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it's vintage
October 28, 2013

30 Fantastic Movie Costumes by the Legendary Edith Head

By Allison P. Davis

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Photo: Bettmann/Corbis

Costume Designer Edith Head once said “If it’s a Paramount film I probably designed it.” She doesn’t even have to pretend to be humble. Her influence continues — immortalized both as a character in Pixar’s The Incredibles, and today, as a Google Doodle tribute in honor of her 116th birthday.

Head, who used forged sketches in her interview for her job at Paramount, has become one of the most revered and idolized costume designers in cinema history. In her five decade career, she won eight Oscars; defined the legendary styles of  Hitchcock’s iciest blondes, Tippi Hedren and Grace Kelly; and added the quirk to Audrey Hepburn’s most-replicated, classic all-American looks from Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Sabrina, and Roman Holiday. And that’s just the short list of her accomplishments. Name a classic film starring a female legend from the golden age of cinema, and she’s likely felt the cool embrace of Edith Head’s tape measure. Click through our slideshow of 30 of her most fantastic costumes from film — and get some inspiration for your Netflix queue.

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1 / 30 Photos
Grace Kelly in promo photos for Hitchock's To Catch a Thief, 1955  Photo: Silver Screen Collection/2012 Silver Screen Collection
Ginger Rogers in Lady in the Dark, 1944  Photo: Hulton Archive
Audrey Hepburn in Sabrina, 1954  Photo: Archive Photos/2010 Getty Images
Dorothy Lamour in The Hurricane, 1937  Photo: Silver Screen Collection/2011 Silver Screen Collection
Natalie Wood in The Great Race, 1965  Photo: Silver Screen Collection/2013 Getty Images
Rosemary Clooney and Bing Crosby in White Christmas, 1954  Photo: Hulton Archive
Hedy Lamarr in Samson and Delilah, 1949  Photo: Silver Screen Collection/2012 Silver Screen Collection
Natalie Wood in This Property Is Condemned, 1966  Photo: Silver Screen Collection/2012 Silver Screen Collection
Ingrid Bergman and Cary Grant in Notorious, 1946  Photo: Archive Photos/2012 Getty Images
Barbara Stanwyck in The Lady Eve, 1941  Photo: John Kobal Foundation
Ann Robinson and Gene Barry in War of the Worlds, 1953  Photo: John Kobal Foundation
Natalie Wood in Sex and the Single Girl, 1964  Photo: Silver Screen Collection/2012 Silver Screen Collection
Barbara Stanwyck Double Indemnity, 1944  Photo: John Kobal Foundation
Barbara Stanwyck and Gary Cooper in Ball of Fire, 1941  Photo: George Hurrell
Grace Kelly in Rear Window, 1954  Photo: Archive Photos/2012 Getty Images
Mae West in She Done Him Wrong, 1933  Photo: Archive Photos/2012 Getty Images
Bette Davis and Gary Merrill in All About Eve, 1950  Photo: Archive Photos/2012 Getty Images
Veronica Lake in Sullivan's Travels, 1941  Photo: John Kobal Foundation
Paulette Goddard in The Cat and the Canary, 1939  Photo: Archive Photos/2012 Getty Images
Kim Novak in Vertigo, 1958  Photo: Silver Screen Collection
Jane Wyman and Charlton Heston in Lucy Gallant, 1955  Photo: Paramount Pictures
Katharine Hepburn in Rooster Cogburn, 1975  Photo: Silver Screen Collection/2012 Silver Screen Collection
Mae West in Myra Breckinridge, 1970  Photo: Silver Screen Collection
Elizabeth Taylor and Montgomery Clift in A Place in the Sun, 1951  Photo: Archive Photos/2012 Getty Images
Doris Day in The Man Who Knew Too Much, 1956  Photo: Michael Ochs Archives/2012 Getty Images
Tippi Hedren in The Birds, 1963  Photo: Universal Studios
Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn in Roman Holiday, 1953  Photo: Archive Photos/2012 Getty Images
Shirley MacLaine in What a Way to Go!, 1964  Photo: Archive Photos/2013 Getty Images
Audrey Hepburn in Funny Face, 1957  Photo: Archive Photos/2012 Getty Images
Gloria Swanson in Sunset Boulevard, 1950  Photo: © Corbis. All Rights Reserved.
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