Bob Mackie, ‘Sultan of Sequins,’ dies at 87 in Palm Springs
The celebrated costume designer died of pneumonia in Palm Springs at 87, leaving a six-decade legacy of stagecraft, spectacle and defining looks for Cher, Carol Burnett and generations of performers.
Bob Mackie, fashion designer to the stars, dies at 87
Hollywood Icons Pay Tribute to Late Designer Bob Mackie After Death
Bob Mackie, iconic costume designer who dressed stars including Cher and Carol Burnett, dies at 87
Bob Mackie, Costume Designer to Stars Like Cher and Carol Burnett, Dies at 87
Bob Mackie passes away at 87 as celebrities pay tribute
A show-business wardrobe loses its master
The designer whose rhinestones, feathers and daring silhouettes helped define televised glamour died Monday in Palm Springs, California. He was 87, and his publicist said the cause was pneumonia.cbc +1 The announcement prompted tributes from performers who regarded his costumes not as decoration, but as part of their stage identities.
Cher imagined him arriving in heaven with “Sequins, Beads, & his sketch pad,” while Carol Burnett wrote that “sadness doesn’t come close” to describing her loss.abcnews Liza Minnelli remembered a friend who dressed her through several chapters of her life, and Ann-Margret praised a generous talent who made women feel both glamorous and seen.people
Costumes built for movement and character
His career began in Hollywood sketch rooms, including work for Jean Louis and Edith Head, before Mitzi Gaynor hired him to create costumes for her Las Vegas revue. Burnett then brought him onto her CBS variety show, where he worked across all 11 seasons and designed everything from elegant production gowns to comic character outfits.hollywoodreporter
The most famous joke in that wardrobe was Burnett’s green “curtain rod” dress for the Gone With the Wind parody “Went With the Wind!” His partnership with Cher moved in another direction: sheer panels, exposed midriffs and elaborate headpieces that turned entrances into events. He also sketched the beaded dress Marilyn Monroe wore to sing “Happy Birthday” to President John F. Kennedy.cbc +1
A legacy measured in spectacle and craft
Across more than six decades, the California native won nine Emmy Awards, received three Academy Award nominations and entered the Television Academy Hall of Fame in 2002. A 2019 Tony Award for The Cher Show recognized his ability to translate decades of a performer’s visual history to Broadway.abcnews +1
The designs endured because they were engineered as carefully as they were embellished. Mackie said a costumer had to understand a performer’s movement, timing and relationship with an audience rather than simply send someone onstage in a pretty dress.abcnews That philosophy remains visible in archival pieces worn by younger stars including Zendaya, Miley Cyrus and Taylor Swift, extending his vocabulary of fantasy beyond the variety-show era.cbc
Elton John, recalling the crystal-covered Dodgers uniform Mackie made for his 1975 stadium concerts, called the costumes works of art and praised their workmanship.people The tribute captured the designer’s central achievement: he made extravagance functional, giving performers clothes sturdy enough to work in and spectacular enough to become cultural memory.