Chris , That's so cool that you got to see some of that stage gear. You're right, a lot of great workmanship went into these clothes, particularly Bowie's Japanese stage wear. Bolan , unfortunately , was criticized for not spending as much money on his clothes as Bowie , and for not hirng fashion consultants. The clothes did'nt write songs , play guitar or sing.
Good question about whether Hair Metal bands ever diversified. Chicagoland's Enuff Z'nuff (Briefly popular , with an MTV video.)called themselves "The first band to combine Metal and Psychedelia " (Uhh, Blue Cheer , anyone?), but leaned more toward Power Pop (Still do.).
Chris Henniker said:
The other day, I was exploring London and ended up at the V&A In Kensington. I coughed up £12 to go to the exhibition on British design from 1948-2012 and I even got to see the costumes of David Bowie, Brian Ferry & Brian Eno. The workmanship is incredible on each of them and they still looked amazing, even today.
I also got to see the Factory Records early stuff there, which looks awesome today.
Talking of hair metal, were there any bands who mixed it with 60's psychedelia, or power pop, noise rock, punk or R&B?