Wacko Jacko

From the NY Post:

March 2, 2005 -- THE Jacko verdict: Guilty. So say image experts, trial consultants and defense attorneys, who contend Michael Jackson is committing a fashion crime by bringing his flamboyant carnival-barker look to the courtroom. "Costumes are for a particular type of event. Funerals are not one, church is not one, and the courtroom falls into that category," said Pat McEvoy, a longtime trial consultant who's worked with celebrity clients.

"The whole idea of going in there dressed like Sergeant Pepper could really backfire for him. He has to think about what effect this is going to have on a panel of jurors, and I just don't think he has that in mind." Unlike other celebrity defendants, Jackson, who's currently being tried on charges he molested a 13-year-old boy, isn't toning down his look for the trial. Rather, he's been going full-throttle with his trademark red armbands, military-style medallions, satin brocade vests and cherry lipstick. "Before showtime, there's court time, and it has to take precedence," said Danit Ran Schrieber, a defense attorney turned image consultant based in Westchester. "I don't think the way he's managing his image is working for him."

The more wacko he looks, say critics, the less he appears human to the jury. "For years he's been complaining that people don't see the real him. Well, tone down the show and let us see the real you," said New York-based image consultant Lauren Solomon. "Let people see the person behind the clothes." Instead of looking like a guest at the Mad Hatter's tea party, Jackson should wear "something the average person can relate to a little."

His extreme fashion statements communicate a lack of respect for the court and for the gravity of the charges against him. The daily fashion show "elevates the fact that he doesn't think this is a big deal," said Solomon. "It's almost like he's thumbing his nose at the whole thing. He needs to show he recognizes that this is serious." Many celebrities have toned down their image when it's time to face a jury. Winona Ryder's demure suits gave her a quiet dignity when she was on trial for shoplifting. Anthony Keidis of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, rap bad boy Eminem and R&B crooner R. Kelly all donned suits when their day in court came (for sexual battery, assault and statutory rape, respectively). Even the walking trainwreck Courtney Love dolled herself up in Marc Jacobs when facing assault charges in New York last summer. And "Look at Kobe Bryant," said Schreiber. "He was clean as a pin."

Jacko might do well to follow suit.

"Why does he need thick pancake makeup in a courtroom?" asked David Graeven of the firm Trial Behavior Consulting. "You don't want to communicate that you're hiding something." The fluffy bob hairdo is a problem too, said McEvoy - not so much because it's effeminate, as because it obscures his eyes. His aviator shades present the same problem. "Eye contact is one of the ways people judge credibility," she said. Jackson ought to "get a haircut or tie it back. "As for the clothes, forget the splashy red and the all-white getups. Neutral, dark hues are the way to go, experts agree. "Something more subtle and average," said Solomon, suggesting "a solid, dark suit, and a basic shirt and tie."

And Jackson needs "a clean look, not a lot of busy patterns," said Schreiber. "Something low-key and respectful. What he needs to communicate is, 'I'm a rational person, I didn't do these things.'" Looking less like a sideshow attraction could do lot for Jackson's battered public image, she said. "Don't overlook the importance of being perceived as being as human as possible," she said. "It's horrible to be a defendant and go through that procedure, and it's something you can use to your advantage to stress your humanity."

Americans "are very forgiving," she said, and they'll "give him benefit of the doubt "if they see he's trying hard." Yet a few image experts said a marked sartorial shift on Jackson's part could come off as pandering - and jurors could see through it. "You have to look like who you are," said Dan Young, CEO of the trial consulting firm Directed Decisions. "If he came in with a traditional suit and tie, it would be so odd that it could be more detrimental than what he normally wears." Defense attorney Stephen Scaring, who counts Lizzie Grubman among his high-profile clients, agrees. Jackson's look "makes sense" for him, he said, adding it's a dead certainty that it's been focus-grouped and otherwise strategized over by Jackson's legal team.

"One of the things he's got going for him is his eccentricity and his celebrity status," he said. "The fact that he's odd is a way to explain some of his conduct that might be suspicious if you or I were to engage in it." The bottom line, said Scaring, is that Jackson "can't run away from who he is. He is Michael Jackson, and it's too late to change that."