Bob Mackie
Tina wearing Bob Mackie’s wing dress in 1977 & Sketch from Bob Mackie / Photo by Harry Langdon
Bob Mackie is an American fashion designer and costumier, best known for his dressing of many entertainment icons, including Bette Midler, Marlene Dietrich, Diana Ross, Cher and Tina Turner. Bob met Tina in the 1970s when she was guest on the Cher Show. Since then, he designed many stage costumes for Tina, including the iconic 'wing‘ dress Tina used in her first solo concerts and all stage clothes for her 50th Anniversary Tour in 2008/’09.
Bob began designing shimmering dresses for Tina in red and gold, with stretching flames that covered her nipples. He knew the idea was a hit when other celebrities began requesting dresses that looked like the ones he was creating for her. „I got a call from Raquel Welch. She said, ‘I want a dress like Tina Turner would wear.’ I had never really designed for Raquel Welch. I said, ‘I’d love to do that.’ A couple weeks later Tina calls me, and she says, ‘I just saw Racquel Welch wearing a dress I’d love to have.’ And I had to laugh, so I told her the whole thing. Tina thought it was great. She loved that those women were paying attention to her and what she wore.“
The group of women included Cher, who performed with Tina on the Sonny & Cher Show in 1977, doing a rendition of „Makin’ Music Is My Business,“ in matching red and gold dresses.
In 2005, he supplied Beyoncé with a flaming red dress for her tribute to Tina at the Kennedy Center Honors, while Tina watched the performance from the balcony, smiling down as Beyoncé did a rendition of Proud Mary.
Bob Macie about Tina Turner:
„The first time I saw Tina was at Studio One in Los Angeles, in the late 60s. Then Tina appears as a guest on The Cher Show and I made her a whole bunch of looks. The show always finished with a concert at the end. Tina looked and sounded amazing. Working with her was always a challenge and exciting - a real treat. There was nobody else in the world like her and I loved her very much. The cardinal rule of dressing Tina Turner was, you couldn’t cover anything up. Her legs were simply too beautiful.“
