Michael Jackson's White Fedora

[The Master]

Hi all,

I'm new to this forum so please forgive me if I have inadvertently posted in the wrong section. Some 16 years ago I was fortunate enough to purchase the white fedora used by Michael Jackson in his film 'Moonwalker' and in particular the music video for the single 'Smooth Criminal'. I purchased it from one of the major auction houses based in London.

In my opinion this particular white fedora comes form one of the the most memorable music videos ever produced and in particular the 'leaning scene' from 'Smooth Criminal'.

I have some images that I can post if of interest to fellow members of this forum.

 

[blitz1027]

Whoa whoa whoa. YOU have the ACTUAL fedora used by MJ? Sorry if this is a little personal but how much did that cost? I would love to see pics. Smooth Criminal is one of my favorite songs.

Oh yeah Welcome to the lounge

 

[zetwal]

Welcome to the Lounge ... :yo:

Sure, post 'em up.

 

[The Master]

Hi Blitz1027. Yes, it was sold through Sotheby's in London and the catalogue description plus the paperwork that came with it stated that is was donated by Mr.Jackson to a charity sale after shooting of the film. At the time I purchased the fedora Michael Jackson's career and public image was going through a bad patch. Recently the BBC here in the UK wanted to see the fedora and it has since been valued at a substantial amount of money. However, I have no intention of selling it.

Here is a scan of a newspaper feature reporting on the fedora:

Michael wearing the fedora in the film 'Moonwalker':

 

[blitz1027]

Wow just Wow. that is awesome.

 

[Tomasso]

As has be noted here and elswere, MJ owned many a fedora and would often give them to various charities to auction off. Many, like this one, have documented provenance which connect it to a particular video, movie, concert performance, commercial, etc....which in turn increases its value compared to the many random undocumented MJ hats floating around

 

[The Master]

Thanks for the welcome to the forum and I'm glad that this is of interest. I will post some more images of the fedora in the near future.

 

[zetwal]

Delightful piece of MJ memorabilia. Are there any stamps on the sweatband (or behind it) indicating who might have made the hat?

 

[The Master]

As has be noted here and elswere, MJ owned many a fedora and would often give them to various charities to auction off. Many, like this one, have documented provenance which connect it to a particular video, movie, concert performance, commercial, etc....which in turn increases its value compared to the many random undocumented MJ hats floating around

This is very true. Michael Jackson owned a substantial number of fedoras during his lifetime. However, the majority of the genuine fedoras that have been sold on the secondary market are black or dark in colour. I believe that only a few white fedoras are in private hands and mine is the only one that has a direct link to the film production. Obviously there would have been more than one white fedora used during filming but I'm unaware of any others that have come up for sale to date.

A BBC programme here in the UK recently valued a standard black fedora thrown from stage by Jackson during a concert at a minimum of £25,000 auction price which would equate to an approximate minimum of £50,000 dealer price.