Born On This Day- March 24th... Bob Mackie

Robert Gordon Mackie is a costume designer best known for his outrageous costumes for Chercunningly constructed from little more than net, feathers & sequins.


As a young boy growing up in Southern California, Mackie submerged himself in Hollywood glamour by seeing & studying the movies. After design school, & noted for his craftsmanship, Mackie was in great demand as an assistant to many of the industry’s top designers, including Edith Head. Starting in the mid-1960s, Mackie was designing costumes for many of the top TV variety specials, featuring such stars: Fred Astaire, Mitzi Gaynor, Dinah Shore & Diana Ross & the Supremes. He has dressed: Judy Garland, Marlene Dietrich, Madonna, Barbra Streisand, Lucille Ball, Bette Midler, Tina Turner, Ann Margret, Stephen Rutledge, Liza Minnelli, Elton John, RuPaul, Eva Longoria Parker, Katy Perry, Pink & Barbie.


Mackie has been honored with 31 Emmy nominations & 9 Emmy Awards. In 2002, he was inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame.  Mackie is the only costume designer in the Hall of Fame.

Mackie designed the memorable gown worn by Cherat the 1986 Academy Awards (the last really good year for the broadcast). Introduced by Jane Fonda: “Wait until you see what's gonna come out here”, Cher appeared as a presenter after an Oscar snub, not being nominated for her performance in Mask.  Cher: “As you can see, I did receive my Academy booklet on how to dress like a serious actress.”


In 1967, after seeing Mitzi Gaynor in her Mackie designed Vegas show, producer Joe Hamilton immediately hired Mackie to design all of the costumes for the new Carol Burnett Show.  Mackie worked on the show for its 11 year run, including the Went With The Wind Starlet O’Hara green curtain dress with rod included.  “I saw it in the window & couldn’t resist!”  Burnett: “The key to Bob’s success is that he has a producer’s mind. He doesn’t think of his department alone. He looks at every show as a whole. His true genius lies in his zeal for detail & his sense of humor.”  The Smithsonian honored Mackie by displaying the Went with the Wind dress as part of the American History Museum’s Kennedy Center Honors Collection.

Mackie’s impressive television career has been recognized over the years as he has amassed 31 Emmy Award nominations and nine Emmy Awards.  The crowning achievement thus far, however, is his 2002 induction into the Television Academy Hall of Fame.  Mackie is the only costume designer in the Hall of Fame, which is a remarkable accomplishment.

His designs for film received Oscar nominations for Lady Sings the Blues, Funny Lady & Pennies from Heaven.


In 1999, the Bob Mackie Retrospective at The Museum at The Fashion Institute of Technology in NYC, ran for 3 months. The exhibition included more than 125 of Mackie’s spectacular creations, as well as sketches, photographs, videos & ephemera chronicling his extraordinary career including a complete display of Mackie’s collectible Barbie doll series. Coinciding with the Retrospective, a lavishly illustrated book, Unmistakably Mackie, written by gay journalist- Frank De Caro, was released.


In November 2005, 150 lots from Mackie’s personal archives, sketches, costumes & couture clothing, were auctioned at Christie’s, with the auction’s proceeds donated to the Elton John Aids Foundation.


In 1960, Mackie married singer LuLu Porter. They had a son, Robert “Robin” Gordon Mackie Jr. in 1961. The couple divorced in 1963. Robin Mackie, a makeup artist, died in 1994 of HIV-related illness. This past November, Mackie’s longtime partner- Ray Aghayan, who designed costumes for Judy Garland, Barbra Streisand, & Diana Ross, died at age 83. Mackie turns 72 years old today. That is 50 in designer years.