Bob Mackie, maker of Cher's sheer dresses and stage clothes for the stars, dies at 87

Bob Mackie, the American designer who made beaded and feathered stage clothes for Cher, Diana Ross, Elton John and Madonna, died on Monday, 14 September 2026. He was 87. Reuters and the Associated Press both reported the death on the same day.

The death was announced in a post on the official Bob Mackie Instagram account. The post said he had passed away that day. WWD carried the statement on 14 September.

WWD reported that he died of pneumonia in hospital. That detail remains reported rather than confirmed in a medical filing. No further detail on place or funeral arrangements was given in the verified accounts.

Mackie was born in Monterey Park, California. Early in his career he worked as a sketch artist, preparing drawings that a workroom then turns into finished garments. In 1962 he sketched the tight, glittering gown Marilyn Monroe wore to sing “Happy Birthday Mr President” to President John F. Kennedy. The finished dress was credited to designer Jean Louis.

His work for Cher included one of the most widely pictured evening looks of the 1970s. For the Met Gala in 1974, he made her a sheer white dress trimmed with sequins and feathers. The Met Gala is the annual fundraising event for the Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. The dress is often called a naked dress, a term used for a sheer garment where beading and embroidery provide the coverage.

Mackie dressed Cher, Ross, John and Madonna in ornate, custom-made pieces. Ornate here means heavily decorated by hand. Custom-made means cut for one performer, rather than produced in standard sizes for shops. The methods included hand beading, sequins and feather work, all chosen to hold up under stage lights and cameras.

What stands out for people who sew is the labour inside the shine. Beading at that density is slow and counted work. Every line seen from the back row was stitched somewhere at a table.