Ray Aghayan

Vintage Bob Mackie dresses are a fashion favorite, and with good reason. The legendary Monterey, California–born fashion designer has accrued an enviable list of awards that speak to his unparalleled influence on costumes for screen and theatrical performances: Mackie has nine Emmy awards to his name, a Tony award, a CFDA Lifetime Achievement Award, three Academy Award nominations and more.

As a child, Bob Mackie was enamored of Portuguese-born Brazilian dancer and actress Carmen Miranda. The love of film shared by his sister and mother proved contagious for Mackie, and he marveled at the richness and beauty he found in ballet. He wasn’t interested in fashion so much as he was in entertainment and went on to, fortunately, find work in television during the 1960s, specifically in programming that seemed to encompass all of what he’d grown to love about the arts.

As a fashion sketch artist, Mackie collaborated with Hollywood’s greatest costume designers, working with the legendary Edith Head at Paramount Studios as soon as he’d finished school. From there, he secured work with French-born, Hollywood costume designer Jean Louis, sketching the iconic Louis dress worn by Marilyn Monroe when she sang “Happy Birthday, Mr. President” to John F. Kennedy in 1962.

Mackie would spend most of his career as a costume designer, creating iconic pieces like the Gone With the Wind parody costume (currently in the Smithsonian) for The Carol Burnett Show — where he worked for more than a decade — and campy, opulent dresses for The Cher Show on Broadway, for which he won the Tony award (he also designed bedazzled stage costumes for Sonny and Cher's 1976–77 run at Harrah’s Lake Tahoe). But he had a considerable influence on mainstream fashion as well.

The figure-hugging, feathered and fringed gowns and cocktail dresses Mackie created were worn by stars like Cher and Diana Ross on the red carpet and concert tours. Similar designs of his — dazzling evening dresses of black or vibrant red silk, some beaded with rhinestones or embellished with ostrich feathers or navy blue sequins — made their way into his mainstream fashion collection. His ready-to-wear line debuted in 1982.

Bob Mackie has always said that his clothing was “for the woman who is not afraid to be noticed,” and any woman in one of his signature dresses would definitely turn heads. There is sparkle and an element of grandeur in his garments, whether they were crafted for singer Elton John, a universally renowned fashion icon in his own right, or the woman next door, donning one of Mackie’s spectacular creations and feeling like a movie star herself.

Shop vintage Bob Mackie day dresses, suits and more on 1stDibs.

With entire museum exhibitions dedicated to examining fashion designers and their creations, we’re finally recognizing that costuming is art. Evening dresses over time have conveyed specific statements about social class, position and beliefs. Fashion is a powerful means of self-expression, and sophisticated vintage evening dresses and gowns by our favorite couturier play no small role in making us feel wonderful but, perhaps more importantly, making us feel like ourselves.

In the 16th century, dresses and gowns were so important that England's Queen Elizabeth I defined rules about what dresses women could wear — guidance included long skirts and fitted bodices. Forward-thinking designers have responded to this history.

Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel reimagined traditionally masculine garments for feminine shapes, and her elegant evening dresses and gowns promoted comfort and grace in women’s wear that had been dominated in the previous century by layers of fabric. Christian Dior's gowns celebrated luxury and femininity in the late 1940s — and gave to women the gift of glamour they’d lost in the miserable years of the war. French fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent introduced innovative and highly coveted dress designs in the 1960s while at the same time challenging sexist stereotypes about which members of society could wear tuxedos.

Works by unconventional British designer John Galliano — featured in houses like Givenchy and Dior — redefined limits that dressmakers faced in terms of material, construction and vision during the late 20th century. From his embroidered absinthe-green Oscars gown for actress Nicole Kidman to the iconic sleeveless Dior newspaper dress that Sex and the City’s Carrie Bradshaw made famous, Galliano’s intricate and multifaceted work is reliably collectible and newsworthy

Today’s designers target an increasingly broad audience with their boundary-crossing work, and their tendency to play off of each other’s ideas means that every walk down the runway is also a walk through an entire history of fashion design and dress craftsmanship.

Whether you gravitate toward backless maxi dresses or silk charmeuse gowns by Alexander McQueen or embellished, ruffled floral-print designs by Chloe or Versace, there is an extraordinary collection of vintage and designer evening dresses and gowns waiting for you on 1stDibs.