Customer Reviews

Edith Head's Hollywood

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Edith Head was a well known costume designer for old Hollywood for over forty years, she garnished dozens of academy award nominations and eight academy awards for her talent and creativity. What is so interesting about this book and unusual is that it is actually a combination of an autobiography written by Edith Head before she passed away and a well researched biography written by Paddy Calistro. The writing of both authors is interwined throughout this book in a clever way.

I found this book so fascinating as it is not just about Edith Head and fashion in old Hollywood but also about the major stars that Edith Head designed for, their attributes, temperaments and flaws. Throughout the book there are dozens of fashion sketches by Edith Head as well as pictures of some of the stars wearing Edith Head's costumes. There's also a foreword by Bette Davis worth reading. In the back of the book you will find a filmography with a list of 750 films listed by the year in which Edith Head contributed in some way to creating the costumes. If you love old movies, you will love this book! Highly recommended!

"Edith Head's Hollywood" goes where "The Dress Doctor" failed to by giving readers a more in depth look into the woman behind the enigmatic designer. This book also dispells various rumors about Edith and gets behind the truth to several false claims and accusations (some by Edith herself). Very well researched and put together with an extensive listing of the films Edith worked on over her successful 50 year career as Hollywoods most proclaimed costume designer.

I bought a used copy of this book, and I really enjoyed it. There are a ton of pictures...of Edith herself and of the stars she dressed. If you love classic Hollywood films, this is a great insider's look. I also learned a lot about Edith's background & personal life, and I think it really defines being a "self-starter". She came from a completely different background & was able to use her wit and ingenuity to do exactly what she wanted to do. And every time I watch To Catch a Thief, I'm so grateful that she did it!

I read this book last evening. I went to Bartlesville Price Tower to hear Paddy give a review of the book. It was wonderful. The book is exceptional and I could not put it down! I learned more facts about Edith Head from this book than I have learned in years reading various materials. The author is well informed and personable.

If you want to learn all about Edith Head, are a design or fashion student, or just love the Golden Era of Hollywood, then this book is for you. It has Edith's own words as well as the editor's. Sometimes that means there is a discrepancy in facts, but it's always a GREAT READ!

RECOMMEND HIGHLY!!!

LOVED THIS BOOK..IF YOU LOVED HOLLYWOOD..FROM THE 20'S-INTO THE 70'S..THE GLAMOUR,THE CLOTHING..AND A TIME WHEN A STAR DRESSED LIKE ONE....EDITH DESIGNED FOR THE MAJORITY OF THEM.. AND COMMENTS ON MOST OF THEM IN THE BOOK
BUY IT!!!!!

Edith Head was notorious for claiming credit for other people's work, whether that of her many sketch artists (she couldn't draw) or of other designers, whether one of the studio designers who did the work she put her name on, or Hubert Givenchy, who design Audrey Hepburn's clothes that got Head one of her many Oscars and which she subsequently claimed to have designed. On her later projects, the actual designers sometimes never met her, but through the legalities of the contract system, her name went on any Paramount movie she wished, and she shared or claimed any awards. The beginning of her career was built on a portfolio of borrowed sketches, she stabbed her boss, the brilliant but alcoholic Travis Banton, in the back to take his job. Her primary gift, which is not to be scoffed at, was as a politician who could handle directors and self-absorbed, insecure actresses. In the words of Deborah Nadoolman, "Edith was a big, fat liar." So, any book written (or ghostwritten for most likely) Edith Head must be read with a grain of salt.

Though she was born Edith Claire Posener (in 1897), the tiny powerhouse of a woman we have come to know and admire as Edith Head was no poser. No, not at all. She was the real thing. And now she has written a book. All about her life as a costume designer in Tinsel Town (AKA Hollywood). Check it out. She herself had a odd haircut and didn't dress all that well. But she made excellent movie clothes for all of the best female actors in Hollywoodland. With her peculiar dutch boy haircut and her thick impenetrable glasses, it is rumored that the cartoon character Marcie from "Peanuts" was based on our dear Edith - as Peppermint Patty was based on her long time friend, actress Anne Baxter. But that is neither here nor there. Enjoy her book.