Bob Mackie: influences, peers and legacy

Every connection with its receipt

Bob Mackie turned American television into a couture runway: 1,000-plus sketches a year for Carol Burnett, the naked dresses for Cher, the fringe for Tina Turner. His map runs back through the Hollywood studio wardrobe departments where he apprenticed as a sketch artist, sideways into Ziegfeld and Berkeley spectacle, and forward into drag and pop stagecraft.

The Kynda mix for Bob Mackie

• Key Influence · Gilda by Jean Louis (1946). Mackie began as a sketch artist for Jean Louis at Columbia, and famously rendered the flesh-colored, rhinestone-studded gown Jean Louis made for Marilyn Monroe's 1962 "Happy Birthday, Mr. President" appearance. Jean Louis's strapless architecture for Rita Hayworth in Gilda — bias satin engineered to look poured on — is the direct ancestor of Mackie's illusion-net "naked dresses" for Cher, where nudity is implied by beading rather than fabric.','ition.','d'.'
• Influencia Obscura · Shanghai Express by Travis Banton (1932). Banton dressed Marlene Dietrich at Paramount in black cock feathers, veils and sequins — the vocabulary of excess that Mackie later made television's own. Banton was also Jean Louis's and Edith Head's predecessor in the studio wardrobe lineage Mackie apprenticed into, so the influence arrives through workroom inheritance rather than homage: feather, net and shine deployed to turn a performer into an apparition.
• Local Roots · The Seven Year Itch by William Travilla (1955). Travilla worked the same Los Angeles costume circuit Mackie entered in the early 1960s, moving between Fox features and television variety. The white halter dress is the archetype of the single garment that outlives its film — the effect Mackie engineered repeatedly on Cher and Tina Turner. Both men worked the LA sketch-to-workroom system, dressing stars for cameras rather than for seasonal runway collections.
• Beyond the Medium · Gold Diggers of 1933 by Busby Berkeley (1933). Berkeley's kaleidoscopic chorus numbers treated costume as mass geometry: identical sequins multiplied into pattern. Mackie, raised on these Hollywood musicals, built his career on the same premise that clothes exist to be lit and moved rather than examined up close. The Burnett show's lavish production numbers and his Vegas headdress work both descend from Berkeley's logic of spectacle over tailoring.
• Peer · Dynasty by Nolan Miller (1981). Miller was Mackie's closest contemporary parallel: an LA-based designer who made television costume into mass-market glamour, dressing Joan Collins and Linda Evans in shoulder pads and sequins weekly. Both men proved that network TV, not Paris, set American aspirational taste in the 1970s and 80s, and both extended the brand into retail and QVC-era direct selling.
• From the Canon · The Carol Burnett Show by Bob Mackie (1967). Eleven seasons, roughly sixty to seventy costumes a week, every one sketched by Mackie: the show was his conservatory and his masterpiece. It demanded both parody and beauty — the curtain-rod "Went With the Wind" gown is the most famous costume joke in television history, while the closing production numbers delivered genuine couture. Nothing else in his career explains his range so completely.
• Key Collaborator · The Judy Garland Show by Ray Aghayan (1963). Aghayan hired the young Mackie as his sketch artist, brought him into television, and became his life partner and frequent co-designer; Garland's show was one of their earliest shared credits. They were jointly Oscar-nominated for Lady Sings the Blues and Funny Lady. Aghayan's taste for clean, camera-smart silhouettes tempered Mackie's instinct for excess, and the partnership underwrote his entire career.
• Legacy · RuPaul's Drag Race by Zaldy (2009). Zaldy has designed RuPaul's gowns for the series' entire run, and the show's whole aesthetic grammar — illusion net, beaded bodysuits, feather headdresses, the reveal — is Mackie's vocabulary carried into drag's mainstream. Mackie's Cher and Burnett designs are the acknowledged reference points for generations of queens, and Mackie himself appeared on the show as a guest judge.

What influenced Bob Mackie

• Edith Head. Mackie credited Head with teaching him how to work with people in the industry. (also via Rear Window) “He said "Edith Head taught me not so much about designing as how to handle producers, directors, and actors. Her public relations were superb."” (Wikipedia)
• Eva Roberts. Mackie studied fashion design under Roberts. “At Chouinard, Mackie studied under Eva Roberts, the head of the fashion design department.” (Wikipedia)
• Rear Window by Edith Head (1954). Rear Window (Edith Head) — titan for Bob Mackie “== Career == === 1960–1969 === While he was working at Paramount Studios, costumer Edith Head engaged Mackie to work on the 1963 films Donovan's Reef and A New Kind of Love.” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Gilda by Jean Louis (1946). Gilda (Jean Louis) — titan for Bob Mackie “Her public relations were superb." In Mackie's early career he worked as a sketch artist for French haute couturier Jean Louis, who is noted for having crafted stage gowns worn by actress Marlene Dietrich during her career as a cabaret s…” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Jubilee! by Donn Arden (1981). Jubilee! (Donn Arden) — culture for Bob Mackie “Images of many of Mackie's design drawings for these productions are available for viewing online in the Donn Arden papers archive from the UNLV Libraries Digital Collections.” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Shanghai Express by Travis Banton (1932). Shanghai Express (Travis Banton) — ghost for Bob Mackie
• Gold Diggers of 1933 by Busby Berkeley (1933). Gold Diggers of 1933 (Busby Berkeley) — culture for Bob Mackie
• Ziegfeld Follies. Ziegfeld Follies (Florenz Ziegfeld) — culture for Bob Mackie
• Les Modes (Erté fashion plates) by Erté (1915). Les Modes (Erté fashion plates) (Erté) — ghost for Bob Mackie
• The Wizard of Oz by Adrian (1939). The Wizard of Oz (Adrian) — titan for Bob Mackie

Peers and kindred spirits

• Ray Aghayan by Ray Aghayan. Mackie and Aghayan continued to work together after Mackie’s assistantship. (also via The Carol Burnett Show, The Judy Garland Show) “He won an Emmy Award in 1967 with his partner Bob Mackie for his work in Alice Through the Looking Glass (1966 film) .” (Wikipedia)
• Liza Minnelli by Liza Minnelli. Discussing his sketch of Judy Garland and Liza Minnelli, Mackie says they took the outfits on tour. “They took those outfits and went off and on tour, so that’s actually an iconic sketch.” (Interview Magazine)
• Whitney Houston by Whitney Houston (1985). The profile includes Houston among performers whose stage and screen image Mackie helped shape. “He went on to help shape the stage and screen image of a Mount Rushmore of legendary divas: Carol Burnett, Diana Ross, Tina Turner, Whitney Houston, Diahann Carroll, and, perhaps most iconically, Cher.” (W Magazine)
• Mitzi Gaynor by Mitzi Gaynor. The profile identifies Mackie's outfits for Gaynor's Las Vegas revue. “Mackie worked for a time under the midcentury pioneer Jean Louis before breaking through on his own with the outfits for Mitzi Gaynor’s Las Vegas revue in 1966.” (W Magazine)
• Elton John by Elton John (1962). Mackie describes designing and sketching costumes for John. “Elton never gave me any hints of what he needed. He would just say, “Do me a costume.” And then I’d do ten sketches and he’d order them all.” (Interview Magazine)
• Diana Ross by Diana Ross (1944). Mackie and Ross collaborated over many years. “Mackie and Ross continued their collaborative efforts well into the 21st century, with Mackie designing stage costumes for Ross's 2010 More Today Than Yesterday: The Greatest Hits Tour .” (Wikipedia)
• The Temptations by The Temptations. The profile places the Temptations in a television special associated with Mackie's work for Ross and the Supremes. “They first collaborated on a television special featuring the Temptations and Ross’s group, the Supremes.” (W Magazine)
• Carol Burnett by Carol Burnett. Mackie designed costumes for Burnett’s show. “Mackie created all of the costumes, including evening gowns, character outfits and dance clothing for guests during the run of The Carol Burnett Show , including the famous curtain dress” (Wikipedia)
• Cher by Cher. Mackie recalls costuming Cher weekly while also working on Burnett's show. “It was such a panic to get Cher done every week. While I was doing that show, I was also doing The Carol Burnett Show in the next studio.” (Interview Magazine)
• Tina Turner by Tina Turner (1957). Mackie directly describes working with Turner, including on her last tour. “I loved working with Tina! I did her last tour, which was a few years ago.” (Interview Magazine)
• The Supremes by The Supremes (1959). Mackie designed costumes for the Supremes. “In 1969, Mackie was hired to design costumes for Diana Ross , the Supremes , and the Temptations in the television special G.I.T. on Broadway .” (Wikipedia)
• Madonna by Madonna (1958). The page’s notable-clients list also names Madonna, though it gives no detail about their work together. “Other outfits echoed his creations for television shows or specific clients like Cher.” (Wikipedia)
• Sabrina Carpenter by Sabrina Carpenter (1999). Mackie created ensembles for Carpenter. “He was the costume designer for The Carol Burnett Show (1967–78), and the creator of memorable ensembles for Cher , Tina Turner , Dolly Parton , Elton John , and Sabrina Carpenter .” (Wikipedia)
• Vanna White by Vanna White. White wore Mackie’s dresses on Wheel of Fortune. “In 2020, Mackie's dresses were featured and worn by television hostess Vanna White over the week of April 27 in the long-running syndicated game show Wheel of Fortune” (Wikipedia)
• Jean Louis. Mackie worked as a sketch artist for Jean Louis. (also via Gilda) “In Mackie's early career he worked as a sketch artist for French haute couturier Jean Louis , who is noted for having crafted stage gowns worn by actress Marlene Dietrich during her career as a cabaret singer.” (Wikipedia)
• Frank Thompson. Mackie sketched for Thompson at Paramount. “He left Chouinard early because he got his first job sketching for Frank Thompson at Paramount Studios.” (Wikipedia)
• Mattel. Mattel partnered with Mackie on Barbie outfits. “Mattel partnered with him to produce outfits for collectable Barbie dolls, and he introduced cultural diversity to their features and outfits to reflect the heritage of real-life women.” (Wikipedia)
• Farrah Fawcett. A caption identifies Mackie designs for Fawcett. “Bob Mackie designs for Cher and Farrah Fawcett on The Sonny & Cher Show (1976)” (Wikipedia)
• Dolly Parton (1946). Mackie created ensembles for Parton. “He was the costume designer for The Carol Burnett Show (1967–78), and the creator of memorable ensembles for Cher , Tina Turner , Dolly Parton , Elton John , and Sabrina Carpenter .” (Wikipedia)
• The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour by Cher (1971). The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour (Cher) — collaborator for Bob Mackie “He was the costume designer for The Carol Burnett Show (1967–78), and the creator of memorable ensembles for Cher, Tina Turner, Dolly Parton, Elton John, and Sabrina Carpenter.” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Tina Live in Europe by Tina Turner (1988). Tina Live in Europe (Tina Turner) — collaborator for Bob Mackie “He was the costume designer for The Carol Burnett Show (1967–78), and the creator of memorable ensembles for Cher, Tina Turner, Dolly Parton, Elton John, and Sabrina Carpenter.” (en.wikipedia.org)
• The Judy Garland Show by Ray Aghayan (1963). The Judy Garland Show (Ray Aghayan) — collaborator for Bob Mackie “Between 1960 and 1963, Mackie worked as a novice designer and assistant under designer Ray Aghayan at Paramount Studios.” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Bonnie and Clyde by Theadora Van Runkle (1967). Bonnie and Clyde (Theadora Van Runkle) — peer for Bob Mackie
• Dynasty by Nolan Miller (1981). Dynasty (Nolan Miller) — peer for Bob Mackie
• The Seven Year Itch by William Travilla (1955). The Seven Year Itch (William Travilla) — geography for Bob Mackie
• Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In by Michael Travis (1968). Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In (Michael Travis) — geography for Bob Mackie
• They Shoot Horses, Don't They? by Donfeld (1969). They Shoot Horses, Don't They? (Donfeld) — geography for Bob Mackie
• Halston (Battle of Versailles collection) by Halston (1973). Halston (Battle of Versailles collection) (Halston) — peer for Bob Mackie

Who Bob Mackie influenced

• RuPaul's Drag Race by Zaldy (2009). RuPaul's Drag Race (Zaldy) — legacy for Bob Mackie “He produces, hosts, and judges the reality competition series RuPaul's Drag Race and has received several accolades, including 14 Primetime Emmy Awards and a Tony Award, in addition to two Billboard Music Awards, a Critics' Choice Televi…” (en.wikipedia.org)
• Christian Siriano: Spring 2019 collection by Christian Siriano (2018). Christian Siriano: Spring 2019 collection (Christian Siriano) — legacy for Bob Mackie