"𝐍𝐨𝐛𝐨𝐝𝐲 𝐞𝐥𝐬𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐢𝐭, 𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐲𝐨𝐮. 𝐖𝐡𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐟𝐢𝐠𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭, 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲? 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐚 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐧𝐨𝐛𝐨𝐝𝐲 𝐞𝐥𝐬𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐬?" -𝐁𝐨𝐛 𝐌𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐢𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐂𝐡𝐞𝐫. Cher wearing one of her most iconic and daring Bob Mackie/Ray Aghayan gowns in a photo shot by Richard Avedon for Vogue magazine, December 1974. Adorned with feathers and strategically placed sequins, the gown gave the illusion of being see-through and caused a stir when Cher wore it to the Met Gala on November 20th, 1974 and one of the transposed photos from the above shoot was featured on the cover of Time magazine on March 17th, 1975. The "naked dress" illusion for the gown was created using layers of a sheer fabric called soufflé, which is no longer available due to its highly flammable nature. "It was a fabric that actually was against the law in this country," Bob stated in 2024, "but Marlene Dietrich had brought it in for her gowns and we had the same dress people working for us as Dietrich. It's just one of those crazy, crazy things, but it got a lot of attention." The issue of Time magazine featuring Cher wearing the gown on the cover "was banned in the South," Mackie recalled. "Some people thought the gown was just shocking. You couldn't see anything, but you ~thought~ you could. You make them think they're seeing everything, but they don't see anything. People are still printing that picture of the cover of Time magazine." It's of interest to note that Mackie and Aghayan were life-partners for fifty years until Ray's passing in 2011. In addition to their acclaimed solo work, they also collaborated together creating gowns for Cher, Judy Garland and countless other glamorous Hollywood stars, winning an Emmy Award as a duo for their work on the television musical Alice Through the Looking Glass in 1967.
