Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/1154384
Summer 2019 The Costume Designer 35 costumes in an hour-long program, the costumes became one of the stars of the show. Long before the Kardashians, Mackie revived the nude dress. Early in his career, he penned the sketch of Jean Louis' nearly naked "Happy Birthday Mr. President" gown for Marilyn. Jean Louis had a history with the genre, having culled versions for Marlene Dietrich from featherweight silk soufflé. Mackie thought to himself, "Someday, I am going to do my own version." While his first nude dress was a swinging fringed number for Mitzi Gaynor, when Cher wore his beaded net gown with feathered bell sleeves and hem to the Met Gala with Mackie at her side, fashion and most of the world could talk of nothing else. She wore the same piece on the famed 1975 Time cover and it was banned in several cities and the magazine sold out immediately. But Mackie never sought to shock. His dresses were about flawless craftsmanship and the illusion of perfection. In the current state of anything-goes attire, it is almost impossible to appreciate the audacity and boldness Mackie displayed. The aftershocks have lasted decades and informed a fleet of young designers. It is not surprising the Metropolitan Museum included one of Mackie's trademark gowns in its show, Camp: Notes on Fashion. Despite many forays into commercial clothing—some like QVC have been a blazing commercial success—the fashion world which lauds and celebrates him today wasn't always so kind. But Mackie has always considered himself foremost a Costume Designer. "In my heart, I want to get an emotion from the audience who's watching. I want to enhance that star, make her more of whatever she is, make the moment even better." The impact of Mackie's work is hard to quantify. It is rather like a meteorite which completely reshaped the landscape. He has created thousands of costumes for Cher alone. It is not surprising as a brand, Mackie represented a strong, iconoclastic woman decades before it was in vogue. He has clothed everyone from Diana Ross to Barbie, Elton John to Madonna and Liza Minnelli to Pink in his distinc- tive style. Along the way, he also became synonymous with glamour. "It's charisma, it's beauty, but it doesn't just have to be beautiful. It stands for something exciting. When you see someone who has real glamour, it just makes you tingle. You get famous for what you do a lot of, and glamour is what I got stuck in," he laughs. "It kept me from getting jobs I would have loved to have done, but it's a wonderful thing."