Edith Head The Fifty-Year Career of Hollywood's Greatest Costume Designer

The definitive history of Hollywood's most legendary costume designer, featuring an insightful biography and previously unseen sketches, ephemera, and photos behind the scenes of hundreds of iconic films.
 
All About Eve. Funny Face. Sunset Blvd. Rear Window. Sabrina. A Place in the Sun. The Ten Commandments. Scores of cinema classics of the last century had one thing in common: Edith Head (1897-1981). She racked up an unprecedented 35 Oscar nods and 400 film credits over the course of a fifty-year career, and changed the fashion world forever with her timeless creations that continue to resonate and inspire present-day designers, fashion followers, and film-lovers.

Edith Head is the definitive portrait of the most influential costume designer of the twentieth century. Within these pages, historian, photographer, and collector Jay Jorgensen brings together rare, never-before-seen sketches, fabric samples, costume tests, and behind-the-scenes photos from the Edith Head Archives. Thoroughly researched and masterfully produced, the book features quotes and anecdotes from some of the silver screen’s biggest stars, among them Elizabeth Taylor, Joan Fontaine, Audrey Hepburn, and Bette Davis. It documents Head’s career stitch-by-stitch, from the 1930s Westerns to the classic All About Eve, Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds, and beyond. Jorgenson also chronicles the star designer’s personal life, from her mysterious childhood to the controversial portfolio that landed her first job in a movie costume department and on to legendary status.

Edith Head captures the politics of Hollywood, the golden era of studios and starlets, the designer’s ongoing battles with the censors over hemlines, and her unyielding dedication to the craft. Stunningly illustrated with more than 350 images, Head’s legacy lives on in this lavish and comprehensive volume.

Jay Jorgensen is a film and fashion historian and collector. He is the author of Creating the Illusion: A Fashionable History of Hollywood Costume Designers, among other film histories. Jorgensen is also a photographer whose work has been showcased in magazines such as People and TV Guide. He lives in Palm Springs, California.