Janet Jackson had a royally embarrassing moment back in the ’90s — and she may never fully recover.
While looking back at some of her most iconic fashions with British Vogue, the “All for You” singer, 58, was shown the outfit she wore for her Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony in 1990 and the ensemble that became synonymous with her album Rhythm Nation 1814.
She said the all-black look was inspired by the Ray Bradbury book Fahrenheit 451. The shirt had a mockneck and a silver plate on it, but she said she added “a lot more” to it in the form of more silver plates with the help of fashion designer Bill Whitten, whom she found through her brothers. (Whitten created several of Michael Jackson’s most iconic pieces.)
“He did a wonderful job, a beautiful job,” she said. “Funny story about this outfit. I was performing for the Queen of England and we were doing ‘Rhythm Nation.’ Sure enough, as soon as I squatted, my pants split right in my booty crack. I couldn’t believe it happened. I thought, oh my God. And then I started feeling air back there, so I knew it had really happened.”
Jackson said she was extremely careful to never turn her back to Queen Elizabeth, lest she accidentally “flash” something to her that she should never see. It wasn’t easy to do that, because some of the choreography actually required her to turn around — but she just adjusted.
“I just faced forward,” she revealed.
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Ron Galella, Ltd./Ron Galella Collection via Getty
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Wearing a Thom Browne outfit for the British Vogue video, Jackson also touched on her current working relationship with the designer, including how he dressed her for her most recent North America tour.
“I’m so happy he’s become a friend,” she said. “There’s certain designers that are just genius to me. Thom is right in there. He’s a true genius and he did this for me for tour. And I think he made it him, but he also made it me.”
The outfit was a sequin-covered jumpsuit made to look like a suit with a tie that truly does feel like a mashup of both Jackson and Browne’s aesthetics.
