Freddie Mercury's worn parakeet patterned t-shirt and other off-stage wear, mid-1980s

Freddie Mercury’s worn parakeet patterned t-shirt and other off-stage wear

A white t-shirt, the front printed in green, red, blue and yellow with three parakeets on a perch in front of a row of palm trees, above blue lettering ‘Rio de Janeiro / Brazil’, labelled inside ‘A. VARGAS’ – Freddie is photographed wearing an identical parakeet patterned t-shirt off-stage in Rio, Brazil where Queen performed on two occasions in January, 1984, whilst being interviewed for press and during promotional shoots during The Works Tour; with

- nine other t-shirts and vests comprising: two striped cut-out vests, one royal blue and black stripes, the other emerald green and black stripes, both unlabelled; a plain white t-shirt with peach trim to neck and arms labelled ‘Hanes’; a grey, green and blue striped t-shirt labelled ‘RAM’; a plain turquoise t-shirt labelled ‘Anvil Brand’; a blue, yellow and white top with diagonal zip-fastening to neck, labelled ‘Paul Vivaldi’; a white t-shirt with yellow and blue stripes, unlabelled; a white t-shirt hand-painted on the back with flowers, signed ‘Rudi’; and a plain white vest with cut-out back (looks unworn); and a white cotton t-shirt labelled ‘St. Michael’, hand-painted on the back by artist Rudi Patterson with a design of exotic flowers and foliage in reds, orange, yellow and greens, signed ‘Rudi’ – Freddie, a great fan of Patterson’s work commissioned this t-shirt from the artist directly

(qty 10)

Plain white t-shirts with a coloured trim to the neck and arms was a very popular style of t-shirt with Freddie; there are several other examples in this auction with different coloured trim and lot 60 shows Freddie wearing examples with black and red trim, the latter included in lot 226 with the biker jacket seen in the photograph. 

The artist Rudi Patterson, who was born in Jamaica, came to the UK in his 20s during the 1950s. He worked initially, after taking lessons at RADA, as a successful actor, model and musician before becoming known as an artist. Self-taught whilst recovering from an accident in 1969, he is best known for colourful subjects from his youth. Freddie was introduced by his friend Trevor Clark, who was Patterson’s cousin. Freddie acquired several of Rudi’s works which he adored and also commissioned bespoke hand-painted t-shirts from the artist too. Rudi Patterson’s first respective, From Jamaica to Notting Hill, was at Leighton House, London in 2014.