The designer was known for his flashy, sparkly designs for Cher, Diana Ross, Tina Turner and countless others.

Bob Mackie, the singular showbiz couturier who died on Monday at 87, earned names like the Sultan of Sequins and the Rajah of Rhinestones. His position in the fashion canon became defined by stardust and fantasy. Yet the man himself possessed a public persona that bore little resemblance to his loud and dazzling designs.

Throughout his six-decade career, Mackie was known as a modest, soft-spoken and devoted craftsman. After studying at the Chouinard Art Institute, he headed to Hollywood to work for costume designers Jean Louis and Edith Head. It was in the 1970s, after working on “The Judy Garland Show” and “The Carol Burnett Show,” that he began designing his stage-persona-defining costumes for performers like Diana Ross, Bette Midler, Ann-Margret and Elton John.

In the 1980s, he moved to Manhattan to try joining the ranks of master courtiers like Bill Blass and Oscar de la Renta, and introduced a ready-to-wear line, Bob Mackie Originals. However, the line folded in 1993. On a visit to New York last year at the age of 86, Mackie looked back on that chapter with no regrets. “Maybe what I do wasn’t for everybody, but that’s fine,” he said. “I could only ever be true to myself.”