Bob Mackie, the costume designer whose sequinned gowns and towering headpieces defined the look of American entertainment for more than fifty years, has died at the age of 87. His family shared the news through his official Instagram account, describing a man who spent his life doing exactly what he had always wanted, and whose designs would go on bringing beauty into the world long after he was gone. No cause of death has been given.
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Born Robert Gordon Mackie in Monterey Park, California, in March 1940, he trained at Pasadena City College and the Chouinard Art Institute before entering the industry as a sketch artist for Jean Louis and later as an assistant to Edith Head, two of the most respected names in Hollywood costume design at the time. It was through this early apprenticeship that he met Ray Aghayan, who became both his professional partner and his life partner, and together the pair built a body of work that included the 1966 television special Alice Through the Looking Glass, for which they won the first Emmy ever awarded for costume design.
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His career gathered pace when Mitzi Gaynor brought him on to design for her...