Fashion Icon Bob Mackie Talks Cher, His Legendary Designs & New Documentary ‘Naked Illusion’ (EXCLUSIVE)
See why the man behind many a sparkling costume says, 'Some people just look good half-naked and some people don't'
Bob Mackie is more than just a designer—he’s a pop culture icon. Best known for his long creative partnership with Cher and whimsical costumes for The Carol Burnett Show, the designer, who has also dressed Diana Ross, Madonna, Tina Turner, Judy Garland, Barbra Streisand, Whitney Houston, Dolly Parton and Elton John (to name just a few) is a master of glamour. Over the course of a fabulous six-decade career, Mackie has been synonymous with sparkle, and he’s still going strong at 85.
The beloved fashion designer has never stopped working—he’s been in the midst of a resurgence, with young stars like Miley Cyrus, Sabrina Carpenter and Zendaya rocking his looks on the red carpet. Meanwhile, a new documentary about his life and work, Bob Mackie: Naked Illusion, is now playing in select theaters and will be available to buy or rent on demand later this month.
A number of Mackie’s dresses and sketches have also recently been up for auction by Julien’s (in fact, Cyrus just purchased the dress she wore for her showstopping 2024 Grammys performance). Woman’s World attended the auction’s exclusive press preview at New York’s swanky Carlyle Hotel and spoke to the designer about his singular fashions.
Bob Mackie’s early inspiration: From film glamour to iconic dresses
Bob Mackie was born in 1939. “I was training myself from the time I was really young,” Mackie recalls of his childhood inspiration. “I was the strangest child. They would give me catcher’s mitts and things like that for Christmas, and I would just go, ‘Oh, okay,’ but take me to the movies and I was happy, as long as they were Technicolor musicals and had Carmen Miranda or Betty Grable or any of those people.”
“An American in Paris was the first movie that I saw and I went, ‘Now I know what I want to do,’” he continues. “The costumes in that, the way it was shot and the ballet in the end—it’s just killer.”
Mackie’s early creative ambitions led him to art school, but he left before getting a degree and dove headfirst into the world he’d always dreamed of. “I was lucky. I quit art school, where I had a scholarship. They were not happy with me, but a couple years later, I was one of their star former students, so that was okay. I got a job the first week I went out with my portfolio, and I loved doing the work,” he says. One of Mackie’s earliest jobs was creating the original sketch for Marilyn Monroe’s 1962 “Happy Birthday, Mr. President” dress (the dress itself was made by French designer Jean Louis).
Drawing one of the most famous dresses of all time proved an auspicious start for Mackie, and soon enough, he struck out on his own. “My first star client ever was Mitzi Gaynor, who we just lost recently. She was truly funny onstage, and so glamorous. She was just the best performer,” he says.
Designing for Gaynor led Mackie to another major client: “Carol Burnett went to see her show in Vegas. She’d heard that I did the show, and she wanted to see what I could do, and she hired me immediately.”
“That was a really good feeling for me,” Mackie adds. “I wasn’t totally sure I could do comedy, but I was pretty sure.” The designer quickly proved his comedy chops, and his Gone With the Wind-inspired curtain dress (complete with rod) for the entertainer went down in history.
The Cher and Bob Mackie partnership: Behind the iconic dresses
It was on the set of The Carol Burnett Show that Mackie met Cher, and they soon began a collaboration for the ages. “When I went to the first production meeting for The Sonny & Cher Show—and I’d met her before that, I knew her—I thought, ‘This girl is amazing.’ But the producers and the writers were like, ‘What are we going to do with her?’” he says.
Mackie instantly recognized Cher’s potential: “I said, ‘She can be anything you want her to be. You write it, we’ll do it.’ And it worked,” he recalls. “Every week, people would watch to see what she was going to wear. She played famous queens and courtesans of history and all these crazy parts. It was all comedy, and it was so fun.”
Cher was game to try whatever Mackie came up with. “She’d been wearing her bell bottoms and her fur vests—all the outfits that she came up with. She’d never worn period clothes, like medieval costumes or Queen Elizabeth,” he says. “I put her in anything and everything, and she took it right on. She really understood it even though she didn’t have any education about fashion.”
While starring on her variety show with her then-husband, Sonny Bono, Cher received much attention for her sexy, glittering Mackie dresses. As the years went by, she continued to embrace over-the-top style, and Mackie designed two of her most infamous looks: Her revealing 1986 Oscars ensemble with an elaborate headdress, and her sheer bodysuit from the 1989 “If I Could Turn Back Time” music video.
“Cher would try anything, as long as she thought she looked good. She’s never said, ‘Oh, I won’t wear that.’ In fact, I have to tone her down sometimes,” Mackie explains with a laugh. While the singer-actress and the designer have developed a shorthand over the years, Mackie saw the scandalous “If I Could Turn Back Time” look as a rare misstep, and remembers thinking, “This is horrible. You can’t wear that.” Still, he admits, “Some people just look good half-naked and some people don’t,” and Cher was one of them, proving a powerful muse thanks to her confidence and charisma.
Bob Mackie’s legacy: Modern stars and his new documentary
At an age when many designers would be stepping away from the spotlight, Mackie remains in the public eye, and his fashions can be seen on many a modern-day starlet. “So many of them are young Disney girls who have been trained out of their minds,” he says. “It’s interesting when you meet them—like Miley Cyrus, she was born to be onstage. When she played Hannah Montana, I thought, ‘Oh she’s cute,’ and then I didn’t see her for a while. She grew out of being a child, and now watching her perform is so much fun. She’s so into it and loving it. It’s like Tina Turner—these people who are up there because they’re having the best time of their lives.”
Mackie’s been reveling in his new following, joking, “I love seeing my work. How’s that for ego?” “I see things that I did in the ’60s and go, ‘Wow, that looks pretty good,’” he says. “When you’re younger, you’re not always sure, and then you realize, ‘Well, that’s better than I thought it would be.’” As he observes, “Everything really does come back around, but if it’s not right for you, the wearer has to think about, ‘Can I pull this off or not?’”
Being the subject of a new documentary has also been a special experience for the designer. “The director, Matthew Miele, asked me if I would be interested in doing it and I said I’d never thought about it before, but this turned out to be a sweet and lovely little picture,” he says. “It got very personal, and there are a lot of guest stars in it—all those funny clients of mine.”
Bob Mackie’s fashion philosophy: Humor, sparkle and bold glamour
Reflecting on the design philosophy he’s maintained for decades, Mackie says, “Very often, what I do isn’t right for everybody. I love to see when a woman puts herself together in an interesting way, and I try to analyze every performer, because they’re not just ladies buying a dress. I’m not really in fashion as much as I am in costume design.”
He’s always believed a sense of play is key. “Working with performers, we just try to make it exciting for the audience and make them laugh if it’s possible,” he says. “I love putting humor into things, because then the audience has a good time.”
Asked how he stays creative and motivated after working for decades, Mackie says, “It’s just fun. And it’s a challenge, especially when you’re working with a new person or someone who comes in having seen something online that was done 30 years ago.” “Fashions do change as you go along. Sometimes what was here looks fantastic over there many years later,” he adds, but ultimately, “You have to be brave and do crazy stuff.” Such boldness has clearly served him well over the years, and we could all use a little of that crazy Bob Mackie sparkle in our lives.
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