50th Anniversary Tour Costumes

Among these costumes donated by Tina Turner are 6 from her Tina!: 50th Anniversary Tour. After an 8-year hiatus she returned to stage performance in 2009, the year that marked the 50th anniversary of her first performing music on the stage. She toured around the United States, Canada, and Europe. The video showing on the screen is from one of these concerts during this tour. The dramatic concert overwhelmed audiences with the unwavering talent of Tina Turner. Her voice was still expressive and gritty and her dance moves, even in stiletto heels, demonstrates her continuing talent as a performer.

The gold and dark silver jumpsuits have a loose sleeveless top decorated with sideways V’s. Tina opened the concert in one of these when she was lowered from a platform onto the stage and sang “Steamy Windows.”  Later, she changed into the shimmery fitted red dress for her song “The Acid Queen.” For “We Don’t Need Another Hero” from the Mad Max movie Beyond Thunderdome, Tina came out in this chainmail dress and a giant blonde wig like she had worn as the powerful Aunty Entity in the movie. In a more mellow middle period, Tina Turner wore the simple black dress adorned with crystals and sang “Let’s Stay Together.” After an energetic rock section, Tina performed “GoldenEye” in the shimmery bronze outfit with the deep V inset on the left and the long dark cape. Lastly, Tina returned for the encore in the white blouse with lace around the V neck and wrists and tight black pants with dangling metal-tipped bolo laces. Riding on top of a cherry picker, she moved through the crowd encouraging them to sing along with “Nutbush.” Tina’s performance of “Be Tender with Me Baby,” ended the concert.

The white crystal skirt and black lace shawl are designs by Giorgio Armani, and all the others were designed by Bob Mackie.