Cher and Mackie’s creative partnership stretched across decades. Following his death, she imagined her longtime friend arriving in heaven carrying his sequins, beads and sketch pad, before bidding him goodnight. Their collaboration produced some of Cher’s most memorable looks, including the daring outfit she wore to the 1986 Academy Awards. Mackie didn’t try to make Cher less fearless—his designs helped turn that fearlessness into a visual signature.

Carol Burnett represented another defining partnership. Mackie designed costumes throughout all 11 seasons of The Carol Burnett Show, moving effortlessly between glamorous gowns and deliberately ridiculous comedy creations. His famous curtain-rod dress for the show’s Gone With the Wind parody became one of television’s most recognizable costumes. Burnett remembered him as someone who could master both fashion and costume design.

His influence extended far beyond those two stars. Diana Ross, Tina Turner, Barbra Streisand, Liza Minnelli, Elton John and many others wore his work, while later generations—including Miley Cyrus and Sabrina Carpenter—continued embracing Mackie’s designs. His ability to combine spectacle, humor and glamour allowed his creations to remain relevant long after the eras in which many were originally made.

Mackie’s legacy ultimately lives in images that became inseparable from the performers wearing them. A sparkling Cher entrance, Burnett descending a staircase with a curtain rod across her shoulders, or a flamboyant stage costume under concert lights could become cultural memory. Bob Mackie spent his career proving that clothing could tell a story before a performer said or sang a single word. The designer has taken his final bow, but the extraordinary characters he helped create will continue sparkling long after the lights have gone down.