On Her 80th Birthday, Look Back at Cher’s Inimitable Style

Reported by Vogue.

Eighty years old, six decades of fashion history, and zero apologies. Cher — born Cherilyn Sarkisian in El Centro, California — has spent her entire career treating clothes the way most people treat punctuation: as a tool for making a point. According to Vogue, her journey from '60s flower-child beads and feathers alongside Sonny Bono to full-on rock leather and sculptural couture is less a style evolution than a masterclass in never asking permission.

The creative partnership that defined her most theatrical era started in 1967, when she met designer Bob Mackie during a guest appearance on The Carol Burnett Show. By the time The Sonny and Cher Show launched in 1971, Mackie was producing up to 20 outfits per episode — marabou feathers, sequins, belly-baring halters — essentially using prime-time television as a runway. Nobody else could have pulled it off. Nobody else tried.

The Oscar Moment That Said Everything

Even when her early-'80s acting career pushed her toward a grittier aesthetic, Cher knew when to bring out the armor. Her 1986 Academy Awards look — a custom Mackie crop top, skirt, and feathered headdress — remains one of the most defiant red carpet moments in Oscars history. She accepted the Best Actress award for Moonstruck in an outfit that Hollywood's decorum police would have banned on sight, and then joked from the podium that she'd apparently missed the memo on how a serious actress was supposed to dress. The trophy and the look landed equally hard.

These days, her wardrobe leans into the leather-and-structure energy she first picked up in the '80s — but the scale hasn't shrunk. At the 2026 Met Gala, she arrived in a Burberry leather corset over a lacy bodysuit with an organza skirt. At the 2026 Grammys, where she collected a Lifetime Achievement Award, she wore a sculptural leather Luis de Javier gown and jacket. The sequins aren't gone; they're just reserved for when they'll hit hardest.

What separates Cher from the long line of style icons who take themselves too seriously is the joy in it. The wardrobe is wearable art, yes — but it's also just what she wants to wear. It's why Zendaya and Dua Lipa still look to her for inspiration, and why, at 80, she remains the blueprint. Real style influence doesn't age; it compounds.

Read the original at Vogue.