Costumes and Gowns By Ms Edith Head

Shirl.....

Excellent idea for a thread, OP!

I've always loved Shirley Maclaine's dress in What A Way To Go! (1964)

....

The mink dress....

Anne: Edie, can I see that ombre chiffon?

Academy Collection Highlights

THE COSTUME DESIGNER....

Ms Edith Head worked in films from 1925--1982. Her filmography is extensive!

With Groucho....

This....

Timely...

She also did so many fabulous looks in "Sunset Boulevard."

This is...absolutely...FABULOUS.

The trailer for A New Kind of Love....

This is an excellent idea!!

Thank you OP

she also styled men.

Elizabeth Taylor in "A Place in the Sun"

R17 I mean...

Elizabeth Taylor

A Place in the Sun

1951

Bet your ass I did, r16! My last Oscar, in fact.

I like this wedding dress from THE LADY EVE more than the one Head did for Liz Taylor in FATHER OF THE BRIDE

Edith Head gave good wardrobe

I love this thread! Natalie Wood in Sex and the Single Girl

With Audrey Hepburn.

Grace Kelly wearing Edith head in To Catch a Thief

She would get incensed when people referred to Bette's black cocktail dress in All About Eve.

"It was BROWN!"

What was the deal about how she didn't really design Newman and Redford's The Sting outfits, but took home an Oscar for it anyway?

" Fashion is for many people the attraction and the gel to clothing in cinema, but a conflation of the two has always worried the costume designer. Head, in her time, was criticised for her perceived conservatism and ignorance of contemporary fashion currency, nicknamed ‘Queen of the Shirtwaisters’. "

Seems she stole a lot of credit. She also got Oscars for films when it wasn't her clothes but someone else's that won her the award. Biggest theft: Sabrina. Still she must have been well liked so that even refusing to give credit where credit was due allowed her a long career. Either that or she knew where the bodies were buried.

Edith Head...what a bitch! She took credit for designs she did NOT create. She really was a cunt. She had a falling out with Claudette Colbert and called her "that dyke!" She was NOT a nice person, but some female Hollywood stars loved her because they looked good in some things she DID create.

As long as there was no credit taken for the divine work she did with Grace Kelly, I'll be okay

She made Stanwyck look good for sure...with that long torso of hers.

by the way I could look at her sketches/watercolours all day, and she captured Joan here!

Took credit for her assistants' work. Really deserves no credit for a lot pf her work.

A bit of trivia: Hedda Hopper disliked Edith, & referred to her as "Travis Banton's sketch artist".

Great thread - Had no idea that dress BD wore was brown! But "Ms" Edith Head? Oh my, OP.

Was Edith a lesbian?

[quote] A bit of trivia: Hedda Hopper disliked Edith, & referred to her as "Travis Banton's sketch artist".

If Hedda disliked her, she couldn’t have been all bad...Hedda was a bigoted right wing cunt who used her column to ruin lives. Her own son didn’t like her.

She did the costumes for "Funny Face"!

Or at least got the credit for the costumes.

Head did the costumes for one of my favorite films, "Vertigo". I saw this outfit at the Hollywood Costume Exhibit in person, and it's meant to be something worn by a tasteless shopgirl. I hadn't realized that all the shades of green clashed, but they do.

A good costume designer can do a lot more than glamour.

R38, IMDB erroneously gives Edith Head credit for all the costumes in “Funny Face.” The title sequence for the movie credits Givenchy for Audrey Hepburn’s costumes.

Love that Columbo episode where we see on display her EIGHT OSCARS

"She took credit for designs she did NOT create"

Aren't there unions that protect people from getting work stolen or appropriated - or that give other's work to a union member?

Stanwyck got Edith to the dentist who fixed her teeth because he "could work wonders." It didn't matter because Edith never ever smiled when being photographed. it was part of her image to look like a stern seamstress.

Did she rub tacos with Stanwyck?

Puleeeeeze, R43. Stanwyck had many more attractive choices.

Unions protect their own. I assume Givenchy was not a union member. So who gives a fuck if she won his Oscar. I believe I read a long time ago Mitchell Leisen designed the Lady in the Dark Jennie outfit. Again probably not a member of her union.

Edith narrates her wardrobe tests for Lana Turner

Edith Head AND Anne Baxter in Columbo.

Grace Kelly in "Rear Window" although I don't know if Miss Head stole credit for them.

[quote]R32 by the way I could look at her sketches/watercolours all day, and she captured Joan here!

She did not do her own sketches. You will notice their drawing styles vary greatly over the decades. You could not confuse this artist, below, with the one who did your post’s sketch.

"Was Edith a lesbian?"

She and her husband were in a "lavender" marriage and socialized with other gay and lesbian "behind the scenes" Hollywood workers.

Their house was practically like a movie set if someone was making a movie about Hollywood "Bohemians."

I love Lana Turner, but she didn’t have the best body. Being blonde always makes people ignore your flaws.

She was too short, R51.

When they were young, Grace and Audrey could make anything look exceptional.

Yes r52, too short with a short neck and no hips.

[quote]The Advocate: How many of the subjects featured in Hollywood Lesbians (1994) and Hollywood Gays (1996) were alive at the time they were published? I’m wondering if Barbara Stanwyck, Nancy Kulp, and Agnes Moorehead were able to read the book.

[quote]Boze Hadleigh: Unfortunately, most of the participants in Hollywood Lesbians and Hollywood Gays were no longer alive when the books came out. In some cases, I had to sign contracts — including an eight-pager for Edith Head promising I would ask nothing about her private life — to not publish until they were deceased, so they could no longer be hurt professionally, or embarrassed; those generations were big on that.

I don’t think Head’s work has aged all that well. Or, not as extraordinarily as her status would have you expect. She did some lovely - if restrained - clothes, but she wasn’t as innovative or truly creative as someone like Irene Gibbons/Lentz, Theoni Aldridge, Bonnie Cashin, or Irene Sharaff.

I've created for well known fashion designers. It was and is a common practice.

This is one is for Barbara Stanwick in [italic]The Great Man's Lady [/italic]

That gown is awesome. She made Stanwyck look glamorous.

R59 Not sure I agree, as I think the gown overshadows the wearer.

I think that she looks good r60, so we’ll agree to disagree....

Edith stole many of MY ideas.

The Lady Eve

R51 and R52, Lana Turner was considered to have an ideal body in her day. Not a fashion model's body, but the sort of figure straight men liked - small, slim, long legs, curves where appropriate, pretty face.

This is from "The Prodigal", 1955. She had the most ridiculously over-the-top wardrobe in this mess! It gives the movie some camp value, its only saving grace.

I remember reading that Playboy offered Natalie Wood a layout, she said she would do it if Edith head would do the costumes for it.

R64 I love that scene where she gets stoned by the worshippers in the temple.

In the studio days there were studio wide Department Heads who often got screen credit on a film for that department; even though on many of those films they often did nothing more than supervise or approve the work of other people working under them. Credits then were very different than they are today, when every last accountant and PA gets their name on the screen. Van Nest Polglase was the head of the RKO Art Department in the 30's, so he got the credit on the Astaire-Rogers films for the sets, even though he didn't actually design most of them. More recent film history books usually point this out.

One of her tricks of the trade was to look as dowdy and plain and possible (it wasn't difficult; she was butt homely) when working with her clients The theory was that it made the glamorous women she designed for trust her and feel comfortable with her if she just faded into the background (she never wore color; only blacks and whites and greys). It seemed to work; her clients admired her for never looking dressed beautifully herself, only dedicating herself to making THEM look good. It was a calculated move, but they fell for it.

There is a book called Dress Doctor about Edith Head.

She got credit for underling’s work. Not a surprise at the studios.

With the sexless Jane Wyman...

[quote] With the sexless Jane Wyman...

She wasn't always. She used to be cute and fun, in the very early 40's. But then she got that stupid turtle hairdo and became what you said.

It’s not that she’s a bad actress, she’s not, but I don’t see chemistry between her and her leading men. And that prison matron hairstyle didn’t do her any favors.

Edith Head, who had previously owned and lived in Carrie Fisher's Coldwater Cany home for many years, was also said to have haunted the property.

Head was said to have been sighted roaming the property in a yellow nightgown.

A yellow nightgown? Fisher wondered why the eight-time Academy Award winning Head, who created some of cinema's most memorable costumes in Hollywood's most treasured films would wear something so unadorned as a nightgown - and a yellow one at that.

Fisher suggested that maybe Head had grown tired of fashion and has chosen something bland to nap in for bland eternity.

Another questionable credit: She Done Him Wrong.

Whoever was responsible, the gowns in that film were amazing.

I never understood why she won so many Oscars. I don't think she deserved many of them. I think the Academy voted for her just because she was a well known brand: "oh Edith Head is nominated...I guess I"ll vote for her again."

R78, Exactly...like....like....M

Another winner from THE LADY EVE...a morning coat with slacks....love it.

I always thought Adrian was the end all be all when it came to Hollywood gowns back in the Studio era.

Why would a woman with such a sense of style style herself in such an unflattering way?

That hair is atrocious. And I get that the glasses are her "look," but they are not flattering. At all.

[quote]Why would a woman with such a sense of style style herself in such an unflattering way?

She's not the star. Her work (clothes) is.

R83 I'm not expecting her to go grocery shopping in off-the-shoulder ballgowns with a train and a hat the size of a satellite dish, but she could have lost those dowdy bangs.

But, her style (like it or not) is/was her signature, R84

R85 I get that, but what I don't get is that it wasn't a bit better.

"Why would a woman with such a sense of style style herself in such an unflattering way?"

To butter up her ego-driven clients. She knew if she dressed down and dowdy they would like her more. It made them think: "this woman cares nothing about how she looks...all she cares about is making ME look good!" The ploy certainly worked. Big Hollywood stars became lifelong friends of hers.

Adrian was a much more talented designer than Edith Head, and I don't think he ever won an Oscar. He did the costumes for The Wizard of Oz, for God's sake. I don't think there are any movie costumes mor iconic than the ones in that movie.

In your opinion r88.

A fur-lined cape is perfect for the character of Norma Desmond.

"In your opinion."

In many people's opinion. Edith Head is VERY overrated.

"Why would a woman with such a sense of style style herself in such an unflattering way? "

To keep the actress's competitive instincts down, that's why.

I think it was she knew she was borderline ugly, and would look ridiculous in ruffles or anything other than a stark approach.

An architecturally clean silhouette was the best she could hope for, when she was out and about. (At home she preferred bright colors, and bold “ethnic” prints.)

[quote] An architecturally clean silhouette was the best she could hope for, when she was out and about.

That made me laugh.

Orry-Kelly was the overrated one. Too many frills and ruffles.

There's a place for too many frills and ruffles, R95, such as when you're trying to make Joan Crawford look feminine.

The dress Joan Crawford is wearing at R96 is the famous "Letty Lynton" Gown. Here's some info about it:

The film" Letty Lynton (1932") would probably be more or less forgotten today were it not for the white organdy gown worn by the star of the film, Joan Crawford. The film itself got decent reviews but it was the gown that is remembered today. Created by MGM‘s head costume designer Adrian, the gown was supposed to “hide” Crawford’s shoulders and balance out her hips. The breathtaking photos of all the Letty Lynton costumes, photographed by George Hurrell, were done on the Art Deco set of Joan Crawford’s previous film, Grand Hotel (1932). Even though all the costumes photographed are really impressive, it’s not hard to see why the white gown was a favorite amongst fans. The dress had more of an impact than just another pretty gown worn by a major star; this dress was one of the earliest examples of Hollywood creating a fashion trend.

A dress like this was never seen before. In the 1920s, the boyish straight cut was popular and by 1932, long, bias cut gowns were all the rage. This dress, with its huge ruffled sleeves, was a breath of fresh air, even anticipating the padded shoulder craze that would take hold on fashion later in the decade. This was copied by department stores and sold tens of thousands of knockoffs to hungry fans, young and old, who wanted a taste of Ms. Crawford’s glamour. The Silver Screen magazine stated in 1932, “Paris may decree this and Paris may decree that, but when that Crawford girl pops up in puffed sleeves, then it’s puffed sleeves for us before tea-time”. Before long, puffed sleeves dresses would appear everywhere.

Macy's department store copied the dress in 1932, and it sold over 50,000 replicas nationwide.

[quote] R97 Macy's department store copied the dress in 1932, and it sold over 50,000 replicas nationwide.

I always wonder when I read this. Why would none have survived?

She designed over 30 costumes for Natalie Wood in "Penelope".

She did a horrible job for Judy Garland on The Judy Garland Show, putting her in dreary shirtdresses.

Thankfully she was fired after a few episodes and replaced by Ray Aghayan, who did great work.

[quote]...such as when you're trying to make Joan Crawford look feminine.

Crawford still looked like a goddamned linebacker

the photo in R101 is a dress by Adrian.

the photo in R101 is a dress by Adrian.

Grace Kelly in Rear Window

That's a great site, r104.

Rear Window is the only Grace Kelly film I like.

Grace kelly gave up her career in Hollywood for a shithole principality in Monaco.

I would've never done that.

I think she only 11 films. She could've had a film career that went decades.

They had style

They had grace

Edith Head

Gave good Head.

Grace would have ended up doing guest spots on THE LOVE BOAT and a few miniseries and/or TV movies. And definitely more than one marriage.

Grace Kelly's costumes always looked like costumes and her acting was mannered. Like Dorothy Parker said of Katherine Hepburn, "She ran the gamut of emotions from A to B." This scene with Gary Cooper is just cringeworthy.

Grace Kelly would have married some other rich bastard(s) if she hadn't gone to Monaco, and gotten divorced during the golden age of alimony. With that and her Hollywood money and family money she'd have been rich enough to do what she liked, and yeah, she would have done a bit of acting now and then. But not much, because face it, during the sixties and seventies her brand of sophisticated elegance was very much out of style. And then as now, so was gaining weight in middle age.

Anyway, I looked at Head's wiki, and saw she was still getting regularly nominated for Oscars during the sixties and seventies. Her last nomination was for "Airport '77", she died four years later in 1981.

R97, “Letty Lynton” might be a lot of fun: it’s pre-Code, so Joan wears fabulous clothes AND gets away with murder. But a legal dispute has kept it out of circulation for decades.

Wow, R110, Grace Kelly is awful in that scene with her weird faux-British accent - I'd forgotten how bad she was

1. THE PRODUCER CAST GRACE KELLY AFTER ONLY SEEING A PHOTOGRAPH OF HER, THEN LATER SAID SHE WAS MISCAST.

Apparently even Producer Stanley Kramer regretted casting Grace Kelly Kramer hired the 21-year-old beauty to play Will Kane's bride, Amy, without an audition or even a meeting. (He didn't tell the director, Zinnemann, this until after the fact.)

When it was all over, Kramer had second thoughts: "She was miscast."

"She was just too young for Cooper. She didn't believe she did well in the role, and I didn't think so, either."

I have a copy of Letty Lynton. The movie, not the dress. So it can be had.