Costume Designer Edith Head | Her Stunning Fashion and Award-winning Costumes
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The best of Edith Head Costumes & dresses, Edith Head Oscars and Hitchcock movies.
This post is all about Edith Head, her biography and the glam costumes that she designed for Old Hollywood
What is Edith Head most famous for?
Born Edith Claire Posener in San Bernardino, CA 1897, Edith head was a prolific costume designer who was influential in designing a lot of the fashion you see in Old Hollywood movies.
Over the course of her long career she designed costumes for over 1,000 films and worked with virtually every top actress/fashion icon at the time including Audrey Hepburn, Grace Kelly, Barbara Stanwyck, Lana Turner, Mae West, Ingrid Bergman, Barbara Stanwyck, Joan Crawford, Elizabeth Taylor, Hedy Lamarr, and many more.
In fact, if you named your favorite Old Hollywood Glamour outfits, chances are, some of the them were designed by Edith Head.
Edith Head holds the record for the most Academy Awards won for Best Costume Design (8)!
She also collaborated with Alfred Hitchcock on 11 films.
Fun fact!
The pixar character Edna Mode (The Incredibles) is supposedly based off of Edith Head.
From her trademark glasses to her signature bobbed hairstyle, once you see it, you can’t unsee it.
Edith Head career
Although not much is known about Edith Head’s early life, it seemed difficult.
She mentioned lived in a variety of mining towns until High School.
Edith Head received her BA from UC Berkeley, and a masters degree from Stanford.
She didn’t directly study fashion though.
She begin teaching French and art classes, enrolling in art classes at the Otis Art Institute and The Chouinard Art Institute.
Eventually she landed an entry level position at as a sketch artist at Paramount Pictures, by “borrowing” sketches from other students at art school.
Once she got her foot in the door, the rest was history, as they say.
Designing the costumes for Mae West for the film She Done Him Wrong, was a big break for her career, and then her career took off.
Mae West wearing a costume designed by Edith Head in She Done Him Wrong.
Edith Head remained at Paramount Pictures for 44 years.
She designed clothes to reflect the character in the film, not based on her own style.
During her long career, there are hardly any top film stars that she didn’t design costumes for.
She was so often requested by top stars that Paramount pictures would “loan” her out to other studios in order to dress them.
After Paramount pictures, she joined Universal Pictures, apparently based on urging from director Alfred Hitchcock himself.
Despite all the glamour of her fashion, she preferred to dress relatively simple herself, with her trademark style being a simple suit and large glasses.
Edith Head designed too many stunning outfits and worked with too many top actresses to do them all justice here.
We chose a handful of our favorites to show below.
For more in-depth reading, highly recommend the book: Edith Head The Fifty Year Career of Hollywood’s Greatest Costume Designer, by Jay Jorgensen which was used as a reference throughout the post.
How did Edith Head influence fashion?
Edith Head had a great influence on the Old Hollywood Glam aesthetic as we know it today as well as influenced fashion during her time by designing the fashion icons costume for their films.
Many of the fashion icons from the 1950s and 1960s are known for their fashion in movies that Edith Head designed.
She designed clothes for virtually every top female star in Hollywood.
In other words, Old Hollywood had an influence on 1940s fashion, 1950s fashion and 1960s fashion, with Edith Head being one of the top costume designers.
How many oscars did Edith Head win?
Edith Head holds the record number of wins for Academy Awards for Best Costume Design, winning a total of 8 times.
7 times during her career a Paramount Pictures, 1 time with Universal pictures.
She was nominated a staggering 35 times for the academy award for Best Costumer Design over the course of her long career.
Here are the 8 films that Edith Head won the Academy award for Best Costume Design:
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Samson and Delilah (1949) starring Victor Mature and Hedy Lamarr
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All About Eve (1950) starring Bette Davis, Anne Baxter, and George Sanders
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A Place in the Sun (1951) starring Elizabeth Taylor, Montgomery Clift, Shelley Winters
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The Heiress (1949) starring Olivia De Havilland and Montgomery Clift
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Sabrina (1954) starring Humphrey Bogart, Audrey Hepburn, and William Holden (there is a bit of controversy here, as Hubert De Givenchy designed a few of the key pieces worn by Audrey Hepburn but wasn’t credited until later on.
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The Sting (1973) starring Robert Redford and Paul Newman
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The Facts of Life (1960) starring Bob Hope and Lucille Ball
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Roman Holiday (1952) starring Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn
Edith Head Hitchcock
Edith Head worked well with Alfred Hitchcock, collaborating with him on a total of 11 films.
Yep, those stunning Hitchcock blondes also owe some credit to the talented Edith Head.
From the famous green suits worn by Tippi Hedren in The Birds, to Grace Kelly’s stunning outfits in To Catch a Thief, to Kim Novaks signature gray suit in Vertigo, keep reading to see how Edith Head helped Hitchcock’s stunning characters come to life.
Edith Head Costumes for Notorious (1946)
Edith Head designed a simple and timeless wardrobe for Ingrid Bergman in Notorious.
1940s Style skirt suits, and streamlined silhouettes make up her timeless wardrobe.
Related post:
Edith Head Dresses for Rear Window (1954)
Edith Head designs a glamorous wardrobe for Grace Kelly’s character, Lisa, a socialite in Rear Window.
Her wardrobe is used to highlight the difference between her characters and Jimmy Stewarts (a photographer vs a society girl).
She even mentions a gown from Paris.
The character Lisa’s outfits are full on glam until the last outfit, in which she is supposed to become more low key in simple blue jeans, a button up and loafers.
Related posts:
Edith Head Costumes for To Catch a Thief (1955)
Again, Edith Head dresses Grace Kelly’s character in glamorous outfits as the rich heiress Francie in To Catch a Thief.
Among her lavish wardrobe, she designed a stunning blue evening gown to play up Grace Kelly’s character as an “ice princess.”
Edith Head Dresses for The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956)
Doris Day wears designs by Edith Head in The Man Who Knew Too Much.
Edith Head Costumes for Vertigo (1958)
Despite the film being a box office dissappointment when it was released, Vertigo is now recognized as one of Hitchcock’s best movies.
Hitchcock specifically wanted Kim Novak’s character Madeline to wear a gray suit, reminiscence of the fog in San Francisco where the movie is filmed.
Kim Novak resisted wearing the color gray, she said that the suit was very confining and restrictive.
She later said that the clothes were right, because they didn’t feel like herself, which was reflected in her role she was playing, pretending to be Madeline.
The role of Judy is actually where Kim Novak felt more comfortable in the characters clothes.
Related post:
Kim Novak’s Wardrobe in Vertigo Makes her the Ultimate Hitchcock Blonde
Edith Head Dresses for The Birds (1963)
The Birds was based off a short story by Daphne De Maurier.
Reportedly, Ann Bancroft was too expensive, so Hitchcock cast Tippi Hedren for the role of the wealthy Melanie.
Hitchcock limited her wardrobe colors to green and blue and personally selected the jewelry for the film.
Edith Head also designed a “tour wardrobe” for Tippi Hedren to wear while promoting the film.
Related post:
Edith Head Costumes for Marnie (1964)
Tippi Hedren wears costumes designed by Edith Head in Marnie.
To learn more about Tippie Hedren’s fashion in Marnie:
Edith Head Dresses for Torn Curtain (1966)
Edith Head designed a simple wardrobe for Julie Andrews character in Torn Curtain.
Edith Head Costumes for Topaz (1969)
70’s style elements start to come out in Edith Head’s costume designs for Topaz.
Edith Head Costume for The Trouble with Harry (1955)
Shirley Maclaine wears her costume designed by Edith Head in The Trouble with Harry.
Edith Head Costumes for Family Plot (1976)
Again, more fashion styles into the 1970s for Family Plot.
This post was all about Costume Designer Edith Head, and her stunning fashion designs
Which Edith Head costume is your favorite?
