Queen of the silver screen
Her influence was everywhere — think classic movies like Sunset Boulevard, All About Eve, Rear Window, The Ten Commandments, Funny Face, Sabrina. The frocks, costumes and gowns of dozens of iconic 20th century movies were all the work of one small, bespectacled creative powerhouse named Edith Head. And just released for classic film fans is the definitive book of her life and work, a coffee table heavyweight crammed with gorgeous photos of the designer amid her creations and the actors and actresses she dressed. Edith Head; The Fifty Year Career of Hollywood’s Greatest Costume Designer has been put together by photographer Jay Jorgensen, and is the definitive visual accompaniment to her work.
Edith Head was to costume designing what Hitchcock was to suspense, despite her claims that she couldn’t actually sew. Credited with designing costumes for more than 400 films over six decades, she contributed to some of cinema’s most memorable looks. She worked for Paramount for 44 years, before moving to Universal in 1967 for the remainder of her career until 1981. Such was her ability to transform and visually flatter movie stars via the cut of their costumes that Bette Davis once remarked of her designs, “That is the way I want the clothes to act.” Years later, in a small but surreal tribute, she was the inspiration for the tiny, fiercely energetic Edna E Mode character in the Pixar animated movie, The Incredibles.
