Edith Head: Hollywood’s Costume Designer

 

2024 08 30 Edith Head: Hollywood’s Costume Designer

Organized by OKCMOA, this exciting retrospective of award-winning costume designer Edith Head will feature costumes from the 1930s to the 1960s that were worn by some of Hollywood's biggest stars of the 20th century.

The Oklahoma City Museum of Art announced its 2024 summer exhibition, Edith Head: Hollywood’s Costume Designer which will be on view from June 22, 2024, through September 29, 2024. Organized by OKCMOA and presented by The Ann Lacy Foundation, this exciting retrospective of award-winning costume designer Edith Head (1897-1981) will feature 70 costumes that capture the height of Head’s career and were worn by stars such as Audrey Hepburn, Grace Kelly, Ginger Rogers, Shirley MacLaine, Veronica Lake, Barbara Stanwyck, and Kim Novak.

 

“Edith Head: Hollywood’s Costume Designer has been generating a great deal of buzz behind the scenes as we’ve been working on this original exhibition for the past few years. Some of us recognize her name and associate her with some of our favorite films, such as director Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo and Rear Window, or we know her from the Edna Mode character in Pixar’s The Incredibles,” said OKCMOA President and CEO Michael Anderson, PhD. “We are thrilled to be part of people’s summer plans for next year as they join us for this much-anticipated exhibition.”

 

The exhibition will take up the entirety of the Museum’s third floor, where costumes, sketches, and two screening areas will showcase Head’s life and work. The exhibition will include sections displaying a variety of costume styles, such as formal gowns, musical performance costumes, daywear, and historical costumes. Visitors will also have the opportunity to learn more about her working relationship with Hitchcock, her life outside of her career, and her process.

 

“Head was famous for wearing sunglasses, but most people don’t realize there’s a reason behind the shades,” said Catherine Shotick, guest curator for Edith Head. “Her trademark glasses had custom, blue-tinted lenses, which allowed her to see how the costumes photographed in black and white: a trick used by costume designers during the Golden Age of Hollywood.”

 

With over 400 films to her credit, Head ruled the costume design departments at Paramount and Universal Studios from the early 1920s to the early 1980s. Head helped define the style of classic Hollywood with her striking designs, which earned her 35 Oscar nominations and eight Oscar wins — more than any other woman to date. To complement the exhibition, a related film series will be organized for the Museum’s Noble Theater highlighting Head’s work on the screen. Additional public programming will be announced in the coming months.

https://www.okcmoa.com/visit/events/edith-head/