Born Edith Claire Posener in 1897, Edith Head kept her first husband, Charles Head’s surname until her death in 1981. Their 13-year marriage ended in 1936 and she went onto marry set designer Wiard Ihnen in 1940.
Edith Head – Costume Designer
Edith Head was employed by Paramount Pictures for 44-years, where she rose to the position of Head Designer. In 1924, Edith Head began as a costume sketch artist under the tutelage of costume designer Howard Greer, who taught her the skills that would make her fortune.
In 1925, fashion designer Travis Banton joined the Paramount design team, he was hot and young and all the stars wanted to work with him. His workload grew so big that he passed on his smaller assignments to Head. In 1927, he asked her to design the wardrobe for silent screen star Clara Bow in the film Wings, which was Head's career breakthrough.
Through the years she built up relationships with movie stars when they were still starlets. Then when they hit the big time, they remembered her and requested to work with her. This is how her portfolio and stature grew.
Edith Head - Celebrity
As well as her talent, her powerful personality and ability to get along with everyone ensured she was a popular person on set and always in demand to design for films.
Speaking about her, fashion designer Bob Mackie noted, “Edith was very bright about publicity and promoting herself.” She regularly appeared on TV and radio shows and even had a cameo role in the 1955 film Lucy Gallant.
Head also had a distinct look; she always wore blue-tinted dark glasses and rarely dressed up on set. She wore matronly, conservative style outfits in muted colours, perhaps channeling her inner glamour into the costumes she created. Her personal style has resonated through the years, in the 2004 film The Incredibles, the character of Edna, a costume designer, was based on her.
An Impressive Back Catalogue
Edith Head designed costumes for over 400 films. Such a prolific workload probably explains why she is quoted as saying she has, “designed (for) films I’ve never seen.” However, her work has been seen by millions, in such classics as:
- Samson and Delilah (1949)
- Sunset Boulevard (1950)
- The Greatest Show On Earth (1952)
- Roman Holiday (1953)
- The War Of The Worlds (1953)
- White Christmas (1954)
- Sabrina (1954)
- Elephant Walk (1954)
- Funny Face (1957)
- Sweet Charity (1970)
She especially enjoyed working with director Alfred Hitchcock and designed costumes for eleven of his films, including:
- Rear Window (1954)
- To Catch A Thief (1955)
- The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956)
- Vertigo (1958)
- The Birds (1963)
Head also became a published author when in 1967 she wrote, How To Dress For Success, which became a bestseller and was re-released in 2005.
Reward And Recognition
In 1948, Head joined with other costume designers to campaign for the creation of the ‘Best Costume Design’ category at the Academy Awards - better known as the Oscars. Their work paid off as the category was introduced. Although nominated that first year, her debut win didn’t come until the following year, when she was given the award for her creations in The Heiress.
Over the years, Edith Head went onto win 8 Oscars and received 35 nominations, more than any other woman in Oscar history.
In 1967 she left Paramount to work for Universal Pictures, where she remained for the rest of her career. Her legacy not only lives on through the many films she styled, the costume department at Paramount studios is named the “Edith Head Building” and she has been honoured with a star on the "Hollywood Walk of Fame".
Sources:
- Edith Head on the Internet Movie Database, imdb.com
- Edith Head: The Paramount Years (2002) - documentary
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