US: The main topic of sartorial debate at the Michael Jackson trial came not with the king of pop's unlikely arrival in a pair of blue pyjama bottoms, but a few days earlier.
The whisper rolled through the reporters squeezed into the small court as Mr Jackson strode in on the sixth day of the trial.
"Is he wearing sandals?" asked one incredulous local television reporter, turning to the row behind her. "With socks?"
Had Wacko Jacko finally become an English gentleman? Did the sandals have backs? Were they slip-ons? Crossovers? How were they fastened? For a moment the unseemly details of the case unfolding before the court were forgotten, as debate started on the advisability, or otherwise, of socks and sandals.
"White socks", hissed another reporter. "With black sandals." This surely was the end. But the jury were giving nothing away.
Had they blinked an eyelid when they had seen their star defendant enter court on the first day of the trial wearing a red armband and a medal? Not a chance.
Had they reacted to his procession of frock coats, jackets and waistcoats? Not a flicker.
But for the rest of the courtroom it was another matter. What was with the armbands? Why red one day, black and gold the next? Jackson, in one of his few public pronouncements on the trial, had an explanation: "Fashion".
And then there were the waistcoats: red and gold braid one day, white and gold the next. So it went on, grey with fob-watch one day, without the next.
By the end of the first week, Jackson had taken note of his surroundings. Gone was the foppish garb of the first few days, to be replaced by the keen legal eagle look.
That Friday, Jackson entered the court dressed in smart black trousers, crisp white shirt and red tie. Perched on his nose were a pair of wire-framed spectacles.
It was an extraordinary transformation: for most of the day the king of pop looked sort of normal.
It didn't last. The next day in court brought the sandals and a succession of unlikely outfits, culminating in the wardrobe malfunction to beat all others: "Pyjama Thursday."
But there was another shock. Jackson had left home without fixing his face. His skin, lacking the usual white pancake, had an orange hue. Unexpectedly, it made him look more normal than usual.