Michael Jackson Thriller Red And Yellow Varsity Jacket

PRODUCT OVERVIEW

Michael Jackson’s Thriller premiered on December 2, 1983. The 14-minute short film was directed by John Landis, and in 2009 it became the first music video added to the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress. Most people remember the red leather jacket from the dance sequence. But the film opens with a different jacket, and this is it.

Costume designer Deborah Nadoolman Landis put Michael in a red and yellow letterman jacket for that opening, and it sets the decade in one glance. In 1950s America, the letterman jacket was what a high school boy wore to show off his varsity letter. If he gave it to a girl, it meant they were going steady. The tradition goes back to Harvard’s baseball team in the 1860s, and it was still going strong in the years the Thriller spoof was built to mock.

Our version is built the way varsity jackets have always been built, and there is a practical reason for it. The body is wool, which is warm and breathable. The sleeves are leather, because elbows and cuffs take the most wear, and leather holds up in those spots where wool would pill and thin out. The “M” sits on the left chest. The collar, cuffs and waistband are striped rib knit in the jacket’s colors. The front closes with snap buttons, and the two side pockets are trimmed in yellow piping. A viscose lining makes the jacket easy to slip on over a shirt or a hoodie.

Varsity jackets have a relaxed, slightly boxy fit, and the rib-knit waistband gathers the body in at the hip. Take your usual size to wear it over a t-shirt, and size up if you plan to layer a hoodie underneath. If standard sizes do not fit your build, we can make it to your measurements for an extra $40.

Wear it with jeans and white sneakers for an easy retro look, or build a full Thriller costume around it for Halloween. If you are after the red leather jacket from the dance scene, you will find it on our Michael Jackson Thriller leather jacket page.