Head Of The Class

The cosmic costume designer Edith Head, born in 1897 - was the veritable doyenne of her field. Miss Head was quite a rare commodity, she was the only one of the great Hollywood costume designers that had no previous background in theater or fashion for that matter. In fact, she broke into the industry based on a few white lies, as she poker-faced her way into a sketch artist's position at Paramount Studios in the 1920s.

        Dressing Mary Martin








 Most of her neophyte years, would be served as the assistant to the eccentric Travis Banton, who left the profession in 1938 due to some personal issues. It would be this moment of fate, that would see Edith as Banton's successor. It was only a minority of contemporaries that were pleased about this . Many of Head's peers and colleagues believed she was none too creative and far too formulaic in her technique. This was also part of the reason she was a strong designer. It was her cautious approach, that would help her in creating the perfect pieces.

        Need to re-spool the film




The dilemma in designing for the movies, was that films were often released a few years after they were produced. And this is where Miss Head's practical reasoning would help - she would never allow for current fashion trends to inspire the looks of her costumes. Special points to her for seeing the shoulder pad as absolute anathema! Her designs would exude the classic and the timeless. She worked closely with the women she dressed. Two of the dearest - being Ingrid Bergman and Barbara Stanwyck. In her days of noir designs, her ladies of the lead, were always as refined as they were sensual, irrespective of the guttural characters they portrayed.

        Full of Grace in a timeless Head creation




In Double Indemnity, Edith homed in on the perfect congruity of noveau riche decadence and sexy allure, and this is noted in the stair-descending opener , when the insurance agent sets his eyes on Stanwyk's temptingly erotic anklet and the pom-pom top of her high heeled cockroach killers, and then a generous glimpse of her form fitting white silken dress. The next time Stanwyck would be dressed by Head would be in Sorry Wrong Number.   Going the other end of the gamut, as a bed-ridden invalid. Edith elaborates the character's fragile state by a delicate lace bedjacket. The objective was to always complement the costume with not only the role, but the mood of the each particular scene. An inherent perfectionist, every detail was considered. In fact Edith Head was so passionate about perfecting every tonal relation to black and white film, she would never be seen without her tinted glasses on to get this daunting job done.


Even in her octogenarian years, she would take Carl Reiner up on his offer and put the very plaid in Dead Man Dont Wear Plaid

Edith never minded making a spectacle of herself.

Edith left this world after 60 years of dedication to the industry, in 1984.