Go watch Bob Mackie: Naked Illusion on HBO Max right this minute to honor this fashion icon. The man who iconically dressed Cher, Carol Burnett and RuPaul (among countless other celebrities) died today. He was 87.
“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.”
This was posted Monday morning on Instagram and was soon followed by obituaries from news and social media outlets.
Dubbed the “Designer to the Stars,” Mackie won nine Emmy Awards, a Tony Award and was nominated for three Oscars, including one for Barbra Streisand’s “Funny Lady,” in which she wore a sheer batwing gown. He was inducted into the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences’ Hall of Fame in 2002.
He designed gowns for Madonna, Barbra Streisand, Sharon Stone, Diana Ross and Julia Louis-Dreyfus, and concert costumes for Pink. When Marilyn Monroe delivered a breathy, seductive take on “Happy Birthday” at a fundraiser for President John F. Kennedy and the Democratic National Committee, she did it in a sheer, beaded gown that Mackie dreamed up in a sketch.
He had a simple motto: “You don’t try to change anybody, you just try to make them look better than ever,” he told The Associated Press in 2018.
On Broadway, most recently, he dressed the cast of The Cher Show, which won him the Tony Award.
Among his most famous pieces were Carol Burnett’s curtain gown in her sendup of Gone With the Wind on The Carol Burnett Show and Cher’s naked dress at the Met Ball in 1974 which made the cover of Time magazine. He also partnered with Mattel for a line of collectible Barbie dolls dressed in original designs.
Mackie was married to Lulu Porter in the early sixties. They had a son, Robert Gordon Mackie Jr., a makeup artist who at 35, died from AIDS. His longtime partner since the sixties, costume designer Ray Aghayan died in 2011. He is survived by one grandaughter.
–Rich Lopez