Vintage photograph of the weekend: Cher and Bob Mackie in 1974

Known for her unique stage outfits, Cher owes a great part of her wardrobe to Hollywood couturier Bob Mackie. Between spangles and sequins, for decades, the two friends have shared the same vision of fashion, evidenced in this photograph from the MET Ball in 1974.
A common love of anything that’s over-the-top, sequins and fashion was what longstanding ‘work friends’ Cher and Bob Mackie first bonded over. Since the end of the 1960s, the famously jet-black haired singer and the Hollywood star couturier have been proud pioneers of American glitz and glamor. The designer first caught sight of the young hippie couple Sonny and Cher backstage at the Carol Burnett Show. While the former fell for Cher’s sylph-like beauty and charm, the latter fell for the designer’s precious designs. Dubbed ‘the rajah of rhinestones’ and ‘the sultan of rhinestones’, Bob Mackie made Cher his model muse, dressing her in his glimmering stage costumes and rhinestone day wear. The evidence is in this photograph taken on November 28, 1974 at the MET Ball, the inauguration party for the Metropolitan Museum of Art exhibition which gathered designers and their muses on the red carpet. Cher wears a signature Bob Mackie piece: it’s suggestively sheer, with individually placed sequins and ethereal feathers. Their friendship delves deep both artistically and personally, as to this day the designer oversees her wardrobewhich of course is bathed in sparkle.

Photo: Ron Galella / Getty images