- 7 weeks ago
From Marilyn Monroe’s shimmering birthday moment to Cher’s fearless red-carpet shockers, Bob Mackie turned sequins, feathers and sheer fabric into pop culture history. Join us as we celebrate the designer’s most unforgettable creations, including legendary looks worn by Diana Ross, Tina Turner, Elton John, Madonna and Miley Cyrus, plus the theatrical style that made him fashion royalty.
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00:00So there she was, and I said, okay, let's do it, and we did it, and of course she was
00:05in the paper the next day.
00:06The girl knows how to get her picture in the paper.
00:10Welcome to Ms. Mojo, and today we're honoring the memory of the Sultan of Sequins, counting
00:15down our picks for Bob Mackey's greatest fashion achievements.
00:18To all the queens around the world, don't let anyone or anything dim your sparkle.
00:27Number 10. Miley Cyrus' 2024 Grammy Awards dress.
00:43A vintage piece doesn't need to be brand new to steal the show.
00:47During her 2024 Grammy Awards performance of Flowers, Miley Cyrus wore a vintage silver
00:53and black beaded dress from Mackey's Fall 2002 to Broadway with Love collection.
01:08The sheer black silk chiffon was covered in rhinestones, sequins, and beads, with a plunging neckline,
01:15midriff cutout, and layers of swinging fringe that caught every move.
01:18Cyrus had specifically approached Mackey about borrowing from his archive, and he helped
01:23fit the dress around her choreography.
01:25Started to cry, then remembered, I just won my first Grammy!
01:33After the ceremony, where she won her first Grammy, Cyrus bought the dress at Julian's 2024
01:38auction, calling the performance a pivotal moment in her life.
01:42There's Miley's beaded dress.
01:43She's one of those girls, those amazing people that come out of the womb, ready to hit the stage.
01:50Number 9. Diana Ross' 1986 Bridal Gown.
01:54You cannot think of Diana Ross without thinking the most fabulous costumes of all time.
02:02Diana Ross usually went big on stage, but her 1986 wedding gown showed Mackey could turn down
02:07the volume without losing the drama.
02:09For Ross' February 1st wedding to Norwegian businessman Arne Ness Jr. in Romain Mottier, Switzerland,
02:15Mackey created a white satin gown with a restrained bodice, lace-trimmed sleeves, and an extravagant
02:20Baroque-style cape.
02:21The look reflected their long creative partnership, which included Mackey's costumes for Ross' television
02:27work and performances.
02:38The gown was especially striking because the cape supplied the theatrical flourish while
02:43the dress itself remained comparatively elegant and classic.
02:46It is a fascinating Mackey design precisely because the designer's maximalism appears in
02:51controlled doses, proving his signature was never simply about piling on sequins.
02:56Number 8. Madonna's 1991 Oscars Dress.
03:06For the 1991 Academy Awards, Madonna wanted the glamour of Marilyn Monroe, and Bob Mackey
03:13understood the assignment.
03:14He created a sparkling white gown covered in silver beads with a plunging neckline and figure-hugging
03:20silhouette inspired by Monroe's Hollywood image.
03:22Madonna turned heads when she stepped on the red carpet in her dress, with Michael Jackson
03:27as her date.
03:28She also wore it on stage while performing sooner or later from Dick Tracy.
03:32Mackey later recalled that Madonna's decision to bring Jackson meant the dress was, quote,
03:36printed everywhere.
03:38After the show and everything, did you and Michael go home together or what happened?
03:42Well, no, we went to Spago.
03:44Yeah.
03:44There was a big party.
03:45We stayed there for hours and hours and hours.
03:48And then, yes, he took me home.
03:53And now what do you want to know?
03:54What happened after that?
03:55Yeah.
03:56I'm not going to tell you.
03:57More than three decades later, the gown found another spotlight when Sabrina Carpenter, who
04:02would go on to collaborate with Madonna, wore it to the 2024 MTV Video Music Awards.
04:08And while Sabrina didn't opt for a matching white stole like the 80s pop star, she did pair
04:13the dress with stunning jewelry from De Beers, finishing the look with bombshell curls and a
04:19bright red lip.
04:20Number 7.
04:21Tina Turner's 1977 winged bodysuit.
04:24This is 1977.
04:25This is her famous disco Inferno look.
04:28And at this point, she is divorced from Ike.
04:30So really, this is her rising like, you know, a phoenix from the ashes of her marriage and
04:35really coming into her own.
04:37A pair of gold lame wings gave Tina Turner's 1977 stage wardrobe a super heroic upgrade.
04:44Mackie created the custom bodysuit from spandex with gold and silver chain fringe around the
04:48plunging neckline and skirt panels, rhinestones accenting the cutouts, and pleated gold lame
04:53wings attached at the back.
04:55Turner wore the costume during her 1977 Caesars Palace residency, as well as later television
05:01appearances.
05:02And its theatrical design amplified every movement she made.
05:05Can you imagine what this dress looked like moving?
05:08You have the fringe, you have the wings, you have the sparkle, the shine.
05:12You know, she understood what it meant to make a statement in motion.
05:15The image also took on added meaning as it apparently symbolized Turner's career, quote,
05:21taking flight after leaving Ike Turner.
05:23In 1995, RuPaul offered a playful nod to the look at the VH1 Fashion and Music Awards in
05:29another Bob Mackie piece.
05:31It's Bob Mackie, of course.
05:33And you know, he did all the glamorous costumes for the Carol Burnett show and the Cher show.
05:38So the first time I tried it on, I was like, if I could turn back on.
05:44Number 6.
05:45Elton John's 1975 bedazzled Dodgers uniform.
05:55Elton John turned Dodger Stadium into his own sparkly ballpark in October 1975.
06:01For his two concerts, Bob Mackie transformed the singer's traditional Los Angeles Dodgers uniform
06:06into a sequined spectacle, complete with a matching cap.
06:15More than 110,000 fans attended across October 25th and 26th, setting a record for a solo artist.
06:23The uniform reportedly cost around $2,000, a serious investment in sequins for a man not
06:28planning to play shortstop.
06:30Its brilliance suited the occasion.
06:32Elton was already synonymous with extravagant stage wear, and the baseball costume
06:36fused Los Angeles iconography with Mackie's love of theatrical excess.
06:40The result became one of the defining images of John's 1970s superstardom.
06:45I don't think I ever did anything without a hat.
06:48Well, there were a couple of times when he was having special, crazy, you know, wigs made,
06:54really outrageous wigs made, using them really like hats.
06:59Number 5.
07:00Tina Turner's 1978 flame costume.
07:02And this is the famous flame dress.
07:05Bob made this dress for her, and it became something that so many other performers, celebrities
07:11wanted to wear.
07:12Few Mackie creations traveled quite like the famous flame costume.
07:16In 1978, Cher was photographed wearing the original version of the body-hugging sequined
07:21design, whose flame-shaped embellishment created the illusion that fire was climbing up her body.
07:26Mackie later made an identical version for Tina Turner, who wore it for performances in 1978.
07:31This time with a feathered shawl designed to look like wings.
07:34This gave the costume a second superstar identity.
07:37Tina was one of those amazing creatures that loved being on stage.
07:42She loved performing.
07:44She just knew what to do.
07:46Linda Carter subsequently asked Mackie to recreate the look for a television special.
07:51And Beyoncé later wore that version while honoring Turner at the 2005 Kennedy Center Honors.
08:03Each preserved the same idea.
08:05Sequins, feathers, and a silhouette designed to move like whoever was wearing it was on fire.
08:11Number 4.
08:12Cher's controversial 1986 Oscars look.
08:15I came to Bob with an idea, and I said, I want to have a mohawk, and I want to
08:21do something that's not actually Indian,
08:25but I want it to be so over the top that it's next week.
08:30When she stepped on the red carpet at the 1986 Academy Awards, Cher was merely set to present a category.
08:36But she arrived looking like a glamorous warrior from another planet.
08:39Bob Mackie dressed her in black stretch pants, a bejeweled loincloth, knee-high boots, a black chain-link top,
08:45and a feathered headdress roughly one and a half times taller than her head.
08:49They keep talking about that constantly.
08:52Yeah, it was incredible.
08:53It just goes on and on and on.
08:55And she gets, you know, I always say she knew how to get her picture in the paper the next
08:59day.
08:59Yes, right.
09:00And this one's every year we see that outfit in the paper somewhere.
09:05Cher was presenting Best Supporting Actor after facing criticism that she was not being taken seriously as an actress.
09:11At the podium, she joked that she had received her Academy booklet on how to dress like a serious actress.
09:17The outfit became an instant Oscars landmark, turning fashion, celebrity politics, and a very large feathered mohawk into one unforgettable
09:25package.
09:25I had the idea mostly because the Academy didn't really like me, so I thought they hated the way I
09:32dressed,
09:32and I had young boyfriends, and they just thought I wasn't serious.
09:36So I came out and said, as you can see, I got my handbook on how to dress like a
09:40serious actress.
09:41Number 3. Carol Burnett's 1976 Went With The Wind Curtain Dress
09:46What brings you to terror?
09:50You, you vixen, you.
09:52Starlet, I love you.
09:53That gown is gorgeous.
09:57I saw it in the window, and I just couldn't resist it.
10:00Over the course of The Carol Burnett Show, Mackie produced more than 17,000 designs,
10:06a staggering creative output spanning the series' run through the late 1960s and 70s.
10:11Yet one costume towers above everything else.
10:14I called the art director and said, can you get me a curtain rod and some of that velvet?
10:18I want the real curtain rod like you're going to use.
10:21And I just made it on a mannequin.
10:24And I didn't even put it on her, really, until the day of the show.
10:29For the Went With The Wind sketch, a parody of Gone With The Wind,
10:33Burnett played Scarlett O'Hara wearing a gown fashioned from actual curtains,
10:37complete with a brass curtain rod still threaded through the shoulders
10:40and a hat constructed from a valance.
10:42Uh, sissy, show the minister the door.
10:44Shoot, for $300, I show many thin he wants.
10:47Come on.
10:56The physical comedy was instant.
10:59Audiences laughed before Burnett said a single word.
11:03The look is now housed in the Smithsonian Institution
11:06and continues to be referenced by other designers even decades later.
11:09I am wearing a Carol Burnett-inspired piece from her iconic Gone With The Wind sketch.
11:17I am feeling so comedic, so silly, and I'm just feeling great in these drapes.
11:22Number 2.
11:23Cher's 1974 Met Gala dress.
11:26And there I am at the Met Ball with me, Bob Mackey, and my best friend, Paulette.
11:31This guy came up to me, I don't know if he was a photographer, I don't remember what he was,
11:34and he said, how do you feel being naked?
11:36And I said, I feel just fine.
11:38Before the naked dress became a red carpet staple,
11:40Cher wore Bob Mackey's radically sheer version to the 1974 Met Gala.
11:45The nude-colored see-through gown was covered with shimmering beads and crystals,
11:49while long sleeves and dramatic feathered hem supplied theatrical camouflage.
11:53Cher arrived with Mackey himself,
11:55and the look shocked guests unused to seeing so much skin at a formal fashion event.
12:00Bob sprayed it with like a little hand sprayer, and it just sticks to your skin,
12:04so it looks like you just, your skin's beaded.
12:08So I think people were a little taken back.
12:11Richard Avedon later photographed Cher in Mackey's designs for Vogue,
12:15helping turn the image into a lasting fashion reference.
12:18Decades later, the dress remained so influential that Cher's 2026 Met Gala look deliberately nodded to it.
12:24Who's my brother?
12:26Hey!
12:27Can we need a little back from the space?
12:28Yes, Chuck.
12:29I know it's a little kid.
12:31To the right, please!
12:32Mackey essentially wrote the blueprint that countless designers and celebrities
12:36would spend the following five decades attempting to replicate.
12:39You've now dressed her for decades.
12:41I mean, what do you love most about working with her?
12:44I was on a date that night.
12:47Number one, Marilyn Monroe's Happy Birthday Mr. President gown.
12:51The legend of Bob Mackey began with this single dress.
12:55When they say, it's so beautiful, it stands the test of time.
13:00Where does that instinct to know, what timeless beauty, where does that come from, Bob?
13:04Well, it was perfect on Marilyn.
13:07In 1962, 21-year-old Mackey was an assistant to Jean-Louis
13:11when he was asked to sketch a dress for Marilyn Monroe.
13:14Mackey did not know it was for the birthday performance.
13:17Jean-Louis only said it was for Marilyn.
13:19And I did the sketch, and he didn't, and I said,
13:22what is this for?
13:23What is she wearing it for?
13:24He says, I can't tell you.
13:26He wouldn't tell me.
13:28The finished gown was nude-colored and sheer,
13:30covered in rhinestones to make Monroe appear to shimmer in almost nothing.
13:34On May 19th, she wore it at Madison Square Garden
13:38singing Happy Birthday to President John F. Kennedy at a fundraiser.
13:42Happy Birthday!
13:45Mr. President,
13:48Happy Birthday to you!
13:54Mackey later told People magazine that he only realized what he had sketched
13:58after seeing it later in the newspaper.
14:00That simple sketch became major history.
14:03Turns out, after she died, her niece took it home and kept it as a, like a souvenir or whatever,
14:14you know, something she liked to have.
14:16And they sold it for a lot of money.
14:17And they killed it for a lot of money.
14:26Yes, yes.
14:27After Pool to страх, she killed her sister after all.
14:27Life Factory!