If this year's award season has seemed like an endless parade of trophies for "Slumdog Millionaire" and Kate Winslet, then there has remained one rather tantalizing bit of suspense for dedicated kudo watchers: What will Mickey Rourke wear next?
The actor, working the award circuit in support of his unexpected comeback role in "The Wrestler," had been a sartorial riot of textures and patterns and colors, mixing and matching pieces with a fearlessness paralleled only by his astonishing performance. With his mussy hair, sunglasses and ubiquitous hip-dangling chain, he still evokes the outlaw danger of his biker past, while his penchant for open-necked shirts, unbuttoned cuffs and oversized, slightly undone neckties exudes an air of disheveled elegance. Consider the look something like a luxury hobo or a dandy gone to seed.
Regardless of the outcome in the lead actor category at the Academy Awards on Sunday night, one of this season's most lasting images will certainly be Rourke onstage following his win at the Golden Globes, draped in a sparkling scarf and shiny lapels, one hand clutching his prize, the other dipped nonchalantly into his waistband.
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The stylist
Assisting Rourke through the hustle of award season for about the last five months has been New York-based stylist Michael Fisher. Where some male celebrities slide through award season in a cloud of nondescript tastefulness -- George Clooney has publicly prided himself on wearing the same tuxedo for years -- Fisher knew going in that Rourke would be taking his look in a much different direction.
"I met with Mickey, and the first thing he said was that he's not George Clooney and he's never going to be George Clooney," Fisher recalled recently over the phone. "He's not going to wear a classic black tuxedo; he's not interested in that.
"Mickey is a personality, and he has his own sense of style. He likes clothes, and he likes expressing himself though clothes. He does it in his acting and he does it in his day-to-day life. Most guys are either going to be safe and, for lack of a better word, boring when it comes to red carpet dressing, just because they don't have the time or interest, or they're just too afraid of criticism. And Mickey's not that. He likes taking the risk, pushing the envelope and being more flashy. And no one else can wear it like Mickey wears it."
