Bob Mackie, Dress Designer to the Stars, Dies at 87

Bob Mackie, the dress designer to the stars known as the “Rajah of Rhinestones” thanks to his legendarily glittery, flashy designs for the likes of Cher, Elton John, Bette Midler, Carol Burnett and Barbra Streisand has died at 87.

A statement on Mackie’s Instagram page on Monday morning (Sept. 14) announced the news, reading, “It is with a heavy heart that we share the news that Mr. Bob Mackie passed away today. 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.”

The post was accompanied by a photo of the designer flashing his signature smile while seated at his drafting table surrounded by colored markers and sketches.

Born in Monterey Park, Calif. on March 24, 1939, Mackie dropped out of Chouinard Art Institute in Los Angeles and began working as an apprentice designer at Paramount Studios before renowned film costume designer Edith Head took him under her wing as a sketch artist. One of his first gigs out of college was the iconic skin-tight mesh dress covered in crystals worn by Marilyn Monroe when she serenaded President John F. Kennedy at Madison Square Garden in 1962; Kim Kardashian wore the dress at the 2022 Met Gala.

His attraction to the glitz and glamour made sense, as he told People in 1994 that his grandparents, who raised him after his parents divorce when he was two, encouraged his love of the arts. “I sat in the theater totally mesmerized watching Betty Grable, Rita Hayworth,” he said at the time. “Then I went home and drew what I’d seen.”

The combination of his sketching skills, eye for attention-grabbing looks and love of Hollywood glamour helped land Mackie — also known as the “Sultan of Sequins — his first big break when singer/actress Mitzi Gaynor hired him to design the costumes for her Las Vegas revue, and then later for her TV specials, which earned him Emmy awards in 1976 and 1978.

He also scored another major gig early in his career when he was tapped to be the costumer for The Carol Burnett Show, a hugely popular weekly sketch series that ran from 1967-1978, for which he cranked out dozens of outfits per week. The gig helped make Mackie the go-to designer for some of the eras biggest stars.

In fact, he met Cher on the set of the Burnett show and began a long friendship and professional collaboration with the singer that included him becoming the official costumer for The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour and, later, one of the singer/actresses’ favorite designers. Over the years, their creative partnership would spawn some of the most outrageous, talked-about red carpet outfits of all time, including the sheer, sequin- and feather-covered “nude illusion gown” she wore at the 1974 Met Gala, where she was escorted by Mackie, and the black, belly-baring two-piece with a giant feathered headdress she wore to the 1986 Academy Awards.

Among their other legendary collabs is the “seat belt” outfit Cher wore in the “If I Could Turn Back Time” video, which famously consisted of a sheer black bodysuit with garters, thin black strips of fabric covering Cher’s private parts and not much else.

While some designers dreamed of presenting couture collections in Paris and rising to lead a famous fashion house, 32-time Emmy nominee Mackie seemed more delighted to chase the thrill of entertaining as much as the stars he was dressing. So whether it was Elton John’s bedazzled Donald Duck and sequin-soaked LA. Dodgers costumes, luxurious evening gowns for Whitney Houston, the famous “Went With the Wind!” curtain dress from Burnett’s show or outfits he made for Dolly Parton, Madonna, Miley Cyrus, Beyoncé, Judy Garland, P!nk, Tina Turner, Bette Midler, Liza Minnelli, or RuPaul, Mackie’s creations always grabbed attention thanks to their bold colors and shapes, generous use of sequins and crystals and a playful, daring attitude.

Mackie was nominated for three Oscars in his lifetime — for Lady Sings the Blues (1973), Funny Lady (1976) and Pennies From Heaven (1982) — and won nine competitive Emmy Awards and one honorary award, as well as a Tony in 2019 for The Cher Show, for which he created more than 450 outfits.

In addition to designing TV and live theater looks and event gowns, Mackie designed costumes for theatrical shows including On The Town with Bernadette Peters, Moon Over Buffalo with Burnett, Minnelli on Minnelli with Minnelli and the costumes and scenery for the Elvis ballet Blue Suede Shoes, as well as John Travolta’s costumes in the Saturday Night Fever sequel Staying Alive. Mackie debuted the Bob Mackie Barbie collection in 1982 and in 2002 he was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame.

Many of Mackie’s 1970s and 1980s creations have provided inspiration for today’s stars as well, with Rihanna wearing a Swarovski-encrusted, sheer dress at the CFDA Awards in 2014 that was similar to one Diana Ross wore for a fashion editorial in Harper’s Bazaar decades earlier. In addition, Lady Gaga rocked a sparkly, see-through fishnet dress in 2015 that was similar to a Mackie-created look for Cher and Miley Cyrus wore a feathered two-piece for the opening look of her 2014 Bangerz tour that was an homage to one Cher wore while riding an elephant for the opening of a circus event.

Cyrus also wore a vintage beaded black silk chiffon dress from Mackie’s 2002 To Broadway With Love collection at the 2024 Grammy Awards.

More than seven decades into his career, Mackie continued to be a kind of shorthand for attention-grabbing old Hollywood glamour, even working his way into the final season of the Emmy-winning HBO comedy series Hacks. The designer even scored a cameo in the episode of the show in which star Jean Smart’s Deborah Vance frantically tries to find a classic white jumpsuit the designer had made for Burnett for Vance’s big Madison Square Garden headlining gig.