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Journal of Undergraduate Research

Keywords

Edith Head, costume designer, film and theatre

College

Fine Arts and Communications

Department

Theatre and Media Arts

Abstract

This project has been an involved approach to studying the history of costume design both through conventional research and the more tactile, construction process. While Edith Head is a renowned costume designer with many books and articles on her life work, less has been done to understand how her designs functioned and evolved from idea to costume. This process is essential to understanding her career’s success and is exactly what my project is meant to explore. Studying how her design for The Great Race (1965) was changed from concept to construction gives valuable insight to how Head thought as a designer. It reveals what she was and wasn’t willing to compromise on, how she balanced aesthetics with practical considerations and how she worked with an actor or actress to achieve the proper look for their character. This information will help costume designers and students to implement Head’s strategies, improving our work and academic experience in film and theatre.

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