[gentle music playing]
[indistinct chatter]
[crowd cheering]
[gentle music continues]
[man] You are truly a force,
and an incredibly charming one
at that.
[applause]
He knows exactly
how to dazzle and entertain.
[applause]
[Mackie] At the time,
I was just doing my job.
I wasn't thinking about
anything but filling the order,
doing what was required of me.
I never once thought about
the legacy of the future,
just the present.
Thank you all.
[applause]
[camera shutters clicking]
[applause]
[woman] So, Bob,
you design all these
gorgeous gowns and sketches
for characters, costumes.
So, what were you
like as a little boy?
-Were you, like, fantasizing?
-I was the strangest child
you've ever met.
[laughter]
I just-- I never played
with the other kids.
I just stayed in my bedroom
and drew pictures of stars.
-[woman] You mean people?
-People, yeah.
Yeah. And little stage sets
on my dresser drawers.
And I turned off the lights...
[gentle music playing]
[Mackie] Did you see pineapples
when you were in Hawaii?
-[girl] No.
-[Mackie] You must've.
Well, this isn't going
to be a very good owl.
I can tell.
I'll have to do my best.
Here you go.
[Mackie] Okay, I'm going to put
a little bow in her hair,
because it's more like a hat
when there's a bow in it.
And that's kind of
holding them all together.
Okay, now I'm doing
another one there.
See, when you're
a costume designer,
you have to think
of how it's going to be--
How it sticks to their head
and works.
Do you ever make hats
out of paper sometimes?
Crowns and hats? It's fun to do.
There she goes.
-How's that?
-[girl] It is so fun.
-It's fun, huh?
-Mm-hm.
Yeah.
[gentle music resumes]
[director]
Well, they gave me that
when I was there.
This is like-- Because
I've been getting awards,
they decided to give me an award
for Most Creative Grandpa.
Well, the other one was
an award for Best Drawer,
by Kira, the little one.
Well, that's all I did,
so I was usually better
than anybody else in my class.
But I wasn't that great.
I was-- You know,
when you're 6 years old...
[director] But how'd
you learn it?
You just draw every day,
because that's all
you wanted to do.
I didn't want to play, you know,
baseball or anything.
That was too boring.
And then at school, everybody--
You know, a lot of kids
had brothers and played baseball
and football and all that stuff.
And boy, did I hate that.
You know, I just didn't like it.
I didn't know how to do it.
And I couldn't hit the damn ball
with that bat, you know.
And then they'd always
put me as far out
in the field as possible.
And then if a ball did come,
I was usually daydreaming
about something.
Oh, just anything pretty.
I don't know.
[rock music playing]
If I could turn back time
If I could find a way
[cheering and applause]
[intense music playing]
[dance music playing]
[man] Well, when I got famous
about 27 years ago,
I wanted to check off my list
of people I needed to contact.
And at the top of that list
was Bob Mackie.
All rise for Bob Mackie.
[cheering and applause]
You know, all the real stars,
all the biggest stars,
wore Bob Mackie.
[reverential music playing]
[cheering]
It was because it actually made
them look like the superstar
that they were.
Have you ever fed a lover
With just your hands?
[cheering]
Close your eyes and trust it
Just trust it
Have you ever thrown
A fistful of glitter
In the air
Have you ever looked fear
In the face and said
I just don't care
[Pink] When you're going to meet
Bob Mackie for the first time
and you think about all these
drawings and years and years
and years of Hollywood creation,
you think that you're going to
be in the room
with this fabulous,
arrogant queen.
And he's just the nicest,
most soft spoken...
I call it quiet power,
because people that are still
trying to find their power
and exercise their power
are usually loud
and boisterous and passionate.
But someone like that
that's been around for so long,
he's just like, "No,
that's not going to work.
Let's try something else." Or,
"No, that could be nice."
We do argue a lot.
We don't always see eye to eye,
but at the end of the day,
what he puts me in
makes me feel really good.
It's only half past
The point of oblivion
The hourglass on the table
The walk before the run
The breath before the kiss
And the fear
Before the flames
Have you ever
Felt this way and...
[applause]
[Pink] The process
with Bob and Joe,
you know, you go to
this fantastic old building
and there's all
these old costumes,
and they're all over the wall,
and there's fabric everywhere.
And they start by getting you
completely naked,
And they take every
measurement of every body part.
It's fun. We laugh.
I've been known to cry.
You have to stand up
on this mini stage
with a spotlight on you
because he wants to know
exactly how it's going to look.
Have you ever
Wished for an endless night
Lassoed the moon
And the stars
And pulled that rope tight
Have you ever held your breath
And asked yourself
Will it ever get...
[Pink] If you look at just
the "Glitter in the Air" outfit
that he made for me...
I mean, who in their right mind
would want to design bandages
for someone to wear,
and think that they could
make that look
graceful and beautiful?
But it is one of the most,
I think, iconic outfits,
if not the most iconic outfit
of my career,
that glitter outfit.
[cheering and applause]
It's very rare that
fashion designers
are designing specifically
for a performer.
Right? People design collections
for runway or for the consumer.
And when you're working
on performance clothing,
it's about
a very specific thing.
It's about real character study.
It's about understanding
what that person's
fantasies are,
what they want to project
and who they want to be
in the future,
and what do they need to achieve
in that moment.
It seems just all
fabulous in the end,
but you're really
trying to pick up
on somebody's essence.
You know, that invisible thing
that's going to come out
and create that connection
of magic
with an audience, and make
millions of people dream.
[man] Somebody told me this
years ago,
that every superhero
has a costume.
And clothes help you become
whatever superhero
you want to be.
And it's not that you're hiding
inside of the clothes, or...
But there is a certain
confidence,
and there is a certain thing
that happens when you
put the right girl
in the right dress.
So the whole business
of dressing a celebrity
is more cerebral
and more psychological
than anything else.
[cheering and applause]
We were good
We were gold
Kind of dream
That can't be sold
Ooh, we were right
Till we weren't
Built a home
Then watched it burn
One of the best parts of wearing
Bob Mackie on stage
is that sometimes
the audience is just as excited
to see a Bob Mackie in person
as they are to see you.
Oh, I can buy myself flowers
Write my name in the sand
Why are you acting
like you don't know this song?
Stay up for hours
See things
You don't understand
[Cyrus] I mean,
it really looked like
I was giving it all I got,
but I wasn't really doing
anything but minding my business
and singing the damn song,
because Bob and his dress
was really doing all the work.
-You can
-Can love me better
I can love me better, baby
Can love me better
I think a little wind doesn't
hurt, right, Bob? A little wind.
The fabric, the beads,
picking up that beachy breeze,
down at the old crypto center.
[music tempo increases]
Can love me better
Can love me better
I can love me better baby
-Can love me better
-I can love me, can love me
Can love me better
I can love me better baby
-Can love me better
-I can love me, can love me
Can love me better
I can love me better, baby
Can love me better
I can love me better
I can love me better
Than you can
[cheering and applause]
[slow string music playing]
[indistinct chatter]
[siren wails]
[director] Actually, let me get
a shot of these cops.
It looks like you're getting
a police escort.
[laughter]
-[Mackie] God.
-[director] Wow,
this guy's important.
[director] So your date for this
evening is Janelle, right?
-[woman] No, Joe.
-[McFate] Mr. Joe.
-I'm working.
-[McFate] She's working.
Are you kidding? I got in,
got in by just the last second,
by a hair.
-Yeah, I'm the date.
-[director] You're the date.
I'm the hard-working
woman tonight
-Yes--
-Well, that sounded weird.
No, I have no date.
These are my people.
[director] Oh, wow.
Entourage.
[director] So Cher told us
about the first Met Gala
that she attended.
Yeah? What did she say?
Well, she was telling us
a little about the evening.
It was fun and smaller
at that time.
She had a really good time.
[piano music playing]
[Cher] That was the most
amazing night.
It just was the most
amazing night ever.
I didn't know what I was
going to wear to this party
because it was the first party.
And Bob was saying, "What do
you think you want to wear?"
And I knew.
I knew what I wanted to wear.
There was only one
thing I wanted to wear,
and it was the dress.
And what it was
was that it was nude.
And it was almost like a--
It was a kind of gauze fabric.
And the exhibition--
It was actually
the Hollywood exhibition.
It was Diana Vreeland's
Hollywood Exhibition
of Time and Glamour.
And of course, we were sitting
with Diana Vreeland's table,
And we had movies,
old movie stars,
and all these amazing people.
And it was just so much fun.
The Met Ball used to be
catered by Glorious Food.
And I was a waiter
for Glorious Food that night.
I was entranced
by a great silent film star
who most people
are too young to remember
named Lillian Gish, who was
one of the great actresses
of the early film days.
And Lillian Gish
was sitting by herself,
and she was lit
by one candle on the table.
It was like a silent movie put
into color and brought to life.
She was riveting.
And just at that moment,
Cher walked in with Bob Mackie.
And at that point,
Lillian Gish looked up
and she went,
"Oh, my. Look at her."
And I did,
and so did everybody else
in the room.
[Cher] It's not like I think,
"Oh, I walk in here,
I'm going to be
the most beautiful woman."
But I'm going to walk in
and I'm going to be me,
and whatever that is
at the moment,
I don't care what people
think, truthfully.
And this guy came up to me
and said,
how does it feel
to be at this party naked?
And I went, "I don't know.
It feels okay."
I mean, it was, like,
such a stupid question.
My mom was pretty amazing.
My mom was beautiful,
had a great body.
She could-- She kicked a*s.
And she was a model.
And so I learned a lot
about carrying myself
when I wore a dress.
And carrying myself
kind of made me think,
"I don't give a f*ck
what any of you guys think."
You know?
You're like, "I'm going to do
what I want to do
because it's me,
and if you like me--"
Oh, I've had plenty of times
in my life where people thought,
you know, "You're out of here."
I mean, constantly.
"You won't be here another day."
"You won't be here
another decade."
"You won't be here
another minute."
[director over computer]
I'm still here.
That's my reaction.
It's like, I'll be here
when you might be gone.
[director]
She was indeed.
It's a beautiful all--
Shiny black floor
and all these men in tuxedos,
and Mitzi in a nude dress.
[announcer]
[cheering and applause]
Oh, my gosh, that dress.
Well, the let-go dress.
It's about
half an inch of souffle,
and the rest is Mitzi.
Right now, but right now
-Hold back
-Be practical, Jack and
Hold back
You feel like
You're busting inside
Your heart's
In a desperate divide
Hold back, hold back
Hold back, hold back
[Gaynor] Bob liked my figure.
And he said he wanted
to show my figure off.
So he wanted to do something,
a nude dress.
So I said, "Oh, Bob,
I can't wear that."
He said, "Sure you can."
So he did some tights,
you know, some stockings
with hooks on them...
and a little tiny...
I'm trying to show you, girls.
It's like a...
What can I say, it's like a...
camisole.
But it's just sheer, you know,
with the thread down the center
to show where it joins,
and hooks and eyes.
And that's underneath,
and that's it.
Now, the dress is chiffon...
but not the kind of chiffon
that we all know.
It's more called souffle,
which is the finest chiffon
you can find.
It's real silk.
And that's beads.
My neck is covered to here,
long sleeves, long to the floor,
and that's it, nude colored.
And I think we can
show that dress.
Can't we show that dress?
[director]
Let go, let the moon know
You're alive
Let the world know
You believe
Let the world know
How you love to give
Don't tell it in the city
Go tell it on the mountain
Go tell them all
Until they hear
[Rubenstein]
And she-- Like, quote,
"you thought she was naked,"
but honestly,
she exposed nothing.
But it was the combination
of her height, of her movement
that, yes, the way the beads--
It's brilliant construction.
It's unbelievable.
But it was also the...
It was the confidence.
People always talk about
how style is really confidence.
It was the confidence
that Cher had
when she wore it,
when she wore these clothes.
And I think also, the confidence
that Bob instilled in her.
And she basically upstaged
everybody else in the room.
Nobody remembers anything else.
And of course, and then
it wound up on the cover
of Time magazine.
[director]
That must have been
quite a moment for you
because that was the "it"
publication in the 1970s.
And it still kind of is.
But that must have
really impacted you.
It did, but I think a lot of it
had to do with the dress.
And in some of the
Southern states,
they just took the cover off.
And it was almost head to toe.
You could see everything,
and a little bit of her
in there too, you know,
quite a bit of her.
And people were, like, shocked.
But you couldn't see anything.
You just thought you could.
That's the way my dresses are.
You never really
can see anything.
-[McFate] Who's in the elevator?
-You just think you can.
[McFate] Show Bob.
-[director] It's an illusion?
-Illusion. It is an illusion.
-That's the secret, then.
-That's what they call it.
The moment of time
that you grow up,
the moment of time that you see
the first woman
that just moves you,
and you think, "Oh, my God,
she's breathtakingly beautiful,"
I think those things
stay with you.
And I think they ultimately
form a sense of taste and style
that remains with you
your entire life.
Your core sensibilities,
I believe, are really formed,
not necessarily in childhood,
but let's say
early adolescence, adolescence.
And the interesting thing is,
my tastes
were formed in the '70s.
And the clothes of Bob Mackie
were very much
part of what I absorbed
as visual beauty.
[dramatic music playing]
And, come on,
let's face it. Cher.
I mean, what better body
to put clothes on,
or to put very few clothes on
than that gorgeous creature?
Let me entertain you
What are my real measurements?
[laughter]
Well...
[laughter and applause]
Hold on just a second. Bob?
Let me do
[man] I think Bob
and Cher are family.
Maybe they're not connected
by DNA officially,
but they're connected.
They're both shy.
Isn't that interesting?
They're both shy.
And both of them
have this talent
to express themselves in a way
that's larger than life.
And Bob realized, hey, you know,
this is an opportunity
to create a character.
And Cher really became
a character under his guidance,
and developed all these
wild and crazy looks
that more or less
helped make her into a star.
[Mackie] And great charisma.
You know, people just
are fascinated with her.
This many years later,
50 years later,
people are filling up stadiums
to see
what she's going to look like.
[McFate] She inhabits
those clothes like
a comfortable pair of jeans.
She doesn't think all this
crazy stuff is that outrageous.
But she wears it with a casual
flair that nobody else can.
[applause]
Let me sing you some songs
Some rock and roll
music songs
That you ain't ever heard
And if you're real good
I'll make you feel good
I want your spirits to climb
So let me entertain you
And we'll have
A real good time
Oh, yeah
We'll have
We'll have a real good time
Oh, yeah
We'll have a real good time
[applause]
Can I hear a little commotion
for the dress? Hm?
A little bit?
[applause]
Thank you.
Now let's hear it
for the back of the dress.
[cheering and applause]
Anyway, my name is Cher.
That's, like, to me, the perfect
collaboration, Cher and Bob.
As a matter of fact,
we used to tape
right next door
to
And on any given night,
if Cher was doing
her big number,
we'd all have to go see
what Cher was wearing.
So you literally would run
through the ladies room
because that connected
the two--
Because they'd close
those big stage doors.
So the quickest way to get there
was through the toilet.
So you'd run through the ladies'
room, run on to Cher's stage
to see what she was wearing.
And it was always
something incredible.
It's this kind of cosmic
type of emotional thing
that's really bigger
than just the clothes.
Almost all of those clothes
can be worn in some way
by someone tomorrow,
and still be great,
and still get a lot of attention
and still tell a story.
[man] When you talk about
her life, she interjects a lot.
And all of her
stories involve Bob
because they created looks
for each moment together.
But she said her life really
changed when Bob came into it.
And they had this collaboration,
this shorthand,
where they could
both plan to shock
and titillate audiences in a
way that nobody had before.
Certainly on network television,
they were scandalous.
And they loved it.
You know,
they pushed each other.
And there's a great line
in the show
where the censor is complaining
about her belly button,
or under-boob.
The censor's complaining
that under-boob is showing.
He said, "Well, maybe if we just
stand her on her head,
it'll be cleavage."
And we took the line.
It's Bob's real line,
and it's in the show.
And I think that was
kind of the fun for them,
the two of them
against the world.
[dramatic music playing]
You gotta be ready to be noticed
if you're wearing Bob Mackie.
[director]
Ready to be noticed.
[both laughing]
Yeah.
[Posen] I've known Bob
and Bob's work my whole life.
I mean, I'll never forget that
moment, probably, what, 1986?
And it was such
a climactic moment,
just in media
and in the world, right?
Everything was excessive
and bejeweled.
I mean, we're living kind of
in that moment of excess.
But here was something
that was shocking.
And it was in that moment
of excess,
but it was still beautiful.
[applause]
In fact, I think Jane Fonda
was the one who introduced her.
And she says, wait till you see
what she has coming out in.
To present the Oscar
for Supporting Actor
is one of the most
glamorous people
in this or any other business,
and you better believe it.
Wait till you see
what's gonna come out here.
She herself
was a Best Supporting Actress
nominee for her role
in
won acclaim
for her work in
Ladies and gentlemen,
in a word, Cher.
[director]
Well, I was in town,
and I don't know
if she was here doing a film
or she was here
just hanging out with Tom Cruise
in his apartment.
I just went over and she said,
I'm going to be
presenting an Oscar.
Wasn't she mad about something?
Well, she was--
Yeah, she was pissed off.
[Cher] Because I didn't get
nominated for a movie
that everyone thought
I would actually win,
but I didn't get nominated,
and they thought
I wasn't serious.
I didn't dress
like a serious actress,
and I had--
My boyfriends were strange.
So I decided--
I had this idea in my mind.
Well, she said,
"I'm giving out this award,
and they haven't seen me
look like I used to look."
Because she'd been
making movies.
She was in these movies
where she was playing kind of
down-and-dirty characters,
you know.
-[director] Silkwood, right?
-Silkwood.
And, you know,
she wasn't glamorous.
And they hadn't seen her
all dressed up.
And for her to get dressed up,
it didn't mean putting on
a pretty dress.
It meant putting on, you know,
a good outfit. [laughs]
And I had my sketch pad,
and I started drawing.
I'd just draw a little bit
because I knew I probably
wouldn't see her again
for a month or so,
so I had to get it all moving.
[Cher] Sometimes I'd say,
"I have this idea."
And I think I just started
with the big feathers.
And I said, "I just want the--"
He said, "You don't have to
say anything else.
We have real shorthand
with each other too.
I said, "Well, should she
have a loin cloth?"
"Oh, yeah, I want a loin cloth."
Well, you think, "Oh..."
Well, maybe you could have
these black tights with boots.
And she,
"Oh, yeah, that's cool."
You know, before you know it,
she had the big wrap
and the big Mohawk headdress.
[director]
So there's a lot of mystique
around the creation of these,
and no one really knows,
the chicken or the egg.
Are you giving him the ideas?
No, no, no. Not usually.
Not usually.
Only for a couple.
Only for a couple.
That one I just had--
It came to me.
You know what I mean?
It just kind of came to me.
You know, and I thought,
"Are you sure you wanna
dress like this for the Oscars?"
[upbeat music playing]
[Mackie] That girl, she knows.
She knows how to get
her picture in the paper.
[Cher] It's so exciting,
and it's so much fun.
Like, you see the design
on paper
and you know what you're
going to be able to do in it.
And I was coming around,
and Jane Fonda
was coming around,
and she looked at me
and she said,
"Cher, please wait till I get to
my seat before you come out.
Just, please," she said.
"I can't wait.
I want to see
everybody's reaction."
[applause]
Thank you. Thank you.
And I walked out and I said--
As you can see,
I did receive my Academy booklet
on how to dress
like a serious actress.
[audience laughing]
And it was kind of my,
you know--
My you-know-what moment.
[director]
What does that mean,
the you-know-what moment?
My "f*ck you" moment
to the Academy.
Because it was like, you know,
all you have to judge me on
is my work, not my life.
Who cares about a beautiful
dress sometimes at the Oscars?
Sometimes you want more.
You want something that's
gonna stand the test of time
and that people
are still gonna really see
when we're all dead and gone.
It's like, that Cher thing
is still gonna be there,
and it's still
gonna be f*cking crazy.
And I think that's really great.
A collaboration is way more
interesting and exciting
than a one-off gig.
You learn from mistakes
and you fail in order to do
really amazing things.
So when you're doing
great costumes,
that's usually from knowing
the person well,
and knowing
what you can get away with.
How something's going to look
on stage, how someone moves,
how their body reacts to fabric,
and to cut, and how
they can handle themselves.
[Mackie] When she first
appeared at the Oscars
in her big Mohawk thing
with her bare midriff,
giving an award to Don Ameche,
people were horrified.
"Why, that's not fashion."
They were just--
They were just horrified.
And now, every year they say,
"Why can't it be like the old
days when Cher came to the--"
You know.
The same thing
just goes on and on and on.
[director] But as
the man behind that...
-What?
-You're the man behind that.
No, but I tell you, I'm
more conservative than that.
But she wanted
to make a big splash
because nobody had seen her
dress like that for a long time.
[woman] I mean, Bob
invented the red carpet
as far as I'm concerned.
All the very sheer
clothes that Cher wore,
and others, which years later
many of the designers
were doing on Jennifer Lopez
and Beyonc.
I mean, Bob was doing that
before anybody,
strategically placing
some sequins and beads
in all the right places.
He made women look so beyond
extraordinary and sexy,
and it was never--
I don't think it was ever tacky.
It was just right
for the occasion.
[Cher] I met him when I was 19,
so I had on
what I considered fashion.
Sonny and I
wore our fashion, right?
But I did not
understand anything
about the world of fashion.
You know, Bob did costumes,
and fashion people looked down
on him for some reason.
This is my theory of it.
He showed different parts,
but it was great fashion.
It wasn't that everything
wasn't beautifully designed.
It was just,
you were seeing things
that you hadn't seen before.
I mean, no one had ever
seen a belly button on TV.
But I think we got away with it
because Sonny and I
were married.
I mean, they weren't
going for it in the beginning,
but we just kept pushing.
And when they did research
and saw how important
the clothes were,
then they backed off,
and then they were, "Okay,
spend whatever you want."
I don't know who woke up
one day and said,
"I'm the king of saying
that costuming isn't art,"
because it is.
[woman] So when he got that CFDA
award, I was so happy for him
because he finally got the nod
from them, realizing,
"Of course, we've been stealing
from you for years."
But back when he started,
it was still a more sedate
fashion world,
and a little too serious.
And now it's not
that way at all.
[director]
Fashion is
a little snobby, right?
A little bit.
So when you have someone
who's a showman,
who's about feathers
and sequins,
you might not think that is
a level of taste or of design
that is warranted recognition.
Well, I think time
tells truth, right?
[director]
Well, some people say, you know,
you work on a character
from the inside out.
But there are those,
and I'm one of those,
who knows that you can develop
a character from the outside in.
I've always said that drag
is like the Superman
to my Clark Kent,
because something happens
when you put on
a Bob Mackie outfit.
Something magical happens.
Good evening. I'm Bob Mackie.
Welcome aboard, Mr. Mackie.
I'm Captain Stubing.
-It's an honor to meet you.
-Thank you, captain.
Mr. Mackie designs the gowns
for all the big TV stars.
Carol Burnett,
Anne Margaret, Cher.
That's right. You've heard them
say clothes make the man.
Well, I'm the man
that makes the clothes.
-I hope you enjoy the cruise.
-I'm sure I will.
Milhouse, if you stay
a little while longer,
you can have this blazer.
It's a Bob Mackie original.
Wow, a Bob Mackie.
Who likes glittery, fun things?
Holy sh*t, is that a
f*cking Bob Mackie gown?
Yeah.
[man 1] Oh, my goodness.
-Um, you might want to see this.
-[man 2] Mm.
-It's Ms. Cummings.
-Uh-oh.
-Is it ever Ms. Cummings.
-Oh, my...
Oh, my God.
[man 2] Bob Mackie, where
are you when we need you?
[man 1] She looks like a
c*ck waitress
-on an oil rig or something.
-[laughing]
Doesn't--? Look at the piping.
Look at the piping.
[applause]
[piano playing]
[director]
[Hamilton] Mm-hm. Yeah.
I think for Cher and Bob,
it was mutual.
I think Bob put
his stamp on Elton.
Absolutely.
He helped craft
that era of Elton John.
[cheering and applause]
Elton was on a special
with Cher and Bette Midler.
And the three of them
worked together,
and they sang together,
and they were quite fabulous.
And he's looking
at what Cher's got on.
And I dressed him.
I did a great outfit for him.
It was all silver and quilted,
and a big top hat.
-Moc
-Yeah
-King
-Yeah
-Bird
-Yeah
-Yeah
-Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Mockingbird now
Everybody have you heard
Have you heard
He's gonna buy me...
[Mackie] And she was
all in silver and white,
and Bette was all silver bangles
and sequins.
It was fun.
And he said, "Would you make me
some costumes?" Some outfits,
or some suits, or whatever.
I don't know what
he said exactly.
I said, "Well, what kind of
things would you like?"
And he said, "Well,
things like you do for Cher."
And I went, "Okay."
And I did.
Well, Bob did a lot of things
for Elton John in the '70s,
and Elton loved everything,
and he would try anything.
And so he was game.
[director]
I think Elton was pushing Bob.
[John] Most designers, I think,
when you wear their clothes,
they become part of you,
and they become your friends.
And that's why I like to have
relationships with designers.
Because you get to know them,
they get to know you,
and you have fun with them.
Do I regret any of it?
Not really.
There's some clunkers,
but there always is.
But I'm surprised
that Donald Duck outfit
wasn't in here.
But again, it was Bob Mackie
thinking, "All right,
You're gonna be Donald Duck."
And I went, "Oh, fine.
Great, lovely."
[director]
Me.
Well, he had one
as Minnie Mouse once.
You know, figure that one out.
[director] Did he suggest it?
Well, "What could I
dress up like?"
And he said,
"Could I be Minnie Mouse?"
And I said,
"Yeah, sure you can."
Why not?
And I said,
"How about Donald Duck?"
And we did a couple
of different ones.
And he reacted to that?
Oh, he loved it.
He just loved dressing up.
You know, he was-- That was when
you'd see him really laughing,
and he was having the best time.
But throughout my career,
clothes have been
somewhat important.
Without that process
of dressing up
and looking different
and having fun,
I would never have been
the artist that I became. Never.
[McFate] "And guess what?
The TDF costume collection,
in honor of Met Gala's theme
of camp,
join us in toasting to
The King of Camp, Bob Mackie."
[laughs]
-Who did that?
-The TDF. They've put a note--
-Your costume collection.
-Yeah, it's your whole video.
Well, here I am,
the King of Camp,
and I'm trying to be
so conservative.
-That's the one that I said--
-Yeah, that's the back--
No, but this is--
-[director]
This really is your night.
-No, it isn't really my night.
King of Camp?
Well...
[all laughing]
-[McFate] I don't know.
-They think it is, I guess.
[McFate] Clearly.
Well, two journalists said that
today, that you're the King--
Most people don't even
know what "camp" is.
[Ottenberg] "Camp is an
aesthetic style and sensibility
that regards something
as appealing
because of its bad taste
and ironic value."
Um...
Okay, that sounds so negative
though, doesn't it?
I mean, camp is--
I don't see camp as being bad.
I mean, like,
it's very "ta-da," right?
Ta-da!
That's what we're going
to Bob Mackie for. "Ta-da."
[upbeat cabaret music playing]
Of course.
Yes, but with good humor.
Absolutely.
I mean, campy is great
if it's done with love
and with technique and care.
Of course.
I mean, this is razzle-dazzle.
This is-- This is magic land.
[upbeat cabaret music playing]
I mean, you know,
like, Las Vegas.
I used to do big shows
in Vegas, the showgirls.
Outfits on showgirls
are the campiest thing
that ever happened
if you do it right.
And I loved doing it.
It was fun.
It kind of came natural.
I don't know why.
[director]
Was it born with the musicals
that you watched as a kid?
Somewhat.
There were showgirls
in musicals,
seeing, you know,
and those fabulous MGM things.
And it was just...
I-- I guess I liked it.
It sunk in, I guess.
I don't know.
[opening theme music playing]
[Mackie] I love movies,
I loved going
to Technicolor movies
and musicals and all that.
And-- And actually, they
used to take me to the movies
when I was a little kid,
my sister and my mother.
[dramatic music score playing]
The one movie,
when I really decided
to become a costume designer,
was a Gene Kelly movie,
An American in Paris
And I went, "Oh, I could
do this. I bet I could do this."
And before I knew it, I knew
the name of every movie star
and what they did, and what
they looked, how they dressed.
Carmen Miranda
was my favorite movie star
when I was, you know,
like 6 years old.
But why not?
She was like a clown.
She was like-- All that color
and all that stuff in her hair,
and the fruit and the--
I mean, she's crazy.
["Mama Eu Quero" playing]
[singing in Spanish]
[Mackie] I'm a lucky guy
because I got to do
kind of what I always thought
I would like to do.
And you don't always
get to do that.
[man] You know, it's funny,
and I can't imagine as a
little kid going to the movies.
I know so many of the generation
of post-Depression or Depression
went to the movies.
That was a way to escape.
And here was a little kid
who is soaking in these details.
He can tell you, even though
there were no VCR tapes or DVD,
there was no way to remember
except for your imagination.
And I know that Bob
could sit here today and say,
"Betty Grable wore this,
and I loved how they did that,
and there was this corsage and
then there was this neckline."
[upbeat music playing]
Put your arms around me, honey
Hold me tight
Huddle up and cuddle up
With all your might
[Barnes] And so
there's something about,
when you're defining camp,
I think you can't comment on it.
You have to love it.
And it has to come from
a place of deep knowledge.
And it's why it appeals to us.
It's emotional, because we see
that corsage or that neckline,
and we think, "I can't tell you
that Betty Grable wore that
in, you know, 1946 in a film."
And yet, it resonates with me.
It makes me feel happy.
It makes me actually emotional.
It makes me teary.
There's something
about connecting
with just cloth,
a story that somehow
we all are carrying around,
a history
that we're carrying around.
[director] Did your mother
notice that you were
finding it so fascinating?
Uh, no, my mother
could never understand
what I did for a living.
She just never did.
I mean, she knew.
And she liked being Bob Mackie's
mother, because that--
But then she hated it if
somebody was friendly with her
because she was.
She couldn't quite
make up her mind, you know,
because there was a time
when, you know, I was doing
a lot of famous people,
which made me better known
at the time.
And, you know,
it's just kind of amazing
how she wasn't interested
in that as a career.
But she was never interested
in what I was doing.
She was like a selfish woman,
but, you know, took me places
that she knew I would like to go
when we would visit.
I actually lived with
my grandmother for years.
And my mother
was like the Auntie Mame
who would take you out for those
special things, but this way,
she didn't have to deal
with the day-to-day things.
And she and my father,
I don't think
they were ever
together that long.
It was like--
Because he went off to the w*r.
You know,
because I was born in '39.
So then when he came
back from the w*r,
I was so excited when
he came back from the w*r.
I don't know. I was probably
6 or 7 at that point.
And I remember seeing him come
on the Union Station in LA.
And he was in
a whole Canadian uniform
because he went back to Canada.
That's where he went back
to join the Army.
And he had a beret,
and a thing, and the stuff--
And I thought,
"Oh, that's my dad."
You know, I was so excited.
And then he wasn't--
He really didn't wanna be--
He'd had a child earlier
that he didn't
pay any attention to,
and he wasn't
too interested in me either.
So it was one of those.
[director]
But did you love him?
Um, well, I wanted to,
but I never really did.
I just felt like
he didn't like me.
And if he doesn't like me,
I'm not gonna like him.
He couldn't
figure me out at all.
Because he came from a place
of more of a machismo thing?
Exactly, very machismo.
Very, "Yeah, big Chuck."
You know.
Let me tell you, it's hard
if you're kind of strange child,
and you're a little artistic,
and there are things
that you wanna do
and nobody understands
why you'd want to do that.
Because they have
no conception of--
You know,
the first time I told...
I think I told an uncle
or one of my mother's boyfriends
or something.
"Well, Bobby, what do you
want to be when you grow up?"
And I said, "Well, I'd like
to be a costume designer
on Broadway."
[applause]
Do you believe in life
After love
I can feel something
Inside me say
I really don't think
You're strong enough
Do you believe in life
After love
[indistinct chatter]
[applause]
You know, like Ruth Gordon said
at the Oscars several years ago,
this is very encouraging
for an 80-year-old.
Thank you.
Thank you so much.
[applause]
[indistinct chatter]
[Mackie] You see what it is?
Yeah. And then she says
kisses and loving,
kisses, kisses, kisses,
in giant letters, me.
Like there's anybody else.
Bernadette Peters.
-Here's Bernadette Peters.
-[man] Hey.
Oh, here's Carol.
So they wrote, "Yippee, yippee,
clap, clap, clap, clap, clap."
And then at the bottom,
she said, "Dust off
the mantelpiece."
I was so thrilled
when he won the Tony.
-[director] Yes.
-Oh, my gosh.
You were watching
pretty intently?
Oh, I was screaming.
Yeah. Yeah.
Oh, I have a bone to pick...
with the Academy Awards,
with the Academy Awards.
He was nominated
for
[Broadway music playing]
And that year, it was a
movie about the racing--
Men, runners.
[main theme from
Chariots of Fire
That won for Best Costuming.
All they did was have numbers.
I mean, I was so angry. What?
And you'd look at what Bob
did in
He did the whole
Depression look
and then all of the
musical stuff, and the--
I mean...
Chariots of Fire
Crazy.
[Mackie]
I never thought about it.
[woman] Who is the weirdest
one in your family?
No pressure.
I better get the table top down.
-[Mackie] No, but--
Think about people--
-I won't tell--
It doesn't mean
you don't love them.
-You're just--
-[man] So true.
-Yeah.
-[woman] Keep
drinking your wine.
We'll find out some of
the other family members.
Everybody always
thought I was weird.
[Townsend] You were.
Weird is good.
[woman] You were just talented.
They'd just say,
"Oh, that's Bobby."
[Townsend] Unique, different.
-"Oh, Bobby. Oh, yeah, well"...
-Odd.
Kira wouldn't call you weird.
She'd call you odd.
Well, yeah.
-I was odd.
-Odd.
[Townsend] And now
how do you feel about that?
Didn't you just have
a month of awards for--
Yeah, but that-- But...
-A lifetime of uniqueness.
-[Mackie] Odd sometimes helps.
Yeah.
You want to win the odd title?
Is that what you're
doing right now?
-You're doing--
-[Mackie] You're on your way.
Yeah, she's trying.
That's funny.
[director] What do you know
about those two little girls?
I don't know so much.
Joe is the man to go to
for that.
I know that he sends them--
They show me pictures
of the gifts and stuff
that they send out to them,
but I've never met them.
I've seen pictures of them.
I'm, like, thinking, "Do you
know that your grandfather's
Bob Mackie? That you can come
to the office and try on gowns?"
He could probably even
dress them for prom.
-[director] Or Halloween.
-Or Halloween.
Or prom, in, like,
Bob Mackie couture.
Like, they have no idea--
Or maybe they do,
like, how lucky they are.
[McFate] He discovered
later in his life that
he had a granddaughter
and two great granddaughters.
And it was the most joyful,
most emotional moment
in his life
because I think
he went for so long
without having immediate family.
He's very close
with his ex-wife,
who he maintains
a relationship with to this day.
And to discover
that he had a granddaughter
and two great granddaughters
is the greatest gift.
-Oh, toasting.
-[Townsend] Yes.
-Be sure and look in the eye.
-[Townsend] Okay.
All right,
I'm gonna make a round.
-[girl] Just to my--
-To family and fun.
Yay. Cheer, cheers.
To Kira.
[laughing]
My arm's not long enough. Okay.
[ex-wife] Cheers. Cheers, Kyla.
[Townsend] Kyla. Kyla, stop.
-Here's to you.
-Cheers.
-I've known you the longest.
-I know.
A long time.
Cheers.
-[Townsend] How many years?
-[ex-wife] Since I was 15.
-[Mackie] Fifteen?
-I was 15.
-How old was I? 16?
-Yep.
-So just do the math.
-Yep.
-This is Daddy's fork.
-[Mackie] I have
to have tomatoes.
[poignant music playing]
[Porter] Yeah, we have history.
So we go way back, 60 years.
[Mackie] Yeah we've known each
other a long time.
[director] So, Joe let me
know you discovered
you had this new family
because of Robin, your son.
Can you talk about Robin?
-I can't.
-It's hard.
It's, um... It's really hard.
-I won't get through it.
-No, me either.
[phone ringing]
-[McFate]
Hey, I'm great.
So listen, I have one specific
question for you, which is--
Okay.
I have broached
the subject twice with Bob
when it comes to his son, Robin.
And I think people
are very interested in Bob
and how he became this
costume-designer extraordinaire,
but also, what makes him tick
and the origins of things.
And I think the impact
of Robin on his life,
I just want to make sure, and
I know it's sensitive for Bob,
obviously, from his answers
that he's given me,
that he kind of shuts it down.
But I'm hoping that you could
shed some light for myself,
but also the people
who are gonna watch this film,
about what exactly took place,
and give us
a little more detail.
I didn't know Robin
because he died
before I came around.
He died in 1993.
And I know that he is very
sensitive about Robin
because it was such
a terrible end to a young life
when he died.
It was in all the newspapers
that Bob's son had died,
and very publicly,
that he died of
an HIV-related illness.
[Miele] And then what did
Robin do for a living?
Robin was a makeup artist,
and rather successful.
Of course, again,
in the shadow of Bob.
And then ultimately, when he
passed away, it was HIV--
Robin had a drug problem,
and they were all aware of it.
And Robin had a lot of
girlfriends at the time,
and they were all taking
care of him when he got sick.
Oh, so it came from
some sort of intravenous drug?
-Use, correct.
And of course,
that was devastating.
It was such a young life.
And you think about Bob's career
was really taking off
in his late 20s and early 30,
and here is a guy
who never even had a chance.
And that stuck.
It's stuck with him to this day,
he still talks about
what a difficult life
that was for Robin.
[Townsend] When I was
in eighth grade,
my aunt came over,
and she brought
a
that had an article about Bob
when Robin had passed away.
I knew my dad wasn't
my biological father,
but I didn't know anything
else really, otherwise.
We just didn't talk
about it too much.
Um, so my aunt
shared the article,
and my mom said,
"Yeah, this is about your dad
and your biological grandpa."
And, oh, I'm an awkward
13-year-old who didn't really
know what to say or do
about it and didn't want my...
I thought it was really cool
because it was
in
So of course, I took
the magazine to school
and showed all of my friends
and things like that.
But I never really talked
too much to my parents about it
because I figured
it probably had
to be more of an awkward
time in my mom's life.
And we talked about it
a little bit then,
and she showed me
prom pictures
of her and Rob
going to prom together,
and a little bit about him,
and cut to--
I'm thinking about it every
once in a while throughout life.
My-- When I got married to Troy,
my mother-in-law was like,
"You have to contact
your grandpa. He can
make you a wedding dress."
I'm like, "That is not
really how I want to start..."
-What a lovely idea.
-My-- Yeah, like, no.
Bob's granddaughter
wrote a letter to the office
and asked us,
essentially, she said,
"I'm Bob's granddaughter,
and I really don't
want anything.
I just want to know him.
I'd like to meet him,
and I have a daughter
that I'd like him to know."
And she sent photographs.
And the photographs looked an
awful lot like Bob's son, Robin.
And so there was
an immediate connection
because she looked
like Robin so much.
[Mackie] Yeah, well,
the minute I got the letter,
I went, "Oh, my God.
This is crazy.
I mean, really?
-Are we sure?"
-[Townsend] Yeah.
You know?
And then I call Lulu right away
and I said--
Because we're close.
We talk all the time.
And it's kind of like
you just hope...
-You don't know what to think.
-[Townsend] I can imagine.
Especially when you're out there
and you're on TV,
and they're talking...
Who knows?
I mean, I just went,
"Oh, my gosh."
[Mackie] But not exactly.
But yet,
there's such a resemblance.
There's such a
resemblance that--
-No, but I mean, it was just--
-It was like, wow.
Oh, okay, yeah.
I just said to her,
I said, "I don't know.
I think it's pretty good."
It's wonderful,
because for us,
we have this extension
of our family now,
and it'll go on.
I'm still shaking
my head at times.
I go, "Wow,
this is just a miracle."
[sirens wailing]
[McFate] And here's a van.
But there's someone, they have--
[Hamilton] Someone must have
a massive costume.
-[Mackie] Maybe Cher's in there.
-[Hamilton] No.
We're smuggling her in back.
[McFate] We're smuggling her.
[Miele] What is she wearing
tonight, Bob?
-Do you know?
-Because it goes with it.
-Yeah.
-[McFate] That's perfect.
Well, I know what
she's supposed to be wearing.
She could change her mind,
I suppose.
She's wearing--
She's doing a couple of--
Actually, only one ABBA song.
And she's
in an ABBA-esque outfit
that she'll be using
in her act later.
And it's purplish.
[soft piano music playing]
[Miele] So do you ever
get nervous on how
it's going to come off?
[Mackie] Oh, I do.
-Really?
-Yes.
-Okay, there it is.
-Yes.
-[Miele] So there's nerves.
-I get very nervous about it,
because I want it always
to be perfect,
and some people, you know,
nothing's ever perfect.
So, what is perfect
in your mind?
When you see it,
what does it need to do?
That she looks exactly what we
intended to have her look like.
You know, that's all.
[Cher] He loves
going through beads
and sequins and fabric.
And he won't stop.
I said I want
this new ABBA dress
and I don't want it
to look like this or that.
I don't want to
look like an ABBA girl,
but I want to look like
something from that time period.
And Bob was such a genius,
and he sent me a sketch,
and two of my friends
were with me.
They went,
"He has still got it."
[Miele over computer]
that you kind of
were saying to yourself,
"Oh, I wish I could dress like
that someday"?
What actresses were you
admiring at the time?
Well, I used to watch
black-and-white movies
with my mom.
And so I would see, like,
Carole Lombard and Dietrich
and Bette Davis
and Ginger Rogers, who I loved.
And I didn't just
admire the women
that were dressed beautifully.
I admired the women
who were strong.
[Miele]
Because he has drawn
a lot of inspiration
from theater and a lot of the
costumes that came before,
do you feel like when you
put on those clothes,
you're harkening back, but it's
also looking forward as well?
I never was making a statement.
I just loved wearing
beautiful clothing.
And I was really poor
when I was a kid,
so it was a dream come true,
like Cinderella all the time.
[upbeat music playing]
-[Miele] Go for it.
-Go for what?
Walk into the studio.
You would go
arm-in-arm like that?
[woman] I met Bob 1982.
[Mackie]
Don't come out. [laughing]
[woman] Since I started,
he worked with me.
And we understand each other.
-How were we?
-[Miele] All good.
[Miele] What do you
understand about him?
I understand his color sense,
his imagination.
And he trusts me because he
knows that I understand.
That's the thing, you know,
in between us.
[Miele] So there only has to be
a few words between you
to understand
what the direction is?
Yeah.
And I should have
brought you one today.
We turned those...
-Oh, the robes?
-...and they look beautiful.
-They look--
-And how was the fringes?
-Perfect.
-What do you call it?
-Perfect.
-Okay.
And we pulled the bottom in
just a little bit.
So it goes--
It doesn't go straight.
-It comes together.
-It comes together. Yeah.
Oh, perfect.
See, they're... They're amazing.
He's the only one.
He's the only one.
I don't want to hurt the other
designers that I work with.
They know too.
So...
[Miele] What do you mean
he's the only one?
He's the only one.
He wants something,
he knows what he wants.
He sketches
and he puts on his patterns.
And the... finish
becomes the exact same thing
that he drew.
-So he's that precise?
-Yes.
And I have no problem
working with me.
And he's the only one
who can do that, really?
Yeah. He's the only one
who does this, you know, detail.
[McFate] He doesn't think of it
as a dying art. I mean,
Bob thinks that's the way
you make beautiful clothes.
Hand-beading and embroidery,
even machine embroidery.
But those techniques
are things that he learned,
and they are so beautiful,
he thinks that we should
continue using those methods.
The hand-beading is a process
now that can be done in India.
It can be done
in other countries
that know how to do that.
But for him, having the control
over the placement
of the embroidery
and the placement
of his drawing,
a lot of pattern makers
figure out
where the embroidery
is gonna go.
Bob insists
on placing the paisley
or placing the flower,
whatever it is
we're embroidering.
He figures out the scale
and the size of that.
That's as important to him
as the fit of the clothes.
[Miele] She showed us
in her studio how...
the sketches that you still do,
the intricacy of the sketch.
Right?
She said all the other
designers, they don't even...
They can't do that.
-Well, they don't do it.
-They don't do it.
[Miele] It's not
as simple as that.
-You're an architect.
-No, but I'm a control freak.
-I can't help it.
-There it is.
That's the understatement
of the week.
That's the meaning that
whatever he has in his mind,
he wants to get it out
the way he wants to.
-I mean--
-Nothing wrong with that.
There's nothing wrong with it.
It's not the control freak.
It's the way he wants it.
And we do it.
That's the secret.
But nothing wrong
with doing things right.
Exactly.
[Miele] The actual craft
of making it counts
how much in each--
Oh, it means everything.
You can make the most beautiful
sketches in the world,
and if it's not made right,
if it doesn't really fit,
it's not finished properly,
and it doesn't move properly,
it's not good.
And that happens.
There are a lot of people
out there making costumes
that aren't very good at it,
and a lot of designers
that don't know anything
about how to do it.
That, to me,
is the scariest part,
that they can be in a career
for decades and never--
They just sort of drop off
the sketch and come back
when it's finished.
That's disaster.
It's not easy to just imagine.
He gets the material
and he draws.
He has the sequin,
he has the rhinestones,
he has the beads,
and he puts them together.
He has the imagination.
He does it.
They did-- They copied the...
I don't know. I'm going
to show you the picture.
It's a Halloween costume.
[Mackie] You see, there,
you really can see that--
[McFate] ...photograph.
There you go.
[Miele] So all
of the women behind
the beautiful outfits are...
-Hold on, please.
-Armenians.
I have to say, I don't know
how Bob does it.
I hate designing costumes
for people.
I do it.
In fact, there are several
people I do it for quite often.
And there are people
that I've developed
a relationship with.
So maybe it was
like this for Bob.
But the reason I don't like it
is it's always been
so hard for me
to deal with the personalities
because I'm very dictatorial.
[Barnes] And you have to imagine
that fitting room
was not always just a love fest.
That there were times
when there was negotiation
and maybe bad behavior.
"Well, I'm not sure I like that.
Oh, yeah, yeah."
But there's always
that customer who's not sure,
and, "Are you sure?"
And then they call
the manager in,
and then they call the husband
or the wife or whatever.
I don't want to work
with people like that.
They have to trust me.
If they don't trust me,
I'm not interested.
[Miele] What are they trusting?
What are they--
They trust that I'll do
the right thing for them
and I'll make them look good.
But they're always
questioning everything.
From what Bob has
shared with me,
he often says Barbie
is his favorite client.
Like, you know,
she doesn't complain.
If he sticks a pin in her,
she won't say ouch.
He's done almost
60 Barbie dolls for us,
including one-of-a-kinds.
He loves kind of taking Barbie
to new, over-the-top places
that no one else has
taken her before.
Within the collector community,
I think the response
was really exciting to see this.
You know, Bob Mackie put
his signature style on Barbie.
[audience laughing]
Please stop staring.
Yes, it's Cher.
Okay, that's it. Nothing for us.
This Cher thing
is out of control.
How the Cher and
I can't say for certain,
but, I mean,
I'm really glad it did.
I think it was such a big moment
in pop culture.
[Cher] You know, dude,
it is a little weird
that you're talking to my doll.
[audience cheering
and applauding]
I don't think I need a drag
queen to define normal behavior.
But I will say this.
The look is flawless.
Whatever.
Ooh. Working the attitude.
Okay, you're good.
I've had a lot of practice.
Hey, hey, hey. You're not
that great, Mr. Sister.
All right?
I do a better Cher than you.
You think so?
Actually, it's,
"You think so-h*?"
[upbeat music playing]
[Miele] Tina Turner,
Bette Midler, Cher.
I mean, these are
the divas, right?
-Diana Ross.
-Diana Ross.
[Mackie] She does everything.
You know, it isn't just--
The dress doesn't count.
It's who wears the dress.
[woman] I want to see her
in that fabulous dress.
How do you feel in
a Bob Mackie dress?
And how do you keep
that stylish figure?
Thank you very much.
-You still got it.
-Thank you very much.
I'm not sure
that I keep that stylish figure.
[woman] This native Californian,
Mr. Bob Mackie,
honed his exquisite
sense of glamour
and theatricality
into an art form.
No one does what Mackie does
the way Mackie does it.
The secret of building
a garment to perfection
is something
I have come to long ago,
come to love and respect.
The body is transformed
under his guidance.
Every day
-But I look
-And I know
[Miele] What's the secret with
all these women, these divas?
Well, I'm very careful
about making them
what I think is good, you know,
what looks flattering,
very often.
And you see them
on their own sometimes
and you go,
"They don't do that."
You know,
just where you put things.
Kind of proportion
and placement is everything
-if you know what I mean.
-Yeah.
-[upbeat music playing]
-[audience applauding]
Oh, that feels so good to me.
I wish you could feel it too.
Listen, let me
tell you about it.
[Mackie] She was in Hollywood
and she was appearing
as a guest star by herself.
And I go, "What's going on?"
Evidently, she had left Ike
at that point.
And she was hiding out
from Ike and moving from hotel
to hotel with her assistant
and just doing
these guest shots on
and
And she was trying
to make a career for herself.
If I can't ask you
Shame, shame, shame, shame
Shame, shame, shame
Shame on you
If I can't ask you
And then she got to know me
because I started doing things
on those variety shows
and dressing her,
and she kind of goes, "Oh,
somebody actually does this."
-[upbeat music playing]
-[audience applauding]
Music making in my bed
Let the music
[Mackie] She would buy cheap
evening gowns in Paris
at these little shops.
Not great, but just something
she liked or liked the fabric.
And she'd bring it in.
She'd say, "Can we make this
look like a cave woman?"
And I said, "Sure."
And I'd put it on her
and I'd just start cutting.
"Can I go a little higher here?"
"Yeah, sure."
-"Can I pull it over here?"
-"Yeah," and I'd pin it.
And we would redo these funny,
inexpensive evening dresses
into Tina Turner outfits.
About the feeling
Let it come through
Shake your music maker
Shake it, shake it, shake it
Shake your music maker
[Mackie] And of course,
the legs. She's a little--
She has a shorter torso
and long, long legs.
And when she was younger,
the legs were long and slender
and muscular and beautiful.
And they put those
high heels on.
And she's fun. She's really fun.
And she's-- She'll, you know,
have a couple glasses of wine
and tell you
the best stories ever.
I loved watching her backstage.
She'd throw a couple of Tylenols
in and put her high heels on
and hit the stage.
It was just crazy.
[audience cheering]
Her name is... Proud...
[Mackie] The last tour she did,
I got very involved.
And we were doing the chorus
and the dancers and everybody,
and it was fun.
It was work, but it was fun.
And another thing...
[Mackie] There are certain
people in this world
that were born
to be entertainers.
They just are.
They can't help themselves.
All right.
[music erupts]
[Mackie] I mean,
they're just good.
And she's one of those,
that she just takes the audience
and runs with it.
Bette Midler's like that.
There's a lot of people
like that.
Cher kind of stands there
and says, "Well, here I am.
What do you think?"
And they love it.
But it's a whole different
attitude of performing.
[Miele]
Well, there are people that are
great fashion designers
that aren't always
good costume designers.
It isn't the same job.
You have to be theatrical
in your mind.
You have to be able
to read the script and say,
"Oh, it should be this way here,
and the color should be
this or that."
Or, "I want to explode here,"
or, "I want all of a sudden,
to do a color that the audience
just sits up and goes,
'Oh, my God.'"
You have to think
about all that.
You have to think about the mood
and the person's talent
that's wearing it.
Can they wear this?
Can they get away with it?
Are they--
Are they a personality
that can make this work?
[man] Mr. President, on this
occasion of your birthday,
Marilyn Monroe.
[applause]
[Miele]
Well, I was working for a
designer, a French designer,
called Jean Louis.
And as a kid, I always thought
that some lady
named Jean Louis
was doing these clothes.
And, you know, how did I know?
I looked at,
"Well, it's Jean Louis.
Who is this Jean Louis?
She does pretty good work."
I didn't know. I didn't know.
[Miele] How did you get
the position then?
Well, I just-- I needed a job
and I was right out of school.
And that school was what?
Chouinard Art Institute,
which was a great art school.
And a lot
of their graduates were,
are still costume designers.
And the person that usually
did his sketches for him
was sick, you know,
and not available,
and he was trying
to find somebody.
And there was a fellow
at Western Costume who,
when somebody needed some help,
he would have names that people
would come to see him.
And he sent me over
and I got the job.
And it was funny
because I had a portfolio
with a lot of good sketches,
a lot of good stuff,
but there was one sketch,
and he looked at that
and said, "Oh, yeah, get him.
He'll be good."
And I said--
My portfolio looked mostly
like fashion illustration.
It didn't look
like movie clothes.
And so I said,
"Well, I've got to gear it more
to trying to get a job
in the movies."
[man] So, what made the
Marilyn dress so famous.
Obviously, you have
Bob Mackie, Jean Louis,
Marilyn Monroe
wearing the dress.
She got fired from Fox
because she went to New York
to do that 90-second performance
in front of President Kennedy
for his early birthday
celebration
in front of the
Democratic National Convention
with 15,000 people in the room.
And she wanted to wear a dress
that no one else would wear,
that no one else could pull off.
And she walked on that stage,
when the lights went on,
the fabric of the dress
was like it was a nude color.
So it was to give--
When the lights hit
all those hand-stitched
crystals on the dress,
it gave the impression
that she was naked on stage.
Happy birthday
Mr. President
Happy birthday to you
And, like,
the crowd just went, "Wow."
That's the moment
that people are buying.
It's that moment in history.
It's the Marilyn
meets the presidential,
a time in history,
and Marilyn knew.
She risked everything: losing
her job, getting fired from Fox.
She knew that this would be
a life-changing event for her
and the world.
And she wowed.
And Bob Mackie, 21 years
of age, was the gentleman
at the beginning of that,
creating that amazing sketch.
[Miele] Were you aware about
the Marilyn Monroe dress?
Going way back, when she sang
"Happy Birthday, Mr. President"?
[Burnett] I knew about
that dress.
[Miele] Yeah, he was responsible
for sketching that originally,
for the--
Well, now that's something
I never knew.
-You never knew that?
-No.
-[Miele] Oh, my God.
-No.
Well, he's not gonna
run around telling me.
-Why not? Why?
-[laughing]
"Guess what I did."
Well, that's just not how he is.
But isn't that funny?
-I didn't know that.
-Yeah.
"Happy Birthday, Mr. President."
Oh, my God.
[Miele]
Yes, '61. Absolutely,
just the beginning. Yeah.
Yeah, it really was.
It was '61, but it had started
changing about '57 or so,
from that real
Also, a little thing
called the Kennedys
came into the White House.
And there was
Jacqueline Kennedy,
who was considered the chicest
woman in the country.
And actually, John Kennedy
was a friend of Judy Garland's.
And on his birthday,
I was at her house on a Sunday,
and she picked up the phone.
She said,
"Oh, I have to call John."
And she picked up the phone
and sang happy birthday to him
because it was his birthday.
You were at the house?
I was at the house,
because on Sunday nights,
her show was on.
[laughing]
And sang
San Francisco,
I'm going home again
[applause]
I got a job
on
as an assistant
costume designer.
How did you get that job?
Well, I had a very good friend,
a "very" good friend,
who got the job.
But this was somebody that was
a good designer, Ray Aghayan,
but he didn't draw.
And so I was his assistant.
And I was in charge of,
usually, the chorus
and maybe guest stars
and things.
And he would do Judy.
But then I would work with him
with the sketches and stuff.
And she had
a very difficult little figure.
She was 4' 11."
Really short girl.
[applause]
She was 42,
and she'd lived pretty hard.
She could get it all together.
Days may be cloudy or sunny
We're in
Or we're out of the money
And I would say,
"Oh, don't put that on her.
That's not good on her,"
you know,
because there was a lot to do.
You start on Monday and you
finish-- You sh**t it on Friday,
and, boy, it better be good.
The best is yet to come
Come the day you're mine
Well, it was just--
It would be Ray and me
and a couple of people
from the show, maybe.
They would change, you know.
And sometimes
she'd just be by herself
and want somebody to watch with.
[Miele] Oh, my God, really?
Well, yeah, you know, everybody
can't be everywhere every week.
And it was--
It was kind of sad in a way
because she didn't have a lot
of close friends that I knew of.
We got each other
We're two lost sheep
[Miele] Hanging out
at Judy Garland's house,
-you're having a c*ck...
-Well, yeah.
...watching the show.
At 23, I was kind of like,
"Oh, good." You know.
But then I got very comfortable
because I was there quite often.
[man] So Bob Mackie was--
We know the gowns,
we know the dresses,
we know the couturier,
but he was much more than that.
And when Judy Garland
met Bob Mackie, violins played.
It just went into a love affair
like you'd never seen.
Judy was absolutely
mesmerized by Bob Mackie.
And so then Bob would
come in with the sketches.
Bob Mackie was not only a great
designer and a great artist,
but he was also the
world's greatest salesman.
He would walk in,
he could sell Judy on anything.
[Miele]
[Schlatter] Well,
you didn't temper Judy.
You survived Judy.
Judy was always kind of testing
you a little bit, you know?
And Bob Mackie
would survive any test.
[applause]
See, those were special people.
We don't have
those people anymore.
We have singers
and we have dancers
and we have actresses
and so forth.
But we don't have
the kind of event
that Cher was and that Judy was,
and Carol Burnett too.
He made them feel special.
He made them confident.
He made them secure.
And so when they put on
a Bob Mackie gown,
they all of a sudden
felt they were the part.
[Miele] So, what was the nature
of Bob and Ray's relationship?
Did you witness them
together at all?
Ray Aghayan and Bob Mackie
were like a symphony.
I mean, they never really
had to say that much.
They just understood each other.
Ray was very grand.
He came from Iran,
and his mother
was a big deal in Iran.
She was a couturier
and dressed all the royalty
and whatever at the time.
And then he was very continental
and foreign, and smoked.
You know, he had everything
but a fez on his head.
[McFate] The first time
I ever met Ray,
he called me in New York
about 25 years ago,
and I answered the phone
and he said, "Joseph,
this is Raymond Aghayan.
I'm Bob's partner."
-Yes, that sounds like him.
-Well, but it made it clear
that it was
more than business partner.
[Mackie] Well, we--
Lulu and I had just--
We adored each other
and we were best friends,
but we split up as man and wife
because she was auditioning
and going off to New York
and doing stuff,
and I was still in school.
And I quit school and went out
for auditions for...
To be a costume
designer assistant.
And Lulu-- Lulu remarried.
She had other husbands.
She had a husband,
who was an agent.
I didn't like him very much,
but that was all right.
I didn't have to like him.
She didn't stay married
to him for very long.
Robin didn't like him either.
So it was one of those.
And then one time,
the second husband,
he says,
"Well, what is this guy that--?
What does he do?"
"Well, he's a costume designer."
"Well, he must be g*y."
That's the first thing you get.
-[McFate] They just assume that.
-And I said--
-That's right.
-And I went to myself,
I said, "Well, yeah,
he's right. And--
[Miele] Did Robin
have questions?
Because that was
an impressionable age.
Well, yes, it was.
And he-- I was very upset
when I decided
that I wasn't being completely
honest with her or with him,
and that I didn't know
what to do.
But I said, "I can't--"
I see these people in Hollywood
who have a wife and a boyfriend.
I said, "I can't--
I can't go out of town
on a job and do things,
and then come back home
and pretend not to."
That just seemed so wrong to me,
and the whole thing was wrong.
And it was one of the hardest
things I ever went through,
was telling her this.
If I hated
or couldn't stand her,
that would be different,
you know, a little bit,
I suppose, but...
-But I--
-You had guilt because you--
I had big guilt, and I cried.
And I was,
"Oh, what am I going to do now?"
It was-- It's still hard
when I think about it.
Gonna do a new show,
Clever title, huh?
So I called Ray Aghayan.
And he said, "Hello,
how are you, darling?"
I said, "I'm marvelous.
How are you?"
He said, "I'm okay."
I said, "I want you
to do my new show."
He says, "I can't."
I said, "But I love you."
And he said, "I love you too,
darling, but I'm up to my a*s
in Judy Garland."
She was doing a show.
So he says,
"But you know that that name,
Bob Mackie."
And he said, "Bob Mackie
is my best friend in the world,
and he's working at Paramount
sketching for Edith Head."
So I said, "Okay, I'll see him."
There's a knock at the door.
A little face says,
"Ms. Gaynor?"
I said, "Yes?"
I've got this little boy,
he's wanting me
to sign his autograph.
I said, "Yes, come in."
He said,
"My name is Bob Mackie."
I said, "For god's sake, your
voice hasn't even changed yet."
[Miele] Did you get
the impression this boyish man
who you met originally had
the endurance and the ability
to pull this off?
What happened was,
we had seen Mitzi Gaynor.
[upbeat music playing]
[applause]
So we thought, "Can we do--?"
My gosh, and it was Bob Mackie.
Bob Mackie, Bob Mackie. Wow.
And the versatility
was so impressive.
So we got in touch
with him, bing-bong,
and I opened the door,
and there was this child.
Beautiful blond Adonis.
He looked like
he was a newspaper boy.
Like, you know-- He looked like
he was 12. And I said, "Yes?"
He said, "Hi, I'm Bob Mackie."
And he came in
and we talked and everything,
and he was so charming.
-And I never had any doubt.
-Really?
And we hired him
right on the spot.
And I think he was
26 or 27 at the time,
but he looked like
he was about 18.
-Yeah.
-He still does.
[big band music playing]
[Burnett] A lot of people think
he just did what I wore,
but he designed for everybody.
Every bit of costuming
that you saw on our show
that the dancers,
the singers, the guest stars,
the rep company,
we all were dressed by Bob.
So you do the math.
We did 276 shows,
something like that.
So in 11 years, he designed
17,000 costumes.
You, sir, are no gentleman.
And you, Ms. O'Hara,
are no lady.
[gasps]
Starlett, I love you.
You and I are cut out of
the same rotten, dirty cloth.
[Burnett]
That will go in the time capsule
as one of
the longest laughs ever.
And that was Bob's idea.
Look, Ms. Starlett, isn't that
Captain Butler's carriage now?
Oh, Lord, what am I going to do?
Well, I've got an idea.
When he comes in, why don't you
hide behind the drapes?
[laughter]
Sissy, help me take these down.
Well, what are you
doing that for?
Never you mind.
Now, listen, when he gets here,
you just keep him busy.
-You understand?
-Yes ma'am.
Because I got me
a dress to make.
Yes, ma'am.
[Burnett] And the sketch itself
is very funny.
I mean, all the way through,
it was funny.
And so when it came
to her putting the curtains
into a dress, making
the curtains into a dress,
the writers wrote that I would
just come down the stairs
with them hanging,
just like that.
And Bob thought,
"This sketch is very funny,
so we gotta--
That's not that funny."
And then he thought, he said,
"Well, maybe he'll
redo the real dress."
No, everybody's seen that.
And then he came up
with the curtain-rod idea.
And I remember I went into
costume fitting that week,
and he said, "I have an idea
for the curtain dress."
And I went into the room
and there it was, you know.
I fell on the floor,
I was laughing so hard.
I said, "This is going to be
one of the greatest sight gags
in the history of television."
You knew that?
I knew it right from the get-go.
I mean, yeah.
[laughter]
And it was hard for me,
walking down the stairs,
to keep a straight face--
And I'm looking at Harvey, and
he's trying to keep it together.
And I had to bite the inside
of my cheek because--
To keep myself from breaking up
with the reaction.
And I went like this. [mumbling]
What--? What brings you to Tara?
You, you vixen, you.
Starlett, I love you.
That-- That gown is gorgeous.
Thank you,
I saw it in the window
and I just couldn't resist it.
[laughter and applause]
-How did it feel when it was on?
-It was heavy.
It was heavy.
But anything for a laugh.
[Miele] I'll say.
For so many years, people are
still laughing about that dress.
And the original one
is in the Smithsonian.
Bob would say "They're gonna
put that on my tombstone."
You know, that,
and maybe Cher's Mohawk.
Actually, the man that
designed
did a drawing for me
when I did the curtain-rod
dress on
And he sent me a little drawing
of me racing with Edith Head
for the finish line.
[inspirational music playing]
[Cher] But, you know, he had
a different relationship
with all of us.
I think mine is the deepest,
goes the deepest.
And as the time went by
and we spent so much time
together over all those years,
and he would have to--
He would have to think up
one thing after another.
[dance music playing]
[Cher] And I can
show you outfits, and you go,
how did he go from that
to this and then to this?
And how did he just keep on
going for all those years?
It's, what, 50-something years.
I didn't know enough
to know what he would become,
but I knew enough
to know who he was.
[Miele] So looking back,
did you ever feel
the pressure of expectation
of constantly reinventing
yourself with Bob
-over the years?
-No.
I never felt pressure
to do anything.
-[chuckles]
-You have to know me.
[Miele] And you?
How do you feel about fame?
It's the work that counts,
you know, if you do good work.
-It'll come.
-Yeah, well--
Kind of like a byproduct.
Well, yeah, but sometimes,
you do really good work
and nobody pays
any attention to it because,
for whatever reason, who knows?
And then other times, they do.
But it's important to do good
work and to be serious about it.
A lot of people think
being a costume designer
is kind of flamboyant and silly
and whatever, whatever.
You know, and it's not serious.
It's very serious
if you dress somebody up
and they go out there
and nothing works,
and it doesn't help them.
That's serious to you?
Yeah, and, well, it is serious.
And if you're doing comedy
and you don't get any laughs,
forget it. [chuckles]
It's-- It's over.
[crowd clamoring and screaming]
[Mackie] Don't expect
any screams for me, kids.
[screaming]
-[McFate] Keep going.
-Keep going.
-Keep going.
-Bob?
-Let's go.
-Bob.
[Hamilton]
He seems a little nervous.
[Miele] Crazy.
[clamoring and screaming]
[electronic music playing]
[muffled music playing inside]
["Waterloo" playing]
It was fun to see Bob
in his element,
because when we visit,
it's always at his house.
So we go to things,
or here at the house.
I did want to k*ll Joe, though,
because I asked him
what I should wear.
And he said, "Just wear--
Just wear what you always wear.
You're fine, just whatever."
And when the guy behind me
found out
I was Bob Mackie's
granddaughter,
he said to me,
"Who are you wearing?"
And I'm like,
"Oh, don't ask me that
because it was a Target dress."
Well, Target's good.
I know, but the guy thought
she should have been there
-in some designer--
-No, but, I mean, you're--
-[Townsend] It was funny.
-But it was fun.
[Townsend]
Yeah, we had a great time.
Right now, this is special.
This artist is a
Grammy-winning singer,
an Oscar-winning actress,
an Emmy-winning TV star,
and a fashion icon.
She's one of the biggest-selling
singers of all time.
America, make some noise
for Cher.
[cheering and applause]
My, my
At Waterloo
Napoleon did surrender
Oh, yeah
And I have met my destiny
In quite a similar way
The history book
On the shelf
Is always repeating itself
Waterloo
If I could turn back time
If I could find a way
I'd take back those words
That hurt you
[Miele] You knew
I wasn't gonna let
this film end without talking
about that moment on the ship.
I had an idea,
and it went too far.
But...
I don't know.
It worked for the song.
It was a little bit--
It was a little bit too much.
Words are like weapons
They wound sometimes
[Cher] That's the one he said,
"Don't ever tell anybody
that I made this for you."
And he's right. It was terrible.
Well, with this-- On the big
ship with the sailors,
she got nervous about that one.
That was really a vulgar,
horrible outfit.
If I could turn back time
If I could find a way
I'd take back all...
When I was on the ship
with the sailors, they--
I have to tell you,
they kept calling me ma'am,
so I didn't feel so bad.
[McFate] Bob
denied that he did it
for many years because...
Well, let him tell you
about that-- Why that's--
[Miele] Well, what's your take?
-You didn't like it?
-It's like a seat belt.
It's like two strips of a
seat belt and a leather jacket.
And it was a boat
with thousands of sailors.
Come on.
My world was shattered
I was torn apart
Like someone took a knife
And drove it deep in my heart
[Miele] Joe described that
as a couple of seat belts.
[sighs]
There were all kinds
of descriptions for that one.
Darling, then and there
Too strong to tell you
I was sorry
Too proud to tell you
I was wrong
I know that I was blind
And darling
If I could turn back time
If I could find a way
(MUSIC FADES
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Bob Mackie: Naked Illusion (2024)
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