The Sunday Times: Style:

Ever wondered who is to blame for Michael Jackson's peculiar wardrobe?

KATE THORNTON talks to the culprit

Suits you, sir

Ever looked at a picture of Michael Jackson in full military, sequined regalia and wondered where on earth he gets his clothes from? After all, there aren't many normal human beings whose wardrobe of choice includes oxygen masks and those oh-so-fetching gold lame codpieces. It's hardly the kind of stuff one can pick up at one of Rodeo Drive's more outre boutiques, let alone down at Harvey Nichols.

But contrary to popular belief, Jackson's outfits are not the castoffs of his doppelanger sister LaToya. They are the work of nimble-fingered Las Vegas-based designer Michael Bush, the 38-year-old son of an Ohio farmer. For the past 15 years, Bush has been responsible for both Jackson's stage and casual wardrobe; and yes, that does include his too-short-in-the-leg black slacks and trademark boy-racer white socks.

The pair met in 1983 on the set of Jackson's first film, Captain EO, just months after he had enjoyed a worldwide hit with the Thriller album. Bush had decamped to Los Angeles from Las Vegas where, until an accident left him unable to stand for any length of time, he worked as a casino blackjack dealer.

"I learnt to sew on the farm," says Bush, who is single and lives alone with his two dogs in Las Vegas, where he keeps a design studio with his business partner, Dennis Tomkins, a former ballet dancer.

"When I arrived in LA the only things I could do were deal blackjack, farm cows or sew, so I got a job working at ABC television dressing dancers for the opening of the Olympic games. That's where I met Dennis. When he left ABC to work on Captain EO he asked me to assist him and dress Michael."

The two Michaels, it seems, bonded immediately, "because we both like to fool around and we're the same age, 38. When we look at each other we can't help but laugh". Bush's mirth is not, as you might imagine, provoked by his boss's constantly changing appearance. This is no laughing matter. While you and I might think, for instance, that Jackson's white socks are simply a comical sign of the singer being stuck in a 1980s time warp, according to Bush, they are worn for one, cunning, reason.

"On stage, your eye follows the light, which means that it falls on Michael's white socks so that you watch him dance," he explains. "The costumes have to be secondary to Michael's dancing. Trousers that cover the ankle or that are too baggy would detract from his footwork. That's why his hang above the ankle and usually have a white military stripe down the side. The stripe leads the eye to the white sock. It's a very simple but effective technique."

So is Jackson really a closet trendy with an off-stage wardrobe teeming with street wear most teenagers would kill for?

"Oh yes," assures Bush, who has also dressed Liz Taylor and Liza Minnelli. "His favourite fabric of all is corduroy.

"He adores cord shirts and trousers; especially in red, with a military stripe or an English crest. His casual clothes are usually machine-washable cord pants and shirts, which he wears with leather loafers. I make them all; even the shoes. Sometimes we go window-shopping at night in Melrose Avenue, LA, and I re-create the looks he likes. But, more commonly we read magazines together for inspiration; like Town & Country or I stand at the back of the stage during a performance and if Michael sees something he likes in the audience, he points it out to me in between numbers. He also sends me to nightclubs in Europe to pick up on what the kids are wearing."

Being on the Jackson payroll means fitting in with the singer's eccentric working hours. Jackson thinks nothing of calling a meeting with Bush at 4am to talk over ideas, and he regularly sends the designer on trips to London to scour Camden market and the city's antique shops for authentic wartime brass buttons.

(Underwear, and the white socks, are bought at Harrods.)

Since last October, Bush has been touring the world with Jackson as part of the 180-strong HIStory entourage; it arrives in the UK on Wednesday. As well as dealing with the more mundane task of cleaning Jackson's smalls in his hotel room each night, he keeps an ever-watchful eye on his more lavish creations.

"I stitched the rhinestones onto his Billie Jean glove and socks," Bush says proudly of the outfit Jackson wears while singing what is probably his best-known song. "The glove took 80 hours to complete and there were 4,500 rhinestones on his socks. They took weeks. But the smile on Michael's face when he saw them was so worth it.

"Michael's very high maintenance and he knows what he wants and how to get the best out of people. 'I know you can do this for me,' he'll say, and I have worked 36 straight hours doing something for him,because I know how important it is to him.

"On tour, we have two copies of each outfit for safety's sake, and I always carry a spare set of everything with me in padlocked suitcases, in case a garment should go missing. You can never be too careful. It would kill me to have to go to him and tell him I don't have the Billie Jean rhinestone glove." For fear his boss would spit, scream and shout in true superstar fashion?

"No. Michael has never raised his voice to me," insists Bush. "But I know how much it would hurt him to be let down like that." Which would, you gather, be an awful lot.