Fashion Spotlight: Edith Head

If there is one thing that I really love is watching old movies. Part of the movie experience is watching a character develop and evolve over time. Naturally plot direction has a lot to do with it but one important key piece that really silently tells the story behind a character is their costuming. But who are the faces behind some of the most iconic looks in movie history? Well saddle up hombre because I'm going to show you some of the faces behind the clothes. 

Kicking off this mini series is Edith Head. Mrs. Head ruled movie costuming, during the golden era dressing some of the most famous movie stars from that era from Grace Kelly to Elizabeth Taylor to Audrey Hepburn.

Edith did not start the foundation of her career in costume design at all. She earned her BA degree in Letters and Sciences at the University of California. Later earning a MA in Romance languages at Staford University. From there be began a teaching career. She first learned how to draw by taking art classes at night be the request of her principle who wanted her to teach an Art class.

It wasn't until 1924 she began her long lasting career in design being hired as a fashion sketcher for Paramount Pictures. One of  her first major assignment in her new career was as an assistant for the movie Wings, the first movie to ever win a Best Picture award at the Academy Awards. Edith later on moved from fashion sketching to full on fashion designing, staying with Paramount pictures for 44 years before moving on to Universal in the 60s.

Elizabeth Taylor in Elephant Walk

During her career, Edith defined fashion by dressing some of the most famous stars in Hollywood in some of their most successful roles movie roles. Mae West was able to keep the men drooling with Edith designing the costume for her She Done Him Wrong. Edith emphasized the break down of a character when Betty Davis played a famous actress trying to hold on to her last pit of spotlight in All About Eve. Some of Audrey Hepburn's biggest and most notable pictures in the fashion world were due to the grace and style of Edith Head. Edith designed for Sabrina, Roman Holiday, and Funny Face.

During Edith's switch to Universal pictures she worked in a lot of Alfred Hitchcock films that include: Grace Kelly in Rear Window and To Catch a Thief, Doris Day in The Man Who Knew Too Much, Kim Novak in Vertigo and Tippi Hedren in The Birds. The winner of 8 Academy Awards, more than any woman in the history of the academy, Mrs. Head has earned her name in the fashion history books and she truly defined an entire era of fashion with her work in film.

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