Bob Mackie, the costume designer who made sequins a personality trait for Cher, Tina Turner, Dolly Parton, and Elton John, has died at 87. His Instagram announced on Monday that he "lived his 87 years to the fullest, fulfilling his dream of being a Fashion and Costume Designer, which is all he ever wanted to do." His genius, the statement added, "will live on forever, continuing to bring beauty into this world." The man known as the "Sultan of Sequins" leaves behind a Tony Award, nine Emmys, and three Oscar nominations - a résumé that suggests he was not merely dressing stars but armoring them.

Mackie's most notorious creation may be Cher's 1986 Oscars outfit: a showgirl-inspired, plumed Mohawk headdress with a bare midriff that became known as her "revenge" dress because she wasn't nominated for anything. "I didn't get nominated for a movie that everyone thought I would actually win for [Mask] - so was dressing that night for a kind of revenge," Cher explained in the 2024 documentary Bob Mackie: Naked Illusion. The look went down in fashion history as one of the most outrageous and extravagant ever to appear at the awards - which is saying something, given the competition.

Mackie told the BBC in 2010 that when Cher started out she "looked like no-one else in the entertainment business at the time." He added, "Everybody just went crazy over this woman as she could wear anything." Cher was widely reported to be the first woman to show her belly button on US television, and Mackie's designs were pivotal to that milestone. So yes, he helped make television slightly more scandalous, one navel at a time.

He was also the creative genius behind several of Sir Elton John's costumes, including the now-iconic bedazzled Dodgers baseball outfit worn during his 1975 performances at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. "Every time I put something on that Bob made, I felt very, very special," Sir John wrote on Instagram. "His costumes were works of art, and he will go down as one of the most legendary designers ever in Hollywood."

Pink, who wore many of his designs over the years, shared several outfits from her 2009 Funhouse tour and wrote: "I was so lucky to be dressed by him for so long. He was loving, wickedly funny and an absolute genius." She added, "There are going to be some fabulously dressed angels." Mackie was still designing up until recently - Sabrina Carpenter wore one of his designs at the MTV Video Music Awards last year, and he designed the dress Miley Cyrus wore during her performance at the 2024 Grammy Awards, where she won for her break-up anthem Flowers. Perhaps it was her own version of a "revenge" dress.

Robert Gordon Mackie was born in Monterey Park, California, in 1939. His design career started as a sketch artist for Jean Louis, a French-American costume designer. One of his early assignments was sketching the dress Marilyn Monroe wore when she delivered her breathy rendition of "Happy Birthday Mr President" to John F Kennedy in 1962 - a garment that, like so many of Mackie's, became more famous than most people's entire careers.

He married Hollywood singer and actress Lulu Porter in 1960, but they divorced three years later. They had a son together, Robin, who died in his early thirties from an Aids-related illness. Mackie was in a relationship with Iranian fashion designer Ray Aghayan from 1963 until Aghayan's death in 2011. "I think I'm the oldest living designer in Hollywood," Mackie told The Guardian in 2018. When asked if he'd ever retire, his answer was simple - "I hope not." He didn't, and the angels are reportedly already forming a very stylish queue.