The legendary Tina Turner, long declared the “Queen of Rock ’n Roll” for obvious reasons, died Wednesday at the age of 83. For decades, Turner grabbed hold of current fashion codes and took them to extremes.
During the 1970s, the decade that launched her to worldwide stardom, she championed the sexual revolution’s liking for barely-there ensembles.
At the same time, Turner harkened back to the glamour of Josephine Baker and the flappers of the Roaring ‘20s with her fringed, sequin-studded costumes straight off designer Bob Mackie’s mannequins.
Throughout the 1980s, Turner reinvented herself with a glam rock hairdo that put the men of Guns and Roses to shame, ripped jean jacket, and skin-tight cropped leather pants. She was doing reinvention long before Madonna mainstreamed the concept.
To remember Turner’s legacy, her most iconic costumes are featured below.
1964: Proof sheet of Tina Turner of the husband-and-wife R&B duo Ike & Tina Turner poses for a portrait in 1964. (Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)
UNSPECIFIED – circa 1964: (AUSTRALIA OUT) Photo of Ike Turner (1931-2007) and Tina Turner posed circa 1964. (Photo by GAB Archive/Redferns)
American singer Tina Turner of the Ike & Tina Turner Revue performs on stage wearing sunglasses during recording of the Associated Rediffusion Television pop music television show Ready Steady Go! at Wembley Television Studios in London in September 1966. The show would be broadcast on ITV on 30th September 1966. (Photo by David Redfern/Redferns)
CIRCA 1969: Husband-and-wife R&B duo Ike & Tina Turner pose for a portrait in circa 1969. (Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES – JANUARY 21: Rock and roll singers Janis Joplin and Tina Turner perform onstage on January 21, 1969 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)
25th November 1969: American rock singer Tina Turner leans forward on stage and sings into a handheld microphone during a concert by the Ike and Tina Revue at the Felt Forum, New York City. She wears a beaded mini-dress. (Photo by Jack Robinson/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
NEW YORK – 1969: Tina Turner performs during a concert at the Felt Forum on November 25, 1969 in New York City, New York. (Photo by Walter Iooss Jr./Getty Images)
NEW YORK – 1969: Tina Turner performs during a concert at the Felt Forum on November 25, 1969 in New York City, New York. (Photo by Walter Iooss Jr./Getty Images)
NEW YORK – 1969: Tina Turner performs during a concert at Madison Square Garden on November 28, 1969 in New York City, New York. (Photo by Walter Iooss Jr./Getty Images)
Contact sheet of full-length studio portraits of American rock singer Tina Turner, dressed in a dark crocheted mini-dress, in various poses, New York, New York, November 25, 1969. (Photo by Jack Robinson/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
UNITED STATES – JANUARY 01: Photo of Tina TURNER; performing live onstage c.1979, solo era (Photo by Gai Terrell/Redferns)
UNITED STATES – JANUARY 01: Photo of Tina TURNER; Tina Turner performing on stage, feathers, late 1970’s (Photo by Gai Terrell/Redferns)
UNSPECIFIED – JANUARY 01: (AUSTRALIA OUT) Photo of Tina TURNER; Posed portrait, studio, wearing headdress (Photo by GAB Archive/Redferns)
American singer Tina Turner of the Ike & Tina Turner Revue performs live on stage at the 1970 Newport Jazz Festival in Newport, Rhode Island on 11th July 1970. (Photo by David Redfern/Redferns)
Tina Turner performs on stage with Ike and Tina Turner in Amsterdam, Netherlands, 1971. (Photo by Gijsbert Hanekroot/Redferbs)
American singer Tina Turner of the Ike & Tina Turner Revue performs live on stage during a concert performance in 1971. (Photo by David Redfern/Redferns)
SEPTEMBER 1971: Tina Turner of husband-and-wife R&B duo Ike & Tina Turner performs onstage in a skimpy white dress in September 1971. (Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES – SEPTEMBER 28: Tina Turner of the husband-and-wife R&B duo Ike & Tina Turner performs onstage at the Greek Theatre on September 28, 1971 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)
COPENHAGEN, DENMARK: Tina Turner performs on stage with Ike & Tina Turner in 1972 in Copenhagen, Denmark. (Photo by Jorgen Angel/Redferns)
American singer Tina Turner of the Ike & Tina Turner Revue performs live on stage during a concert by the group in the United Kingdom circa 1972. (Photo by David Redfern/Redferns)
Tina Turner Proud Mary Tour in London 1972. Backup vocals the Ikettes (photo:Armando Gallo/Getty Images)
Ike and Tina Turner performing ‘Nutbush City Limits’ on the German television program Musikladen, Bremen, West Germany, 1973. (Photo by Peter Bischoff/Getty Images)
UNITED STATES – JANUARY 01: Photo of Tina TURNER and Ike TURNER and Ike & Tina TURNER; L-R: Tina Turner and Ike Turner performing live onstage, (Photo by Gai Terrell/Redferns)
Actress and musician Tina Turner in a scene from the musical film ‘Tommy’, 1975. (Photo by Stanley Bielecki Movie Collection/Getty Images)
Ann-Margret (L) and Tina Turner (C) attend the New York premiere of “Tommy” at the 57th St./6th Ave. subway station in New York City on March 18, 1975. (Photo by Sal Traina/WWD/Penske Media via Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES – APRIL 27: CHER, her solo music and variety show spinoff after the Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour had concluded. Series (19751976). From left is Cher, Tina Turner and Kate Smith. Episode aired April 27, 1975. (Photo by CBS via Getty Images)
Ike (second from right) and Tina Turner performing with the Ike And Tina Turner Revue on the American TV music show, ‘Don Kirshner’s Rock Concert’, recorded in Los Angeles, California and aired on 12th March 1976. (Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)
American singer, Tina Turner, performing the Eagles’ hit, ‘Life in the Fast Lane’ at the Las Vegas Entertainment Awards, Las Vegas, Nevada, 4th December 1977. (Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)
Singer Tina Turner wearing a fur coat as she poses next to a fountain on the eve of her first solo performance in Britain, at the Inn on the Park Hotel in London, February 10th 1978. (Photo by Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
(Eingeschränkte Rechte für bestimmte redaktionelle Kunden in Deutschland. Limited rights for specific editorial clients in Germany.) Tina Turner, Singer, USA
– on stage at “Metropol”, Berlin (Photo by ARTCO-Berlin/ullstein bild via Getty Images)
(Eingeschränkte Rechte für bestimmte redaktionelle Kunden in Deutschland. Limited rights for specific editorial clients in Germany.) Tina Turner, Singer, USA
– on stage at “Metropol”, Berlin (Photo by ARTCO-Berlin/ullstein bild via Getty Images)
American singer and actress Tina Turner performing in a show on German TV at Hamburg, Germany, 1982. (Photo by Helmut Reiss/United Archives via Getty Images)
UNITED KINGDOM – APRIL 01: HAMMERSMITH ODEON Photo of Tina TURNER, Tina Turner performing on stage (Photo by Fin Costello/Redferns)
American singer Tina Turner performs live on stage at The Venue in London in December 1983. Tina Turner would play two nights at The Venue, 16th and 20th December during her 1983 world tour. (Photo by David Redfern/Redferns)
LOS ANGELES – CIRCA 1984: Rock and roll singer Tina Turner performs on a TV show in circa 1984 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES – MAY 2: Rock and roll singer Tina Turner performs on a TV show wearing a black leather jacket on May 2, 1984 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES – MAY 2: Rock and roll singer Tina Turner performs on a TV show wearing a tie on May 2, 1984 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)
UNITED KINGDOM – JANUARY 01: WEMBLEY ARENA Photo of Tina TURNER, Tina Turner performing on stage (Photo by Lorne Resnick/Redferns)
UNITED KINGDOM – JANUARY 01: WEMBLEY ARENA Photo of Tina TURNER, Tina Turner performing on stage (Photo by Lorne Resnick/Redferns)
LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM – MARCH 14: Tina Turner performs on stage at Wembley Arena during her ‘Private Dancer’ tour, on March 14th, 1985 in London, England. (Photo by Pete Still/Redferns)
LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM – MARCH 14: Tina Turner performs on stage at Wembley Arena during her ‘Private Dancer’ tour, on March 14th, 1985 in London, England. (Photo by Pete Still/Redferns)
(FILE PHOTO) Tina Turner and Mick Jagger perform for a sold out crowd at the Live Aid concert at JFK Stadium in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, July 13, 1985. Jagger will celebrate his 60th birthday on July 26, 2003 with a party in Prague, Czech Republic where the Rolling Stones are currently on tour. (Photo by Frank Micelotta/Getty Images)
(MANDATORY CREDIT Ebet Roberts/Getty Images) UNITED STATES – AUGUST 02: MADISON SQUARE GARDEN Photo of Tina TURNER, performing live onstage (Photo by Ebet Roberts/Redferns)
DETROIT – AUGUST 28: American-Swiss singer and actress, Tina Turner performs at the Joe Louis Arena during her “Private Dancer Tour” on August 18, 1985, in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by Ross Marino/Getty Images)
LONDON – JUNE 20: Paul McCartney and Tina Turner performing on stage at The Prince’s Trust 10th Birthday Party at Wembley Arena, London, United Kingdom on 20th June 1986. Behind them from left to right are: Mark King, Paul Young, Rick Parfitt and Francis Rossi. (Photo by Brian Cooke/Redferns)
Tina Turner on 9/12/87 in Chicago, Il. (Photo by Paul Natkin/WireImage)
John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at jbinder@breitbart.com. Follow him on Twitter here.
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