Christie's auctioned off some Bob Mackie creations this week. The "Wizard of Glitter" gave us Cher at the 1986 Oscar ceremony and Carol Burnett wearing a curtain rod.
His creations enhanced their stage magic and transformed them into pop-culture fantasies. Before Jean Paul Gaultier and Dolce & Gabbana dressed Madonna in cone bras and corsets, Mackie was dressing Judy Garland and Diana Ross. Mackie's garments, which are just as prodigiously ornamented in the back as they are in the front, speak of old Hollywood. They create an aloof distance between the performer and the fan. They emphasize star status. Even the pieces that were never meant for the stage have a Las Vegas glitz to them that suggests that a celebrity, in Mackie's estimation, should never be caught by photographers in something as banal as Seven jeans or a Juicy Couture sweat suit.
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