Bob Mackie, Legendary Designer, Dead at 87

The designer, who modernized the modern Las Vegas showgirl look, continued to make a name for himself when Carol Burnett began wearing his eccentric designs on her comedy show. He ultimately designed over 17,000 outfits for the series, including the iconic “Curtain Rod” dress. He was nominated for an Emmy for his work on the show in 1969. (In 1991, he nabbed his sixth trophy in 1991 for his work on her Carol & Company show.)

Known as the “Sultan of Sequins,” he later tapped Cher as a muse. 

“I am reminded again and again,” Cher told Harper’s Bazaar in 2024, “that there is simply no end to the talent and influence Bob Mackie has had on me.” 

During his and Cher’s 40-plus-year partnership, Mackie was nominated for 32 Emmys, winning nine as well as one Tony in 2019 for Best Costume Design in The Cher Show. 

It was a match made in heaven. After all, Mackie often said that, since childhood, he was inspired by Hollywood divas.

“The thing is that my old memories of divas are from going to early movie musicals—when I was maybe four, five, six years old,” he told Vogue Australia in 2025. “You have to know how that person moves on stage, how they walk, when they sing, what are the kind of poses that they take.”

Mackie’s designs have continued to be worn by just about every superstar, including Miley Cyrus, Sabrina Carpenter, and Taylor Swift—who pulled an archival design for the album artwork of The Life of a Showgirl. 

An honor that shocked Mackie.

“I always think of Taylor Swift being this little girl who used to write songs about fairytale princesses and whatever and there she is looking like a showgirl,” he told E! News last year. “It’s exciting when you do something and you like it and then 30 years later, we pull it out of the vault. And then people look at it and go, ‘Oh, I get it now.’”