An explosive performer who spent over six decades in the spotlight, Tina Turner had an immeasurable effect on pop culture. She established enduring signatures over the course of her shape-shifting and self-determined career, including, but certainly not limited to, inventive wigs, knockout dance numbers, and a voice overflowing with soul. But perhaps the greatest encapsulation of Turner’s diva-dom was her wardrobe, which included leg-baring pieces crafted by Bob Mackie, Azzedine Alaïa, Versace, and, at times, Turner herself. Turner, who died last month at the age of 83, was a style maven even in the last stages of her life—in April 2018 she attended the premiere of a jukebox musical based on her life in a dazzling semisheer crystal number. In a new “Life in Looks” video, Vogue.com editor Chioma Nnadi walks through some of the most memorable looks that the “What’s Love Got To Do With It” singer wore over the course of her life.
Turner’s enthusiastic and experimental play with fashion first began as one half of Ike and Tina Turner. A photograph, taken in 1964, captures the star shortly after a performance at the Skyliner Ballroom, wearing a knee-length shift dress that was likely picked out by her husband, Ike Turner. In later years, Turner would reveal this period of her life was particularly troubled—she accused Ike of physical and emotional abuse and controlling almost every facet of her career and image. “You saw her come out of her relationship with Ike as this very empowered woman who is completely at ease with showing skin,” Nnadi says in the video.
A little over a decade later, we’d see Turner on her own terms. She appeared on The Cher Show in 1975 wearing a Vegas-flavored, high-slit sequin dress designed by Bob Mackie. The outfit was the burgeoning start of what would prove to be an iconic designer-superstar relationship over the years. “Bob was really intentional about how he paired them,” Nnadi explains. “He understood that Tina needed to show her legs and you can see how he highlighted Cher’s abs.”
A little known fact: In the 1970s, Turner made a regular practice of buying off-the-rack dresses in Paris and, later, slicing-and-dicing them into stage-ready looks in collaboration with Mackie. The practice was one borne of necessity. “Because she actually, at that time, didn’t have the money to commission original pieces,” Nnadi says.
Cut to one of Turner’s most famous and oft-replicated looks: The cover for her 1984 album Private Dancer. Turner’s aesthetic here, in many ways, became synonymous with the decade’s fashion—a large, backcombed wig that seemed to have a life of its own, übershort dresses, and classic black heels. “She wore them because they were comfortable,” Nnadi explains of Turner’s penchant for shoe practicality. From here, Turner started having a closer relationship with designers making custom looks. When Gianni and Donatella Versace designed a micro minidress, she had one piece of feedback: “Make it shorter.”
In her later years, Turner would maintain her showgirl flair with impressive ease and poise. In 2008, at the 50th Annual Grammy Awards, she staged a special performance of “Proud Mary” with Beyoncé, a noted disciple of Turner’s. Here, the star traded in her short-short slip dresses for leg-baring metallic pedal pushers. And, in one of her final public appearances, the star attended the opening night premiere of Tina: The Tina Turner Musical wearing a crystal-heavy brown ensemble. It was fitting for someone who maintained her fiery spirit and drive throughout her life.
Director: Gabrielle Reich
Director Of Photography: Frances Chen
Editors: Michael Suyeda, Tajah Smith
Producer: Qieara Lesesne
Producer, On Set: Jordin Rocchi
Associate Director, Creative Development: Alexandra Gurvitch
Associate Producer: Lea Donenberg
AC: Hannah Freeman
Gaffer: Jeremy Harris
Set Designer: Elaine Winter
Set Design Assistant: Aidan Lapp
Audio: Nicole Maupin
Makeup Artist: Delina Medhin
Production Coordinator: Ava Kashar
Production Manager: Kit Fogarty
Line Producer: Romeeka Powell
Senior Director, Production Management: Jessica Schier
Assistant Editor: Billy Ward
Supervising Editor: Kameron Key
Post Production Coordinator: Jovan James
Post Production Supervisor: Edward Taylor
Director of Content, Production: Rahel Gebreyes
Senior Director, Programming: Linda Gittleson
Executive Producer: Ruhiya Nuruddin
VP, Digital Video English: Thespena Guatieri
Filmed at: The Beekman, a Thompson Hotel
Archival Imagery: © Peter Lindbergh (courtesy Peter Lindbergh Foundation,
Paris)
Archival Imagery: Gian Paolo Barbieri, Peter Lindbergh