#nude dresses

[100gayicons]

Many gay men will be able to relate to Bob Mackie’s early life. His father had no interest in him, and his mother handed him off to his grandmother to raise. As a boy, he preferred drawing alone in his room over playing sports outside with other boys.

In high school in a Los Angeles suburb, he designed costumes for talent shows. He met Marianne Wolford and asked her to the senior prom. She would get pregnant, and they got married in 1960.

Marianne became a professional dancer and actress (changing her name to Lulu Porter). While she traveled for her work, Bob attended design school. In an interview, he described the guilt he felt, realizing he was gay and deceiving his wife. He didn’t want to lead a double life, so he told Lulu the truth. They divorced in 1963 but remained friends.

While attending Chouinard Art Institute in Westlake, Mackie was offered the opportunity to be a sketch artist for French designer Jean Louis. He worked with Louis on the design for Marilyn Monroe’s iconic “nude” dress, which she wore singing “Happy Birthday” to President Kennedy in 1962. (Mackie would late design “nude” gowns for Mitzi Gaynor and Cher - among others).

Mackie left Chouinard without graduating when he was offered a job costume sketching at Paramount Studios. There he worked with famed costume designer Edith Head and he became an assistant to costume designer Ray Aghayan. They would become lifelong romantic partners. Together they would win an Emmy Award for the TV movie “Alice Through the Looking Glass” (1966). (Aghayan died from natural causes in 2011.)

In 1967, Mackie was asked to design costumes for actress Mitzi Gaynor’s show in Las Vegas. This led to his work on her 8 TV specials - winning Emmys twice for his designs.

His work on Mitzi’s Vegas show led to Bob being hired by Carol Burnett for her variety show in 1967. His comic genius helped her to define and enhance her characters - never more so than her iconic Scarlett curtain dress. Over 11 seasons and 269 episodes, Mackie designed 16,000 costumes for Carol, her costars, guests, and backup dancers.

How could Mackie top that? Designing for Cher, of course. He worked on her TV show with Sonny, her solo show, numerous stage shows, and Academy Award appearances.

His work with Cher led to Mackie designing for British icon Elton John’s, including designs for his sequence studded Dodgers uniform and his infamous Donald Duck outfit.

In his career, Mackie has been nominated for 3 Oscars, nominated for 32 Emmys (winning 9 times); and winning a Tony for Broadway musical The Cher Show.

Bob Mackie’s son Robin died in 1993 due to an AIDS-related disease (from intravenous drug use). At the time, Bob and his former wife did not know Robin was a father himself. Years later, Bob’s granddaughter reached out to him. Eventually, Bob and his former wife Lulu developed strong bonds with their new extended family.

Bob Mackie’s designs, costumes, and gowns have been worn by a long line of glamorous stars including: Judy Garland, Lucille Ball, Raquel Welch, Diahann Carroll, Ann-Margret, Tina Turner, Diana Ross, Goldie Hawn, Julie Andrews, Liza Minnelli, Bette Midler, Bernadette Peters, Madonna, Pink, Miley Cyrus, and Zendaya.

“Bob Mackie: Naked Illusion”, a documentary about Mackie was released in 2025. It meanders and is poorly edited. It’s is a huge disappointment. Mackie deserves better.

[chlobody]

nature’s nymph [ shot by @ohseephotography ]

[descendinight]

🥀Happy Valentines Day！

[sophiarauss]

Going Down ...

[kinky--wifes]

[sophiarauss]

One more use of a Tub

[nyaar0n]

what if jean gets a guardian devil

[hotwife-fling]

[marandaright1]

More artwork

[myfemjourney]

Where were we, again?

We may resist our true selves for a fleeting moment, but in the end, the force of our nature will rise, unrelenting, to reveal where we are destined to stand.

The hair may have gone a bit awry,

The dresses dull and weary

And I, myself, may look dreary...

But, it's still just me 😊 What do you think?

[marandaright1]

Strategic nudes

I tagged crossdressing, since i have heels on.

[adelinanebula]

https://www.instagram.com/ada.mi.eva/

Captured elusiveness. Self portrait.