FASHION POLICE

Music Legend, 80, Reveals Illegal Secret Behind Infamous Naked Dress

The “Believe” singer spilled the wild story behind her best-known gown.

Cher’s barely-there Met Gala dress had a secret hiding in plain sight.

The 80-year-old singer revisited the surreal Bob Mackie gown she wore to the 1974 Met Gala in an interview with Vogue published Thursday, and shared a surprising detail about its construction.

“The secret of the dress that people don’t know is that it was made out of a material that was illegal in America, called soufflé,” she said.

The ultra-fine, transparent silk fabric gave the illusion that Cher was wearing little more than beads and feathers.

But the delicate material also comes with a caveat. The fabric is extremely flammable, failing to meet U.S. textile safety standards.

Mackie previously revealed that the same material was used for Marilyn Monroe’s famous “Happy Birthday, Mr. President” dress, another of the few gowns made with the fragile material.

The dress came with another unexpected connection: Hollywood legend Marlene Dietrich.

Cher recalled arriving for a fitting and noticing a woman in a nearby kitchen pulling things out of a refrigerator and tossing them into the trash.

“I had no idea what she was doing,” she told Vogue. “So I was like, ‘Bob, who is that?’ And he was like, ‘That’s Marlene Dietrich!’”

Dietrich, she learned, had brought the fabric used to make the gown.

The striking design featured shimmering embroidery over nearly invisible silk, with white feathers running along its long sleeves and hem.

Cher wore the gown to her first Met Gala, arriving on Mackie’s arm and leaving photographers scrambling to capture the revealing look.

Surprisingly, it wasn’t designed for the event. Cher and Mackie had originally created it for a Vogue photo shoot showcasing fashions from the 1920s through the 1970s.

“When we were going to the Met, I had no idea what to wear, and we were like, ‘Bob, what about this dress [from the shoot]?’” Cher recalled.

The singer had no idea the seemingly spur-of-the-moment decision would cause such a frenzy.

“What I didn’t realize is that most of the people were surprised, because it looks like you’re naked,” she said. “You’re not—but it looks like it.”

Mackie later described the commotion at the Met in an interview with Interview.

“The place went crazy,” he recalled. “I’ve never seen so many photographers just come out of the shadows at the Met and take her picture.”

The gown gained even more attention when an image from the Vogue shoot, photographed by Richard Avedon, appeared on the March 17, 1975, cover of TIME magazine.

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More than 50 years later, Cher’s daring creation continues to inspire celebrities. Kim Kardashian wore a feather-trimmed Roberto Cavalli gown inspired by the look to the 2015 Met Gala, while Dua Lipa channeled it during a 2018 performance. Zendaya paid tribute to Cher in a vintage Mackie ensemble at the 2024 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame ceremony.

When Vogue pointed out that naked dressing is now a red-carpet staple, Cher had a cheeky response.

“I know. They’re a little late,” she quipped.

Cher met Mackie in 1967 on The Carol Burnett Show. Their decades-long partnership also produced her midriff-baring gown and towering feathered headdress at the 1986 Oscars.

Following Mackie’s death in September at 87, Cher reflected on the friendship behind their extravagant creations.

“Without Bob, I would certainly not be a fashion icon,” she said. “Bob really was so important in making me have my own look.”

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Tamilore OshikanluContributor

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