Introduction
Pop Diva Cher, whose dazzling and ever- changing fashion sense is celebrated, has been playing the top game for years. But, if it’s not those infamous, showy sequined outfits or those insanely, avant garde ensembles, which, in hindsight, weren’t all that crazy at all, then she’s been forging the fashion path for years now. Take, for instance, this one dress, one of her most famous dresses — just recently sold at an auction for a mind blowing $101,600 — this is a Bob Mackie showpiece. The sale of Cher’s ‘It Had to Be You’ dress has sent waves through the fashion world and the auction industry, leaving many to wonder: Is the hefty price it bears justified?
Cher’s Iconic Dress: A Brief History
Cher wore the ‘It Had to Be You’ dress during her performance of the 1986 Academy Awards Best Supporting Actress presentation. Bob Mackie, the legend designer who dressed Cher, also created the dress. Right to where you knew it was firm, and you know Cher never really minded, it was downright daring: Sheared, black chiffon gown embellished with beaded decoration, plunging neckline was worn by Cher. Cher’s gown was a showstopper for a reason (becoming an entertainment industry fashion icon later).
It is not because Cher will wear one of her many glamorous red carpet dresses because she is Cher but because Cher does not seem to care how she dresses and that is something the masses find acceptable. For decades they were inseparable, Cher and Mackie created some of pop culture’s most memorable outfits. But the question remains: Is this dress, this beautific sort of dress, this dress that’s on the cover of books, that hangs in Twitter offices, this dress sold for this amount? Is this dress, the iconic dress, actually worth what this dress just sold for?
The Auction Phenomenon
Dozens of the items of clothing, sketches and memorabilia from his career were heading to auction and it went to a Bob Mackie auction. They didn’t think the Cher dress would excite anybody at auction, but it sure did die hard’. The big hit of Tuesday’s auction was a rare Bob Mackie designed dress worn by Cher and Sonny, for a whopping eye popping $101,600 … almost double the pre sale estimate of $10,000 to $20,000 on this $10,000 to $20,000 dress, being a shining testament not only to Cher’s enduring trendiness, but also to Bob Mackie’s lasting artistry.
An item like Cher’s dress is worth so much money, so why is that? Thus in many of the cases, the value of the auction pieces can be explained because the pieces have cultural significance, the person involved with the item is famous, or because the item is something rare. Other than the thigh high boots, Burberry’s Cher ‘It Had to Be You’ dress ticks all of these boxes.
Value de Luxe for Cher via Dress
Cher owes pop culture a lot. It’s hard to argue that few can claim to be so much of an innovative trailblazer in music, a trailblazer in film and fashion and change the rules so much and remain so individual and fearless that that’s unlikely to leave them or their legions of international fans. What she wore also inspired generations of fashion fans and stars.
The It Had to Be You dress is a symbol of pop culture history minus the stuff and conformation Cher’s. One of those women who simply couldn’t be mistaken for anything but Cher was due in great part to her fashion daring — much of it Bob Mackie. But if you wear the dress at a major public event — the Oscars, for example — the cultural value of the dress gets released. And it’s worth more than the price, simply because it’s Cher’s name on the item, because they have cultural cachet.
And how much is one of these treasures actually worth?
If you didn’t say ‘the costume designer to the stars’, the name Bob Mackie wouldn’t ring a bell. It’s his work with Cher that’s iconic. But Mackie has not cornered the market on designs with the power to make a statement. And they’ve come with glamour, too: Cher in off the wall stage costumes, awards show red carpet gowns. That’s what makes his works so valuable in the auction world: he can tell stories in his costuming and have the costuming be beautiful and beautiful to look at.
Mackie’s work is huge for collectors, but also for fashion fans who want something connected to Cher. So partnership with one of the most important women in entertainment and we really get to see the genius on display.
The Price Tag: Was It Worth It?
Now, many will say that for $101,600, that just seems too much, but there’s also the timeline to consider in order to figure out if it was worth it.
It was the original Cher wore to the 1986 Academy Awards, one thing. However, when it’s gold that’s attached to some massive event in the minds of collections and fans of Mackie and Cher, the value always takes off. It’s also just a reflection of what was going on in pop culture and fashion at this time.
The second issue concerns the emotional, cultural importance of such a possession. On the other hand, there are people who would argue that Cher has been an artis who surpassed the norm: she chose to have a feminist closet style, being way ahead of her time since she wore these her things. Many collectors like to own a part of that history, and it’s a great thing. And it’s never really been about the money, because it’s been about having something to hold onto, it’s been about something that was connected to a time, to a moment in time that changed music or fashion.
Which is rare, and that’s reason that has value. It’s a unique collectible since it’s a Bob Mackie creation and was actually worn by Cher. Any travesty of justice will always seem an outlandish price, but the good news is that with this particular item, because it is such a rare item, it has so little chance of depreciating that the price could go higher and higher the further away from that sale date as Cher fades into legendary status through the years and the decades.
Conclusion: Should I purchase Cher’s Dress?
Though the price tag of Cher’s ‘It Had to Be You’ dress at $101,600 isn’t tagged as a cost for many, it’s tagged somewhere else. Cher has always been bold, always been individualist, and used her creativity to great effect throughout her career, she’s also a cultural artifact. Another way to look at it: at these prices, there’s likely history and artistry, and emotional value, associated with this fashion icon’s piece of scrap.
It’s just worth seeing whatever you are. In that sense the sale is an honourable tribute to Cher’s devotees and her most ferocious design collaborator, Bob Mackie, to whom many of her biggest hits, and what this is to those who wanted her to matter for the good, or for the very bad. Say, just imagine you can buy a piece of rag or as people sometimes call, a piece of garment, for that amount. Results of the auction may be less about realizing Cher will be around — and what the high prices reflect is a little bit about Cher continuing to exist and, in part, classic style’s everlasting force of magnetism.
**FAQ: Was Cher’s dress the high price auction winner?
**1. What’s special about Cher’s ‘It Had to Be You’ dress?
It was, of course, Bob Mackie’s dress to Cher: It Had to Be You that made the gown globally iconic. It was while wearing the necklace in 1986 that Cher presented the Best Supporting Actress award at the Academy Awards. Familiar from now like a legend the dress was daring at its plunge neckline and the beading that adorned it would inspire iconic fashion in its wake.
**2. What price did Cher dress sold at the auction?
The dress Cher wore in It Had to Be You sold at a Bob Mackie auction for $101,600, above its estimate of $10,000 to $20,000. And it reflects also the ultimate price of each button, the long term cultural impact of Cher and Bob Mackie creations.
**3. Why is a dress going to cost so much right now? However, it does.
The price of the dress was influenced by several factors: It was also the amount Cher was in debt, culturally, the amount Cher was in debt to Cher, and how those debts led back to that one essential key pop culture moment, the 1986 Oscars. It’s also an antique piece, a one of a kind designer creation by Bob Mackie’s, no less, and, like the drives of other great creations of his, a precious collectible.
**4. Doesn’t this dress come etched into the price at which Cher buys it?
Whether the dress is worth the price is up to you. For the fashion collector, or anyone who follows Cher’s career, this is an important piece of fashion history. It’s really valuable when something has that much cultural and emotional value and this is so rare. It’s about the dress, but it’s so much more than that, it’s because Cher and Mackie had a legacy together.
**5. Who came up with Cher’s 1986 Oscars dress?
The dress was created by legendary costume designer Bob MacKie, the person who has clothed Cher and various other celebrities. He was notorious once too in the entertainment industry for his outrageous flamboyant clothing—a trademark.
**6. And what did work Cher and Bob Mackie do for each other mean to fashion?
Not only did the biggest fashion moments in pop culture happen by Cher and Bob Mackie, but it was Hollywood, too. To alter an image in changing fashions of which man has never a foot set, Mackie became the image consultant for Cher.
**7. We ask then: So for some cool what have we banked on for; these Bob Mackie designs in the auction world?
The table was designed by Bob Mackie, of the greatest artistic craftsmanship, historical significance and design, unique in the world. But you don’t have to dress up in a big costume like Cher like we do, but the costumes are classic fashion history and people who like fashion or people who collect the memoribilia want them.
**8. *Did Bob Mackie auction all items?*
What one of the things is going on sale at the Bob Mackie auction? Yes: Cher’s dress. Sketches and memorabilia from Mackie’s career also went for high numbers, but only pieces of clothing with a connection to Cher or other big star spurred high bidding.
**9. * And how come someone paid Cher $4 Million to endorse her Dress?
Cher’s status as a cultural icon must have much to do with it, too. They know, too, that a Cher name will put you in a lot of dough in music, film and fashion. The reason I think this was such a revolution of a dress because she straight up put her style on out there so brazenly. And because it’s worth more.
**10. At what point, for instance, will Cher’s dress be worth anything more than it is right now?
That’s why if this dress would have been Cher and Bob Mackie so famous, so famous today it would have increased in value. However, the beauty, fame and reputation of the celebrity Cher this may provide to the piece, if the reputation will have something in the future as something worthy, could attract collectors, other people interested in fashion, who will desire to purchase this kind of piece.
