Costume Design in the Movies: An Illustrated Guide to the Work of 157 Great Designers

By Elizabeth Leese

Book Overview

"An attractive and informed guide. It includes an extensively cross-referenced list of films on which leading couturiers worked, a superb collection of stills, and a brief history of costume on the screen." -- George L. George, Millimeter

This handsome book, the first comprehensive reference work on costume design in films, is a remarkable tribute to the men and women who "dress" a film. Substantially revised and updated, it not only presents a splendid record of costume designers' contributions to cinema but also those of some of the world's great couturiers.
The heart of the book is an illustrated listing, arranged alphabetically by designer, providing biographical and career data (screen credits, major awards and nominations) for every major American, British, and French designer who worked on American and British films between 1909 and 1987. Among the designers are such luminaries as Adrian, Travis Banton, Edith Head, Christian Dior, Orry-Kelly, Givenchy, Jean Louis, Howard Greer, Helen Rose, Norman Hartnell, Irene Sharaff, Walter Plunkett, Charles LeMaire, Tony Walton, and Ann Roth. Their creations are featured in over 170 photographs and design renderings reproduced on high-quality coated stock. Also included is an invaluable index containing titles of 6,000 films, cross-indexed by designer, along with over 400 new film credits covering the period 1976 - 1987. In addition, an Appendix lists Academy Award nominations from 1948 (when the design award was first established), as well as the names of those honored by the British Academy for Film and Television Arts.
Essential reading for fashion and costume industry professionals, historians, and students, this superb sourcebook will be valued by countless moviegoers and the legions of film aficionados studying and working in motion pictures.
"The author's stills are excellent, clearly identified, and often very enlightening." -- Polly Platt, American Film

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 048626548X
• ISBN13: 9780486265483
• Release Date: March 1991
• Publisher: Dover Publications
• Length: 176 Pages
• Weight: 1.29 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 8.3" x 10.9"

Customer Reviews

Not entirely what I was expecting

Very little explanation visually of costumes. It's more about the designers themselves. Beautiful photos though.

Nice book describing famous Fashion (movie) Designers up to 1988

Good book! Lots of black-n-white photos of famous movie stars wearing wonderful designer fashions! This book was originally written in 1988,thus,the 157 famous Hollywood Fashion Designers listed in this book are all here --- from the very beginning of Hollywood's Fashion movie Era , and then all the way up to 1988. (NOTE: The reason the copyright on this book is 1991, is because the author added an information page in 1991. However, this book was really written in the 1980's). Anyhow, this book lists all the Academy Award Fashion winners and also all British Award Fashion winners (in regards to Hollywood FASHIONS), from the late 1800's up until 1988!

Costume Design in the Movies: An illistrated guide to the work of 157 great designers

I love fashion & many great designs were done by the designers for the old movie studios. It was interesting reading about how designers came up with ideas of an outfit to cover flaws or accent a movie star (i.e. Barbara Stanwycks low butt, Crawfords shoulder pads).

Fantastic Book For Classic Movie Lovers

One of my favorite things about watching classic films is seeing all the amazing fashions! This book is a great collection of photos of classic stars wearing classic costumes. Lots of stars are in here including Bette Davis, Norma Shearer, Carole Landis, Lana Turner, Joan Crawford, and Irene Dunne. You will learn who designed each outfit and there is a little biographical information about the designers too.

Simply fabulous!

I am a costume designer and have had this book in my research collection for about 10 years. It is one of my top favorites. I have turned to this book for inspiration countless times. They just don't make clothing like this anymore! The hair and makeup styles are also well represented.

A Reference for Movie Glamour in Black and White

OK. So, you already know who designed the costumes for My Fair Lady. But, you find yourself watching AMC one day and they're playing "The Manchurian Candidate" and halfway through the movie you remember that you forgot to look at the costuming credits. Well, you open the index to this nifty little reference book and find out that Moss Mabry not only designed the costumes for this movie but quite a few more. That he co-designed with Marjorie Best for Giant to win an Academy Award nomination, and so on...There are some nifty pictures that accent this reference guide. So, in addition to the listings, you get photos of older and newer stars (I could swear that the photo of Norma Shearer from "The Waning Sex" is a Hurrell), and reproductions of designer illustrations.I think I'll keep this one close to the VCR.