Join us for a screening of Bob Mackie: Naked Illusion followed by a discussion with writer, editor, and New York Times Best-Selling Author, Derek C. Blasberg, and the legend himself, Bob Mackie!

Bob Mackie: Naked Illusion showcases the six-decade career of award-winning costume designer, Bob Mackie. And like his costumes, Bob Mackie is wholly unique and unfiltered, which makes for a compelling and candid subject. The film examines Bob’s unique upbringing, those whom he has held dear within his inner circle, and the familial surprises in his life that have all contributed to the optimism and audacity present in his work.

Because the film is fully authorized, Quixotic Endeavors was given access to the full Bob Mackie archive, which has been meticulously kept and curated with many rare and unseen artifacts, including the outfits that didn’t make the cut. We also capture the over-the-top costumes as they get sequined and beaded from sketch to stage. Specific highlights include some of the soon-to-be lost art methods by old-world artisans that help make each outfit Mackie conjures something to behold and remember.

The documentary feature includes original interviews with Bob Mackie clients and collaborators, along with those he has inspired – designers, stylists, comedians and actors, as well as Bob’s first-person account of some of his most iconic looks from “The Carol Burnett Show’s” Startlett O’Hara dress to Cher’s 1986 Academy Awards look with feathered headdress and Tina Turner’s iconic concert costumes. Bob Mackie is a truly peerless and timeless costume designer, with interviews from Cher to Pink, to Tom Ford and Miley Cyrus, to Rupaul and Carol Burnett a testament to that fact.

FILM CREDITS

Directed and Written by Matthew Miele
Produced by Anne Chertoff Tavelin
Executive Producers: Anne Chertoff Tavelin, Mary D’Souza, Stephen McCarthy, Joe McFate, Matthew Miele, Clive Gershon, Benjamin Charbit & Ezmina Tauran

Cinematographer: J. Adam Giese
Edited by Matthew Miele

Featuring: Bob Mackie, Cher, Carol Burnett, Pink, Tom Ford, Miley Cyrus, RuPaul, Mitzi Gaynor, Bernadette Peters, Zac Posen, Gregg Barnes, Michael Berresse, Jenelle Hamilton, Steven Kolb, Vicki Lawrence, Fern Mallis, Joe McFate, Booth Moore, Martin Nolan, Mel Ottenberg, Lulu Porter, Law Roach, Hal Rubenstein, George Schlatter, Jeffrey Seller, Flody Suarez

Bob Mackie

Costume and fashion designer Bob Mackie is a nine-time Emmy Award winner, Geoffrey Beene CFDA Lifetime Achievement Award recipient, and has three Oscar nominations. He received a 2019 Tony Award, Drama Desk Award, and Outer Critics Circle Award for his work on The Cher Show. His Broadway credits include Moon Over Buffalo and Putting It Together, starring Carol Burnett, Best Little Whorehouse Goes Public, Minnelli on Minnelli, Lorelei with Carol Channing, and On the Town with Bernadette Peters and Phyllis Newman. Broadway on television: “Once Upon a Mattress” starring Carol Burnett, “Gypsy” starring Bette Midler, “Carousel,” “Brigadoon,” “Of Thee I Sing,” and “Kismet.” Bob’s inventive and memorable designs have helped raise entertainers like Tina Turner, Diana Ross, Cher, Elton John, Ann Margret, Bernadette Peters, Miley Cyrus, Mitzi Gaynor, Carol Burnett, Bette Midler, Pink, Zendaya, and Cher to iconic status both onscreen and off.
Derek C. Blasberg

Derek C. Blasberg is a fashion editor, curator, and best-selling author. Born and raised in St Louis, Missouri, Derek attended New York University and graduated in 2004 with two degrees, Journalism and Dramatic Literature. His first job was as an assistant at Vogue. In his career, he was the first ever Head of Fashion & Beauty at YouTube and the youngest ever Editor-At-Large of Harper’s Bazaar. He was also the host of a revamped "CNN Style" on CNN International and Vanity Fair’s Man on the Street. His writing has appeared in Vogue, Elle, Interview, W, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and the London Sunday Times.

Derek is the author of a 2010 collection of humorous essays about etiquette, 'Classy: Exceptional Advice for the Extremely Modern Lady,’ which was translated into several languages and published in Asia, South America and Europe. He published a sequel, ‘Very Classy: Even More Advice for the Extremely Modern Lady,’ in 2012. In 2015, he published ‘Bazaar: Models,’ a survey of the most influential faces in fashion history. Derek has been a senior staffer of the Gagosian Gallery since 2014 and is currently the Executive Editor of Gagosian Quarterly. He was the Media and Culture Consultant on all four seasons of HBO’s ‘Succession.’ In 2023, he collaborated with the Richard Avedon Foundation as a curator on a record-breaking exhibition called ‘Avedon 100,’ which was devoted to the photographer's centenary. He lives on New York’s Upper East Side with his partner, Nick, and two children, Grace and Noah.
Matthew Miele

A storyteller above all else, Matthew Miele has drawn upon his various experiences in music composition, publishing, and screenwriting to become a successful producer and director of critically acclaimed, and internationally renowned, feature-length documentaries.

Past films include Scatter My Ashes at Bergdorf’s, Harry Benson: Shoot First, Always at The Carlyle and Alan Pakula: Going for Truth. Miele’s latest film release, Bob Mackie: Naked Illusion, chronicles the unprecedented six- decade career of award-winning costume designer Bob Mackie. The film further examines Bob’s unique upbringing, those whom he has held dear within his inner circle, and the familial surprises in his life that have all contributed to the optimism and audacity present in his work.

Up next for Miele and currently in production are fully-authorized documentaries on the legendary lyricist Bernie Taupin, and an inside look at the renowned New York City comedy club, Comedy Cellar.

BOB MACKIE: NAKED ILLUSION

Bob Mackie

Derek C. Blasberg

Matthew Miele

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