reddie Mercury's ‘Black Queen’ catsuit by Wendy de Smet
Worn by Freddie Mercury on stage Christmas Eve, 1975, at the Hammersmith Odeon, and on tour, 1975-1976
a catsuit of black stretch satin slashed to the waist at the front with angular, shaped neckline decorated either side at the top with several frond-shaped tabs, both the deep cut front and long tight sleeves with zip fastenings, the suit with slightly flared legs, the right shoulder and front left panel at one time applied with large imitation diamonds, since removed, labelled inside ‘Wendy de Smet’ with an orange paper cleaning ticket with typescript date details: ‘Apr 13 77’ attached by a large safety pin
The ‘Black Queens’ were made by Wendy de Smet in the autumn of 1975 to coincide with the start of the tour promoting the album A Night At The Opera. The designer made two versions this one (see also lot 45). They represented the evil counterparts to the White ‘Mercury Wing’ outfits and although similar in basic design were cut with a radically lower neckline.
In conversation with Wendy Edmonds (née de Smet) in June 2023 she informed us how involved Freddie had been with the concept of the design of his iconic catsuits: "he wanted [the two black suits] to look more evil as [they] symbolized the Black Queen”. He had provided the designer with the high quality stretch satin fabric she was to use in the construction of both the darkly symbolic significant ‘Black Queen’ costumes and their ‘good’ white Mercurial Wing counterparts. She confirmed to us that she had designed both the evil Queens in plain black without any decoration and that Freddie had sewn any jewelled adornments on himself.
This catsuit is photographed being worn by Freddie on stage complete with its ‘jewelled’ embellishments in 1975-76, most notably in the second half of Queen’s momentous Christmas Eve concert at the Hammersmith Odeon at the close of the U.K. tour. This was one of Queen's most famous shows of all time, broadcast live simultaneously on BBC Radio and TV.
It is now understood that the imitation diamonds showing on the catsuit then had been added by Freddie and were subsequently removed by him and repurposed as adornments on a black sleeveless and footless elastane catsuit with low scoop neckline (lot 162), which he wore on stage in 1976-77.
This ‘Black Queen’ and its partner ‘The Spine Suit’ (lot 45) were worn by Freddie for the second half of the show during both the European US and overseas legs of the A Night At The Opera Tour, 1975-1976.
It seems probable that Freddie wore a pair of black leather square-toed lace up shoes with this outfit, included in this auction (lot 147).
The visual contrast between black and white was central to Queen's visual image in the early years of their career. It symbolised the struggle between good and evil that was at the core of the fantasy elements of Queen's early lyrics, epitomised by two tracks on Queen II: May's 'White Queen' and Mercury's 'March of the Black Queen'. The album itself was divided into 'Side White' (predominantly written by Brian May) and 'Side Black' (with Freddie Mercury as chief composer). Freddie and the band’s devotion to this visual juxtaposition continued throughout 1975-76. Freddie’s collaboration with Wendy de Smet meant his spectacular stage costumes were a perfect manifestation of the strong theme.