Fashion designer Bob Mackie talks about the latest creations he made for Cher's farewell tour.

 
When you think Cher, you definitely think fashion.

Fun, wildly over-the-top outfits like the infamous spiderweb dress with a Mohawk head piece the singer-actress wore to the 1986 Oscars. Or, sometimes, drop-dead glamour, like the beautiful, beaded and sheer gown she donned for her 1975 TIME cover photographed by Richard Avedon.

Both ensembles were designed by her longtime fashion co-conspirator Bob Mackie, whom she met in Los Angeles in 1967 when Sonny and Cher were guests on the Carol Burnett Show.

"She's worn other clothes over the years, but basically we always seem to come back together," said the warm and welcoming Mackie yesterday in his Toronto hotel suite. "I think I understand where she's coming from. It's a nice relationship. She's an old friend."

Mackie's latest assignment is a doozy -- designing the dozen costumes for Cher's Farewell Tour, a career retrospective that launches tonight at the Air Canada Centre in support of her latest, dance-oriented album, Living Proof.

"She has very definite taste," said Mackie, as a seamstress in the next room was making a last-minute alteration to one of his creations. "And, also, she has an eclectic taste that has become 'the Cher look.' People always expect her to do something. This time, she's got long blond hair.

"But in this particular show, we really cover all the interesting Cher looks over the last 35 years or more. She's trying to revisit looks that she's had in the past, which is nostalgic, but when you're singing those old songs, it's fun."

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