Bob Mackie, legendary costume designer to the stars, dies at 87
Fashion designer Bob Mackie, whose sequined creations defined the glamour of 1970s Hollywood and Broadway, died Monday at age 87, according to a post on his Instagram account. The post said 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,” and that “his genius and extraordinary designs will live on forever, continuing to bring beauty into this world.”
Dubbed the “Designer to the Stars,” Mackie won nine Emmy Awards and 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 the first to win an Emmy for costume design, in 1967, and was inducted into the Academy of Television Arts & Science’s Hall of Fame in 2002.
Mackie served as the costumer on “The Carol Burnett Show,” which ran from 1967 to 1978, and designed gowns for Cher, Madonna, Streisand, Sharon Stone, Diana Ross and Julia Louis-Dreyfus, along with concert costumes for Pink. He created outfits for Liza Minnelli, Tina Turner and others across stage and screen.
Mackie sketched the sheer, beaded gown Marilyn Monroe wore when she sang “Happy Birthday” at a fundraiser for President John F. Kennedy and the Democratic National Committee.
On Broadway, Mackie dressed the casts of “On the Town” in 1971 and “Moon Over Buffalo” in 1995. He created costumes for Burnett in “Putting It Together,” Debbie Reynolds in “Debbie” in 1976, Minnelli in “Minnelli on Minnelli” in 1999 and, most recently, the cast of “The Cher Show,” which earned him his Tony Award.
His archival pieces have since been worn by Anya Taylor-Joy, Miley Cyrus and Zendaya, the latter of whom wore a Mackie gown to honor Cher at the 2024 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony. When Taylor Swift wanted to look like a showgirl on the cover of her 2025 album “The Life of a Showgirl,” she turned to Mackie originals.
Sequins and embellishment were natural tools for Mackie, whose other nicknames included the Sultan of Sequins, the Rajah of Rhinestones and the Guru of Glitter. He summed up his approach in a 2018 interview with The Associated Press: “You don’t try to change anybody, you just try to make them look better than ever.”
