Cher and Bob Mackie on Over 60 Years of Iconic Looks
For the past six decades, Cher has been living in our collective minds rent-free. Now she'll be living in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame too, as one of the museum's 2024 inductees. (Their annual induction ceremony will stream live on Disney+ on October 19.) To celebrate, the Rock Hall in Cleveland, Ohio has opened an exhibit of what they call musical "artifacts" from the careers of the legendary musicians they'll be honoring, including a dress Dionne Warwick wore to host the Solid Gold variety show in 1980 and the outfit Peter Frampton wore on the cover of his 1976 live album Frampton Comes Alive!
Among them will be three iconic looks from Cher's career: the costume she wore in the 1990 movie Mermaids, designed by Patty Spinale and Gail Baldoni of the Boston Ballet Company; a red fringed nude illusion dress, and a purple Sonny and Cher-inspired '60s-style ensemble—both Bob Mackie originals she wore during her Living Proof: The Farewell Tour, which spanned from 2002-2005. (Even though, 20-odd years later, she's thankfully not going anywhere. In fact, she wore the purple number on stage again during her Here We Go Again Tour from 2018-2020.)
Courtesy Rock & Roll Hall of Fame
Mackie’s sketch for the red fringe "Nude Illusion Dress" Cher wore during her Living Proof: The Farewell Tour.
Mackie’s sketch for the ’60s-inspired look Cher wore while singing a Sonny and Cher medley during her Living Proof and Here We Go Again tours.
To mark the opening of the exhibit, Cher and Mackie gave Harper's Bazaar an exclusive look into the outfits on display, the sketches behind them, and a few choice life lessons from their time making fashion history together.
"When I look at his sketches and costumes throughout the course of my career," says Cher, "I am reminded again and again that there is simply no end to the talent and influence Bob Mackie has had on me. I’m so thankful that we found each other when we did." The feeling, says Mackie, is mutual. "As a designer whose main job was to dress the most amazingly put-together lady, someone as gorgeous as our girl Cher—it was a job from heaven!"
Cher in the 1990 movie Mermaids.
Close-up of Cher’s costume from Mermaids, designed by Patty Spinale and Gail Baldoni of the Boston Ballet Company.
The longtime collaborators met in 1960 on the set of The Carol Burnett Show, and quickly discovered they were made for each other—Cher's fearlessness was a perfect compliment to Mackie's adventurous approach to design. "We never thought about her outfits as fashion, but a way to perfectly portray famous characters from history," says Mackie. "Queen Elizabeth the First, or maybe the snake from the Garden of Eden, or why not Olive Oil, Popeye's best gal? There was no end to what characters [Cher] could or would play!"
Ron Galella / Getty Images
When asked to reflect on one the most memorable looks the two created together, both highlight the infamous "naked dress" that Mackie calls the "Nude Illusion Gown." Cher arrived to the 1974 Met Gala on Mackie's arm wearing the sheer, sequined, and be-feathered ensemble. It was instantly iconic. It made such a splash that she later wore it on the cover of TIME magazine in a photo taken by Richard Avedon. "Many towns in the United States banned this 'shocking' issue from the newsstands," recalls Mackie. "They're still quite collectible!"
The outsized reaction to the dress taught Cher a lesson that she says was one of the most enduring of her partnership with Mackie: “It doesn't matter what anyone else thinks," she says before reflecting on an interaction she had at that Met Gala 40 years ago. "A man came up to me and said in a very rude, dismissive way, 'How does it feel to be naked?' And I said, 'It feels great.'"
