Edith Head

By Isabella Alston and Kathryn Dixon

Edith Head is probably the most iconic of all Hollywood costume designers. Beginning in the early 1930s until her retirement in 1977, Edith Head costumed the stars of over 500 films. With 35 Academy Award nominations for Best Costume Design, she won 8—the closest to come to her record is Irene Sharaff, who garnered 15 nominations and 5 wins. Edith Head truly surpassed all of her competition. Audrey Hepburn, Grace Kelly, Natalie Wood, Lucille Ball, Barbara Stanwyck, Mae West, Elizabeth Taylor, Doris Day, and Katherine Hepburn are just a few of the female stars Head dressed, both in character and as themselves. And winning her last Oscar for The Sting in 1974 meant that her designs for male stars, explicitly Paul Newman and Robert Redford, were superb as well. Her style acumen stretched from the exotic, historical costumes she designed for Samson and Delilah and The Ten Commandments to the classic, timeless costumes she designed for Roman Holiday, To Catch a Thief, and Sabrina. This book is a sampling of Edith Head’s most famous work.

• Language: English
• Publisher: TAJ Books International
• Release date: Nov 19, 2014
• ISBN: 9781844063895

Isabella Alston

Isabella Alston was born in Los Angeles. As a dual citizen of Switzerland and the USA, she considers both Europe and America home. She is a free-lance writer, artist, and astrologer, currently living on the North Carolina coast with her husband, a US Marine, and their dog, Archer.

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Published by TAJ Books International LLC 2014

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Copyright © 2014 TAJ Books International LLC

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ISBN 978-1-84406-335-2

Paperback 978-1-62732-022-1

Printed in China

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EDITH HEAD

T&J

I S A B E L L A  A L S T O N  &  K A T H R Y N  D I X O N

Contents

Edith Head

Index

EDITH HEAD

Hollywood owes a tremendous debt to the iconic costume designer Edith Head, who for over five decades infused the silver screen with glamorous and inventive fashion that captured and enthralled moviegoers of all ages. From the early 1930s until the late 1970s, a plethora of major films showcased her work, from All About Eve to Rear Window to Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid . And 35 years after her retirement from the movie business, her fame still lives on.

In 2013, to commemorate what would have been her 116th birthday, Google created a Google Doodle searchbar logo featuring Edith Head in the foreground and six sketches of her more famous designs behind her. Even Pixar’s The Incredibles character, Edna E Mode, was inspired by Edith’s unique persona and appearance. Even though her creations were close to perfection, her true legacy was an ability to transform actors and actresses into the characters they were intended to play. Her contributions to the film industry are beyond invaluable.

Edith Claire Posener was born on October 28, 1897, in San Bernardino, California. Her father, Max Posener, who had immigrated to America in 1876 from Prussia, had become a United States citizen by the time Edith was born. Her mother, Anna E. Levy, was from St. Louis, Missouri. Edith did