Bob Mackie, the costume designer behind some of the most sexy and glamorous outfits worn by celebrities in the past 50 years, has died at the age of 87.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe 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,\u201d read a statement posted on his Instagram account. \u201cHis genius and extraordinary designs will live on forever, continuing to bring beauty into this world.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cher wears a creation by Bob Mackie as she poses with actor Don Ameche after presenting him with the Oscar for best supporting actor at the Academy awards in Los Angeles, 24 March 1986. Photograph: Lennox McLendon\/AP<\/p>\n
Mackie\u2019s work can be seen in the wardrobes of stars ranging from Marilyn Monroe to Carol Burnett, Liza Minnelli, Elton John, Dolly Parton, Tina Turner and \u2013 perhaps most memorably \u2013 Cher. He designed the \u2018naked\u2019 dress the singer wore to attend the Met Gala in 1975, the midriff-baring outfit with an oversized Mohawk headdress she wore to the Oscars in 1986 and the transparent body stocking she wore for the If I Could Turn Back Time<\/a> video in 1989.<\/p>\n The Met Gala outfit has since become a reference for a younger generation. Kim Kardashian wore a dress modelled on it for the same event in 2015.<\/p>\n More recently, Taylor Swift wore one of Mackie\u2019s original Jubilee! cabaret costumes on the cover of her 12th studio album<\/a>, The Life of a Showgirl, while Sabrina Carpenter and Zendaya have also worn archival looks by the designer. In 2024, the singer Miley Cyrus paid an undisclosed sum to buy the Mackie tasseled mini dress<\/a> she had worn to perform at the Grammys.<\/p>\n Last year at an auction, Cher\u2019s \u201cnaked\u201d bodysuit fetched $57,600 (\u00a342,600), seven times its estimated price<\/a>, while a silver and gold fringed bodysuit with lam\u00e9 wings that Mackie designed for Tina Turner for a 1977 performance sold for $19,200 (\u00a314,200).<\/p>\n The designer first began working with Cher<\/a> for The Sonny and Cher show in the 1960s and remained a collaborator for decades. Cher has paid tribute to his contribution to her career, saying that without Mackie \u201cI would have been a peacock without feathers\u201d.<\/p>\n Mackie\u2019s first notable design has another connection to Kardashian \u2013 as assistant to designer Jean Louis, he sketched the dress Marilyn Monroe wore to sing Happy Birthday to president John F Kennedy in 1962. Kardashian wore the original dress to the Met Gala in 2022<\/a> \u2013 to the disapproval of much of the fashion world, who thought it should be preserved. Mackie was one of the people who spoke out. \u201cI thought it was a big mistake,\u201d he said to Entertainment Weekly<\/a>. \u201cIt was designed for [Monroe]. Nobody else should be seen in that dress.\u201d<\/p>\n In 1963, he began to work on The Judy Garland Show, and met his collaborator and partner Ray Aghayan. Work for the Supremes, and then Diana Ross, followed. The duo were nominated for an Oscar for the costumes Ross wore in the 1973 Billie Holliday biopic Lady Sings the Blues.<\/p>\n Mackie\u2019s motto was \u201cdare to be noticed\u201d and his costumes certainly gained attention for the people wearing them. Elton John\u2019s duck costume, worn in 1980, has become notorious. But the designs also sometimes made points. Cher\u2019s outfit for the Oscars in 1986 was so flamboyant because the star felt she was snubbed for her performance in Mask and wanted to take revenge when she was presenting an award.<\/p>\n Speaking to the New York Times a year later she said<\/a>: \u201cOK, you can go in a simple black dress and be just like everyone else. But then I decided, I\u2019m going to remind them of what they don\u2019t like about me.\u201d Mackie obliged with his creation.<\/p>\n Turner\u2019s \u201cflame\u201d dress, worn in 1977 after her split from her abusive partner and musical collaborator, Ike, turned the star into a gloriously unsubtle phoenix rising from the ashes.<\/p>\n The designer hasn\u2019t always been harmonious with his clients. His work with Cher had tensions. In 2018, talking to the Guardian<\/a> about the raunchy Turn Back Time outfit, he said he thought it was \u201cvulgar and horrid\u201d. \u201cI told her: please, I don\u2019t want any credit for this,\u201d he said. In 2019, he described Garland<\/a> as \u201ca big handful\u201d and said he refused to design costumes for a recent Cher tour. \u201cI\u2019m in touch with clients only when they need clothes,\u201d he said. \u201cI never want to be their best friend.\u201d<\/p>\n Mackie diversified beyond costume design. He launched a clothing line in 1982 and made Bob Mackie collectible Barbies. Working with QVC from 1999, Mackie\u2019s aesthetic has been utilised on everything from fragrance to luggage to high-end jewellery \u2013 and in 2009 he appeared as a guest judge on RuPaul\u2019s Drag Race.<\/p>\n Mackie gained plaudits for his unique take on glamour in recent years. The Fashion Institute of Technology staged the Unmistakably Bob exhibition in 1999, and he received the prestigious Geoffrey Beene CFDA Lifetime Achievement award in 2019. He was front and centre<\/a> of the Diva exhibition at London\u2019s V&A in 2023, with Turner\u2019s flame dress a highlight. The exhibition showed how Mackie\u2019s design accentuated Turner\u2019s showmanship and made her performance even more memorable. This was, ultimately, Mackie\u2019s talent. \u201cI\u2019m very serious about this,\u201d he said in 2018. \u201cIt\u2019s not just flamboyant, crazy stuff. It\u2019s all very worked out.\u201d<\/p>\n Several celebrities paid tribute to the designer on social media.<\/p>\n Carpenter wrote on Instagram that she felt \u201cso lucky to have met Bob.<\/p>\n \u201cHis one of a kind creations have inspired and brought so much happiness and confidence to my world and they will continue to always x Mackie girl forever.\u201d<\/p>\n Kathy Lennon, a member of the vocal group The Lennon Sisters, described Mackie as \u201calways so welcoming and complimentary when we went to his amazing costume showroom.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIn a sea of ego, he seemed to have none,\u201d Elton John wrote on Instagram. \u201cOne of the most courteous, incredible people I ever had the pleasure of working with.\u201d<\/p>\n The Canadian model Coco Rocha said it was an \u201cenormous privilege\u201d <\/a>to work with Mackie and wear his designs.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are designers whose work defines a moment, and then there are those rare few whose imagination teaches fashion something for generations,\u201d Rocha said on Instagram. \u201cBob was one of them. His clothes had wit, drama, fantasy and joy.\u201d<\/p>\n