Bob Mackie, the “Sultan of Sequins” known for creating flamboyant, show-stopping looks for divas like Cher and Diana Ross, died Monday. He was 87.
“It is with a heavy heart that we share the news that Mr. Bob Mackie passed away today,” a statement on his Instagram read. “He lived his 87 years to the fullest, fulfilling his dream of being a Fashion and Costume Designer, which is all he ever wanted to do. His genius and extraordinary designs will live on forever, continuing to bring beauty into this world.”
He was Oscar-nominated three times and amassed over 30 Emmy nominations and nine wins. In 2002, he became the first costume designer to be inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame.
Mackie was good at pairing his designs with appropriate talent. Two out of three of his Oscar nominations — for “Lady Sings the Blues” and “Funny Lady” — are also for films starring actresses with strong off-screen personalities. He was also Oscar-nommed for “Pennies From Heaven,” and he designed costumes for John Travolta in “Staying Alive” and for the infamous “Star Wars Holiday Special.”
Mackie got his start doing drawings for Golden Age costume designer Jean Louis, then worked as an assistant to Edith Head. He created designs that Carol Burnett wore on her eponymous sketch show — particularly the “curtain-rod” dress she wore in a “Gone With the Wind” spoof that, he admitted in a 2000 interview with the Archive of American Television, would be forever associated with his legacy — and “The Judy Garland Show.”
He would eventually become known for his over-the-top, figure-hugging creations such as the elaborate, sparkling, black, midriff-baring two-piece ensemble with matching Mohawk headpiece that he designed for Cher to wear to the 1986 Oscars. He also designed splashy gowns for her to wear on “The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour,” “Cher,” “The Sonny and Cher Show.” Among the other stars for which he designed gowns were Whitney Houston, Barbara Eden, Bette Midler, Judy Garland, Liza Minnelli, Tina Turner, Joan Rivers and Mitzi Gaynor. He also dressed men for extravagant stage looks, including Elton John, the Jackson Five and Robert Goulet.
“I started it all, I’m afraid,” Mackie said of Cher’s risqué outfits in the same Archive of American Television interview, adding that Cher saw a costume he’d made for Goldie Hawn and wanted something similar for her nightclub act. Eventually “we started showing off her midriff [because] she had — she still has — the most incredible torso. It’s long-waisted and beautiful, and she looks really good that way. And so it became, what part of her body are we going to show in this dress and that dress and every week, it got to be, you know, try to top yourself and the audience reacted well to it and they loved it.”
Speaking with Variety in 2021, Mackie discussed his relationship with Cher, picking his favorite outfits. Discussing the controversial “If I Could Turn Back Time Outfit,” Mackie said, “At the time, Cher wanted to wear this outfit so badly. I call it the seatbelt outfit. She got so nervous with the sailors there, she put on her leather motorcycle jacket and you could see anything except this little strap that made that look worse. She loved it at the time, but it made her very nervous – and it’s the only time I know she ever got that nervous.”
He also spoke about designing her 1986 Oscars outfit which drew attention. “The Met Gala and the Oscars outfit have been seen in papers everywhere. Especially the latter, it’s seen again and again. The actual dress was on display at the Academy Museum for the Oscars, and they had a couple of shots inside the museum. We loaned it to them for this exhibition this fall because they’re going introduce some of those famous looks. We had to ask Cher if it was alright, and that dress is so valuable now, so we had to make sure they insured it.”
Most recently, Mackie’s designs became a plot point on the final season of “Hacks” with Jean Smart’s Deborah Vance seeking the ultimate outfit for her Madison Square Garden show. In the end, Jean wanted a white jumpsuit worn by Carol Burnett. Mackie had a hand in helping the show’s costume designer Kathleen Felix-Hager recreate the famous outfit.
Born in Monterey Park, Calif., and raised in Southern California, he collaborated on many of these projects with his life partner, costume designer Ray Aghayan, who died in 2011. He also had a son, Robin, who died of AIDS-related causes in 1994.
Outside of film and TV, Mackie was known for his fashion collections — including a partnership with QVC — and related lifestyle brands of luggage, home furnishings and, perhaps most fittingly, elaborate costumes for Barbie dolls.
