CNN - arts & style - 'Unmistakably Mackie'

NEW YORK (CNN) -- With a needle, thread and a head full of glamorous ideas, Bob Mackie helped weave together the fashion image of stars like Cher and Madonna. A recent retrospective at New York's Fashion Institute of Technology titled "Unmistakably Mackie" paid homage to the man and his influence on costume design for stage and screen.

Mackie says his dramatic and glamorous flair evolved from a love of the Hollywood movies he saw as a child. "I was just fascinated with these Technicolor movies in the 1940s, the musicals," he says. "People dancing, wearing these beautiful (costumes) ... I never had seen anything like that in my life."

Mackie's first major client was Mitzi Gaynor in 1966. Then came an 11-year run with "The Carol Burnett Show," where he created dozens of new costumes each week. "I didn't just do her opening dress," he says. "I did everybody's in the show and all the funny clothes as well -- the characters' clothes."

His reward came in the form of audience appreciation. "Costume designing is very satisfying when someone walks on stage and the whole audience goes 'Ohhhh.' ... or they walk on stage, and they get an enormous laugh or get a huge reaction."

Mackie says he put in some outrageous hours in the '70s doing Burnett's shows as well as Cher's.

"I was doing two or three hour-long shows a week," he says. "Cher had maybe 15 or 20 dresses a week. So that was kind of wild.

"The '70s was the lost decade. I woke up one day and I was 40."

Award show artist

But Mackie's work paid off. His spectacular creations -- including that unforgettable, revealing Oscar dress -- are woven into Cher's image. "She had such an unbelievable body," Mackie says. "She could wear anything. She was like a big Barbie doll."

Other Oscar creations include a slinky, '40s number for Madonna, who sang a song from "Dick Tracy" (1990) during the ceremony. Mackie gave the dress a liberal dose of glam, with rhinestones, pearls, sequins and beads. He says he also gave it a bias cut -- meaning diagonal or slanting -- "so you could see every bit of her body as she moved."

Other Academy Award outfits have not been so fun. He says the decked-out "Queen Elizabeth" gown for Oscar host Whoopi Goldberg last year was the most difficult costume he had ever done.

Mackie describes it as a royal pain: "It was a quick change that's all in one unit. It went over an evening gown, so it had a big zipper up the back ... (and) Velcro over it because she had to get out of it in a hurry."

Mackie doesn't just design for award shows, he gets to participate in them too. He's won seven Emmy Awards for costume design and received Oscar nominations for "Lady Sings the Blues" (1972) starring Diana Ross; "Pennies from Heaven" (1981) with Bernadette Peters; and Barbra Streisand's "Funny Lady" (1975).

Most recently, Mackie dressed Burnett and Liza Minelli for their respective shows. In addition, he's got a ready-to-wear collection, furniture line and Barbie doll series. And Mackie says he has no intention of slowing down.

CNN Style Correspondent Elsa Klensch contributed to this report.

Back to the top