Edith Head

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.

This one-of-a-kind survey of her life and work reveals the woman behind the famous dark glasses and brings together a spectacular collection of rare and never-before-seen sketches, costume test shots, behind-the-scenes photos, and ephemera. Stunningly illustrated with more than 350 images and packed with information, this is both the most comprehensive work on Edith Head ever published and a lavish history of Hollywood in the twentieth century.

Author Biography

As a longtime editor for Petersen’s Photographic magazine, Jay Jorgensen has written profiles of such celebrities as Janice Dickinson, Graham Nash, and James Galanos. Jorgensen’s photography has appeared in People magazine, TV Guide, independent film festival favorite Bette Fredericks: A Life Lived, and the book Julius Shulman: Palm Springs. He is the author of Creating the Illusion: A Fashionable History of Hollywood Costume Designers and Grace Kelly: Hollywood Dream Girl.