From his beginnings in 1960s Hollywood to the unforgettable dresses created for Cher, Diana Ross and Tina Turner, Bob Mackie has redefined the glamor of American entertainment.
Bob Mackie died today, September 14, at 87. Costume designer and designer, he was one of the great architects of the imagination of American entertainment, capable of transforming crystals, feathers, transparencies and theatrical silhouettes into an immediately recognizable language.
Born in 1939 in California, he began his career in the early 1960s as a sketch artist in Hollywood studios, collaborating with names such as Edith Head and Jean Louis. Precisely for Jean Louis he created the technical design of the famous crystal-studded dress worn by Marilyn Monroe in 1962 to sing Happy Birthday, Mr. President to John F. Kennedy.
The turning point came with television. After working with Mitzi Gaynor, he joined the team of The Carol Burnett Showbut it was above all the meeting with Cher that made him go down in the history of pop culture.
Cher and glamor according to Bob Mackie
In the Seventies Mackie built a wardrobe for Cher that was destined to become iconic: transparent dresses, crystal embroidery, feathers, very low-waisted trousers and spectacular headdresses. More than simple costumes, they were tools through which to amplify the personality of the performer.
Among the most famous looks remains the almost transparent dress worn by Cher at the 1974 Met Gala, followed by the memorable black suit with feather headdress at the 1986 Oscars. Two years later, when she won the Oscar for Moonstruckthe artist was still wearing a Mackie creation.
Over the course of his career, the designer has also dressed Diana Ross, Tina Turner, Liza Minnelli, Elton John and Bette Midler, helping to define an idea of deliberately spectacular, ironic and excessive glamour.
A career between fashion and entertainment
In the 1980s Mackie also transformed his name into a fashion brand, without however ever abandoning the world of costume. Over the course of his career he has received 32 Emmy nominations, winning nine, as well as three Oscar nominations.
In 2019 the Tony Award also arrived for The Cher Showthe musical dedicated to the singer with whom she had built one of the longest-lasting creative partnerships in American entertainment.
In recent years his archive had returned to the center of attention thanks to a new generation of stars, from Zendaya to Miley Cyrus and Sabrina Carpenter.
With the death of Bob Mackie, one of the last great costume designers of classic Hollywood disappears.
