Glove Survives

Michael Jackson's very public passing over the last week has only begun to really affect me. Like, I am SO fucking sad. I had absolutely no idea his death would hit me as hard as it has, especially when someone who's SUCH a big deal is around for your whole life and, out of the blue, he's just gone. I never saw it coming and I think about it pretty much every five minutes.
All around the world, people are paying tribute, whether it's through wearing one glove, like Lily Allen at Glastonbury; or cassette-only owners of the classics rediscovering their love for Thriller via iTunes. Whatever the show of affection may be, it's an important one to show, because I believe every performer out there, especially today, owes something to him-- I'm not even a performer, and I know I do. Some of my strongest childhood memories were soundtracked by him, and I wouldn't have been the same otherwise-- but time and exposure changes things. Celebrities become so deeply entangled in the media that it's easy to forget about their accomplishments and, especially in this case, their mortality. It was probably only a month ago that I had reminded myself of the fun in "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough", and in mere weeks, he was gone.

I'm completely shocked, and I want to let everyone know how important he was to me, too. I knew it would be hard to find a sequined glove, so that was out of the picture. I remembered a very simple design (at right) by Alex Aranovich that I'd fallen in love with on 2K six or so years ago. It was in the style of the classic "I (heart) NY" shirt, but the heart was replaced with a sparkly glove, and the NY with the initials MJ. I wanted it so bad, but never really brought myself around to buying it, as I was a highly self-conscious middle schooler afraid of facing criticism for showing public support of someone who, at the time, so many had accused of such awful crimes (of which I, to this day, believe he is innocent, and I'll fight you on it). I never actually thought 2K would get rid of the design, but they did only recently, and will not bring it back, in spite of my incessant e-mails trying to encourage otherwise (which really makes you have to respect them-- a greedier company would instantly try to capitalize on a retired artist's suddenly relevant design). I started to get a little sad and think, "Damn, I guess I'll never get to rock the clever shirt I'd wanted for so long."
Fortunately, that's not the case-- Aranovich himself has told me that he plans to reissue his design independently on Etsy with all its original color choices (blue, pink and heather grey) available, along with a brand new commemorative red-on-black design that is very Thriller. I'm saving up so I can buy one when they come out and finally wear it with pride. (Hell, I may even track down that elusive costume glove to really get my point across.)

And you know what? I think it completely sums up my feelings for the icon.

Visit Alex Aranovich's under-construction Etsy site here, and if you'd like to know when he re-releases his design, e-mail Alex at rockwithyou@aranovich.com so that, when the time comes, you can pay a stylish tribute too!