale pink two-piece suit of dupion silk features a double-breasted jacket lined in ivory ‘silk,’ with two flap pockets and one breast pocket at the front, single vent to back, fastening with six imitation mother-of-pearl buttons, with four buttons at the cuff, the trousers with pleated front and concealed fastening, the waistband with striped ‘silk’ lining, both unlabeled.

The western-style shirt is fabricated of of aubergine satin, with peach trim, two jetted breast pockets and black press-stud fastening, labelled Kenny Rogers, Western Collection by Karman.

The lot also includes a pair of bright pink canvas high top Converse Chuck Taylor All Star sneakers, size 9 (seen in the lower center of the above photo, but not worn by Freddie in the video).

According to Diana Moseley, this silk dupion fabric was selected from London department store John Lewis. She then asked David Chambers to make up the suit. When she saw it for the first time, she was surprised that he had chosen to use the shiny rather than the dull side of the fabric. However, she was delighted the outcome!

1987 Promotional Photo of Freddie Wearing the Pink Suit Taken by Peter Hince (Sold as Part of Lot 257).

Lot 254 hits the auction block on September 7th at 5:00 AM EDT. Visit this link to register your bid!