Photos By Gail
Nothing says ‘Have a Glam Holiday” like a couple of David Bowie ornaments on the tree. I spotted these beauties last summer at the NY Now gift show and have been holding onto them since then, just waiting for the seasonally appropriate time to share! The ornament above depicts Bowie in his “Life On Mars” Suit. Designed by Freddie Burretti, Bowie’s go-to fashion designer (as well as lover and protégé) between 1970 and 1974, this turquoise “ice-blue” suit was featured in the music video for “Life On Mars” from the album Hunky Dory released in 1971. It’s a bit lame that the ornament’s designer has added the facial lightning bolt from Aladdin Sane to this piece, but I guess they were going for maximum icon appeal.
On the far left in the photo above, you’ll see another ornament that’s a bust-only attempt at a likeness of Bowie where he’s probably meant to be wearing the “Space Oddity” space suit, with its flared shoulder pads. Bowie wore that suit in the early days of the 1972–73 Ziggy Stardust tour. Once again, they added the lightning bolt adornment to Bowie’s face, which is historically inaccurate, but kind of necessary for identification purposes, since the face looks nothing like Bowie at all. These ornaments are available from Cody Foster & Co on Amazon for $24.99 each.
