Phillip Jeffries' Frida Kahlo Belt Buckle

The UK promotional press kit for Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me quotes David Bowie as saying the following,

Phillip's belt buckle is difficult to see in the final cut of Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me, though it is significantly clearer in The Missing Pieces.

Phillip in the theatrical cut of FWWM on Blu-Ray.  His belt buckle can barely be discerned.

Phillip in The Missing Pieces.

The 4K blu-ray disc of The Missing Pieces.

A behind-the-scenes photo of David Bowie as Phillip Jeffries. Photo from Facebook.

Mr. Bowie seems to have worn his own cross pendant as Phillip Jeffries. There is an interesting article about Bowie's habit of wearing a cross here. The author mentions how, as Bowie aged, he seemed uncomfortable with baring his neck, always wearing a scarf or some other cover, making it difficult to find photos of him wearing a cross. This reminds me of David Lynch's discomfort in having his collarbone exposed and how he always keeps his shirts buttoned. 

Bowie's cross.

Mr. Bowie wore the Kahlo belt buckle while making an appearance on The Arsenio Hall Show promoting Tin Machine. 

  
A single performance from the same Arsenio Hall appearance as above, though slightly clearer. 

Mr. Bowie is wearing the buckle during the Tin Machine Live: Oy Vey Baby/Live at the Docks concert.

A clearer segment from the "Live at the Docks" concert.

Mr. Bowie may be wearing the belt during a concert in Brussels.

Mr. Bowie may be wearing the belt buckle in the video above. It's difficult to tell for certain. 

The belt buckle may have been worn in the concert above as well. 

The buckle is almost, if not impossible to see in this video of Tin Machine live at the Brixton Academy. It seems to be the event where many pictures were taken of Mr. Bowie wearing the buckle. 

Mr. Bowie wore the belt buckle when Tin Machine appeared as the musical guest on Saturday Night Live. This was on November 23rd, 1991. You can watch both musical performances here, though he doesn't wear the buckle until the second song, 50 minutes into the episode. The end of the episode is cut from the provided link, though there are a few images online. 

Photo source.

Tin Machine performing If There Is Something on SNL. (Below)

The following images are cropped from full photos that appear later in this post. They are edited to focus on the buckle's details. Sadly, the photos of Bowie on tour with Tin Machine are not very clear, but they give us a marginally better idea of the belt buckle's appearance.

 

                                                         

The doubled image on the buckle appears to be Self Portrait With a Resplendor, 1948 by Frida Kahlo. Image source.

You can read more about the painting here.

The following images are on multiple websites and social media accounts. If anyone would like me to remove the images from this blog, please tell me. Some may be credited to photographer Pete Still. I found the images below by chance while searching for photos of David Bowie and Tin Machine. If anyone knows of other images or videos where David Bowie wears this belt buckle, please leave a comment below or contact me on Instagram @likesomehauntingmelody or Twitter @1400Road

 

Photo source.


Photo source

Photo source.