All of Munich was awake and celebrating for that weekend. “It was a chance to put on a costume for everyone, but for Freddie he would actually put on his ‘normal’ clothes – and the leather trousers and all that sort of stuff would end up being a costume. He enjoyed himself,” adds 64-year-old Freestone. “Very often, Freddie would start out with that on a Thursday night and would finally go to bed on the following Tuesday morning. He would sometimes go to the beer gardens with his music engineer Reinhold Mack – and the singer would especially enjoy the festivities of Munich’s Fasching Carnival. Once in Germany, Freddie Mercury quickly adapted to the friendly, social ways of Munich. He got reports of how the restoration was going and he was happy with that.” Adapting to Germany Being out of England meant that it didn’t figure in his thoughts that often. He bought that house in 1980 and it took five years to complete to his satisfaction. Another reason he was in Munich for so long, was that he was having his London home, Garden Lodge, renovated. He had friends there who closed ranks around him, so he could go wherever he wanted and do what he wanted without being so much in the public eye. “Freddie felt he was able to do what he wanted there. New faces in music like Young Thug and Mykki Blanco have expanded this concept, both outrightly cross-dressing and proclaiming a lack of care for definition of their gender.“I think there was a sense of freedom in Munich that Freddie Mercury didn’t get in London,” Surrey-born Freestone, speaking from his home in the Czech Republic, told uDiscover. His use of drag, leather trousers and leotards ooze empowerment with a disregard for gender binaries. During such a divided time in the 80s, Mercury donning this look on national television was inspirational. “I Want to Break Free” has become an LGBTQ anthem and mantra to live by, with LGBTQ entertainment sites even using it as their domain. When asked why, he simply stated: “These are my servants, dear”. In 1975 a journalist found him in an Ohio hotel room, pre-interview, being waited on by men in next to nothing. While he had allegedly been experimenting with men sexually since the age of 14, he had been affiliated with several girlfriends. The song and video went down as one of Queen’s biggest hits and is reflective of Mercury’s unapologetic play on gender norms and sexuality. In Queen’s “I Want to Break Free” video, Mercury dressed in female pin-up clothing, with a black leather skirt and pink earrings to portray the role of a repressed housewife. Here we revisit some of the Queen frontman’s best moments in style during his flamboyant reign. Glam was defined across the eras by A Night At The Opera where Mercury donned a satin number for “ Bohemian Rhapsody”, his monochrome catsuit in “ We are the Champions”, and his iconic tank top and studded arm band for his Live Aid 1985 performance. Seamlessly springing from catsuits to military jackets, Freddie Mercury's style was in a constant flux of reinvention. He reached a pinnacle of fame that very few can match, where every element of his character and aesthetic is universally recognised and frequently copied, using fashion and design as a means for constant reinvention. Even until the end, when he performed frail and gaunt in the video for “ These are the Days Of Our Lives”, Mercury maintained professionalism, heart and unabashed style with every show.Īlongside his powerful vocals, a relationship with his audience that Kurt Cobain felt envious enough of mention in his suicide letter, and a mighty moustache, Mercury’s reputation as one of the original fashion subversives still prevails today. During the early days of Queen, Mercury announced: “I’m not going to be a star, I’m going to be a legend”. His work and legacy have gone on to influence maverick musicians from Lady Gaga to The Yeah Yeah Yeahs and fellow icon David Bowie. In the years after his death, Freddie Mercury has become synonymous with flamboyance.
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