{"id":110944,"date":"2026-08-25T20:11:39","date_gmt":"2026-08-25T20:11:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/110944\/"},"modified":"2026-08-25T20:11:39","modified_gmt":"2026-08-25T20:11:39","slug":"freddie-mercurys-most-dazzling-outfits-are-going-on-display-at-londons-va-museum","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/110944\/","title":{"rendered":"Freddie Mercury\u2019s Most Dazzling Outfits Are Going On Display at London\u2019s V&A Museum"},"content":{"rendered":"

Freddie Mercury is one of the best-loved stars in rock history \u2013 thanks in part to his electric stage presence, but also helped by\u00a0the\u00a0fabulous, flamboyant outfits he performed in. The Queen frontman performed in everything from sequinned\u00a0leotards to\u00a0vibrant military jackets to red patent leather trousers.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Now, eight spectacular looks worn by the star\u00a0are set to go on display at the V&A South Kensington<\/a> as part of a free trail celebrating what would\u00a0have been\u00a0his 80th birthday.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The\u00a0exhibition has been created with the help of Mary Austin, Freddie\u2019s closest friend and former fianc\u00e9e. It\u2019s titled\u00a0Freddie Mercury | Splendid Things,\u00a0after a remark\u00a0he made in 1978: \u2018I like to be surrounded by splendid things. I want to lead a Victorian life surrounded by exquisite clutter.\u2019<\/p>\n

\"Freddie
\nPhotograph: Denis O\u2019ReganFreddie on the Magic tour 1986 <\/p>\n

Austin, to whom Freddie left most of his fortune and possessions when he died in 1991, has\u00a0loaned seven of his looks to the museum. The trail will take visitors through Freddie\u2019s career from Queen\u2019s days performing at uni venues to some of their most legendary gigs to his days as a solo artist. There\u2019ll be six stops along the route, each\u00a0displaying the looks\u00a0within a theatrical installation, designed to bring them to life through set dressing, audio and light.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The outfits include a monochrome ensemble he wore at an early Queen gig at Imperial College, the \u2018Mercury Wing\u2019 catsuit he wore for the\u00a0Night At the Opera tour and\u00a0Bohemian Rhapsody\u00a0music video, and the opulent\u00a0crown and cloak he wore on the Magic tour and\u00a0during his\u00a0final stage appearance with Queen at Knebworth in 1986. Visitors will also get a glimpse at accessories from the star\u2019s personal collection.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Freddie
\nPhotograph: David Tan ShinkoFreddie Mercury performs wearing \u2018Flash\u2019 t-shirt at Sports Arena, San Diego, July 1980 <\/p>\n

Austin\u00a0explains in upcoming book\u00a0A Life in Lyrics\u00a0that \u2018Freddie understood early on that he wasn\u2019t just wearing clothes; he was providing an image to match the scale of the space and the vastness of the crowd. He was there to entertain, and everything about what he wore fed into that\u2019.\u00a0<\/p>\n

She\u00a0adds: \u2018Never mere accoutrements, his costumes and clothes were essential to his performances, creative vision, and wider self-expression, carefully designed to create a lasting visual and emotional impact that has reached across the generations and still reverberates today.\u2019<\/p>\n

Freddie Mercury | Splendid Things\u00a0will be at the V&A South Kensington from October 24 until January 17. It\u2019ll be free to visit.\u00a0<\/p>\n

See the programme of confirmed shows for the\u00a0V&A Kensington and V&A East in 2027 here<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Plus: The V&A has announced an exhibition all about Burberry\u2019s legendary trench coat<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Get the latest and greatest from the Big Smoke \u2013 from news and reviews to events and trends. Just\u00a0follow our Time Out London WhatsApp channel<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Stay in the loop: sign up for our\u00a0free Time Out London newsletter<\/a>\u00a0for the best of the city, straight to your inbox.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Freddie Mercury is one of the best-loved stars in rock history \u2013 thanks in part to his electric…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":110945,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[26],"tags":[248,27,249,247],"class_list":["post-110944","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-london","tag-categories-things-to-do","tag-london","tag-news-city-life","tag-things-to-do"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@UnitedKingdom\/117157972208127422","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110944","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=110944"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110944\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/110945"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=110944"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=110944"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=110944"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}