Skip to content
OKCMOA Oklahoma City Museum of Art
  • Visit
  • Art
  • Film
  • Store & Bar
  • Search
  • Visit
  • Art
  • Film
  • Store & Bar
  • Search
icon hamburger menu black 1
icon hamburger menu black 1
  • Tickets
  • Membership
  • Donate
  • Tickets
  • Membership
  • Donate

Follow

Icon Instagram White Icon Linkedin White Icon Facebook White Icon Twitter White Icon Youtube White
Icon Instagram White Icon Facebook White Icon Twitter White Icon Youtube White
  • Museum Blog
  • Museum Films Blog
  • Press
  • Museum Blog
  • Museum Films Blog
  • Press
Edith Head
  • June 14, 2024

Inside the Classic Hollywood Costume Department

By Kristen Pignuolo, Curatorial Assistant

With the exhibition Edith Head: Hollywood’s Costume Designer opening this Saturday, June 22, OKCMOA visitors will be able to see dozens of costumes from costume designer Edith Head’s (1897-1981) long career. She designed costumes for almost sixty years (from the early 1920s to the early 1980s), working her way up from the position of sketch artist to chief costume designer at Paramount Pictures in 1938 (later moving to Universal Studios in 1967). With over 400 films under her belt, Head worked on some of Hollywood’s most acclaimed films, such as Rear Window (1954), Sunset Boulevard (1950), Vertigo (1958), and The Heiress (1949). Creating costumes for just one film was an undertaking that took months of effort, work that Head did not do alone. As chief costume designer, she oversaw a massive department that included seamstresses, sketch artists, beaders, and more.   

The design process first started with Head reading the film script and creating a wardrobe plot, which lists the film’s characters, descriptions of their costumes, and the sequence in which they would be used. If the script was historical, researchers at Paramount’s library would provide the costume department with images of clothing and relevant information from the period. However, some directors called for more rigorous historical research. For the 1949 film The Heiress, set in late nineteenth-century New York City, director William Wyler was so committed to historical accuracy that he sent Head to New York to study period-appropriate clothing and textiles. 

EX0286 71 20240415

Once any necessary research was done, Head and the department sketch artists would create sketches of the costumes. At this point, fabric would be selected from the studio’s extensive fabric warehouse or ordered. Head would also collaborate with art directors and camera operators to make sure the colors and materials intended for the film’s costumes would work with its set design and lighting. Finalized sketches, often with fabric swatches attached (example to the left), would then make the rounds to the film’s producer, director, and star for approval. Once sketches were approved, costume construction would begin. Head oversaw costume construction and typically had three fittings with an actor and, if the budget allowed, a final camera test before film production. Of course, certain costumes took far more time to create than others. For the film The Perils of Pauline, actress Betty Hutton wore a completely beaded two-piece gown for the musical number at the end of the movie. It took beaders approximately six months to complete the costume.  

The costume department’s work didn’t always stop once production began. For the biblical epic The Ten Commandments (1956), the costuming unit, led by five designers including Head, arrived in Egypt at the beginning of filming with costumes for 3,000 extras. After months of collaborating with historical researchers, drafting thousands of sketches and creating costumes, they discovered that the film’s director, Cecil B. DeMille, wanted them to costume 15,000 extras instead. Despite this seemingly impossible hurdle with film production starting, the costume department sourced or created the necessary costumes, and The Ten Commandments was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Costume Design, Color.  

Learn more about the inner workings of a Hollywood costume department and how Edith Head created a lasting legacy in the field of costume design by visiting Edith Head: Hollywood’s Costume Designer, organized by OKCMOA and presented by The Ann Lacy Foundation.  

 

 

 

Image Credits

Edith Head at work. Courtesy of The Paramount Pictures Archive

Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research

Explore

Plan Your
Visit Now

Loading...
OKC MOA Gallery 8234
icon arrow right@2x
Currently On View

Current Exhibitions

View our open exhibitions at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art. From delicate glass pieces to painted portraits, we have everything you are interested in.

Loading...
DSC8647 Enhanced NR
icon arrow right@2x
Upcoming

Calendar

Sign up for exhibition programming, film screenings in the Noble Theater, lively seasonal events, and more! There's always something exciting happening at OKCMOA.

Loading...
MoA Gift Shop LUX PRINT 13
icon arrow right@2x
Shop and Sip

Museum Store x Ganache

OKCMOA is pleased to invite you to Museum Store x Ganache, a partnership with Ganache Patisserie. In addition to the enhanced shopping experience in the new space, visitors can enjoy a full bar with coffee, cocktails, beer, wine, and grab-and-go options from Ganache, including sweet and savory items. 

Store

Shop Now

Adler Torino Bar lifestyle 1

Creative Gifts

Chihuly Spring Green Persian Glass

Chihuly Art

Phaidon multi book image

Books & Collectibles

icon search 2
OKCMOA Circle Logo transparent

415 Couch Drive
Oklahoma City, OK 73102

405.236.3100
Hours
Monday-TuesdayCLOSED
Wednesday:10 am-5 pm
Thursday:10 am-8 pm
Friday-Saturday:10 am-5 pm
Sunday:12-5 pm

CLOSED: Monday, Tuesday, and Major Holidays (Independence Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and New Year’s Day)

  • Visit
  • Art
  • Film
  • Store
  • Private Events

Support

  • Season Sponsors
  • Fundraisers
  • Annual Fund
  • Double Your Donation

Community

  • Moderns
  • Film Society
  • Outreach
  • Membership
  • Corporate Partnership

About

  • Departments
  • Contact
  • Annual Reports
  • History
  • Careers

Programs

  • Families
  • Educators
  • Adults
  • Outreach

News

  • Press
  • Blog
  • Films Blog

Select list(s) to subscribe to


By submitting this form, you are consenting to receive marketing emails from: . You can revoke your consent to receive emails at any time by using the SafeUnsubscribe® link, found at the bottom of every email. Emails are serviced by Constant Contact
Facebook Twitter Youtube Instagram Linkedin
Ratings BLK 4star
okcnp member badge black

Select list(s) to subscribe to


By submitting this form, you are consenting to receive marketing emails from: . You can revoke your consent to receive emails at any time by using the SafeUnsubscribe® link, found at the bottom of every email. Emails are serviced by Constant Contact

© Copyright OKCMOA

  • Visit
  • Art
  • Film
  • Shop
  • Visit
  • Art
  • Film
  • Shop
  • Get Tickets
  • Become a Member
  • Donate
  • Get Tickets
  • Become a Member
  • Donate
  • Calendar
  • Learn & Engage
  • FAQs
  • About
  • Support OKCMOA
  • Press
  • Calendar
  • Learn & Engage
  • FAQs
  • About
  • Support OKCMOA
  • Press
Instagram White Created with Lunacy Facebook White Created with Lunacy Twitter White Created with Lunacy
OKCMOA Circle Logo transparent

415 Couch Drive
Oklahoma City, OK 73102

405.236.3100
Hours
Monday-TuesdayCLOSED
Wednesday:10 am-5 pm
Thursday:10 am-8 pm
Friday-Saturday:10 am-5 pm
Sunday:12-5 pm

CLOSED: Monday, Tuesday, and Major Holidays (Independence Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and New Year’s Day)

Visit

Art

Exhibitions

Collection

Film

Store

Donate

Tickets

Membership

Calendar of Events

Learn & Engage

Private Events

About

  • Departments
  • Contact
  • Annual Reports
  • History
  • Careers

Support

  • Season Sponsors
  • Fundraisers
  • Annual Fund
  • Double Your Donation
  • Volunteer

Community

  • Membership
  • Moderns
  • Film Society
  • Corporate Partnership

Programs

  • Adults
  • Kids
  • Schools
  • Outreach

News

  • Press
  • Newsletters
  • Blog
  • Films Blog

Select list(s) to subscribe to


By submitting this form, you are consenting to receive marketing emails from: . You can revoke your consent to receive emails at any time by using the SafeUnsubscribe® link, found at the bottom of every email. Emails are serviced by Constant Contact
Facebook Twitter Youtube Instagram Linkedin
  • Artworks
  • Collections
  • Films
  • Events
  • Blog Posts

Admission

Exhibitions

Loading...

The Three Shades

Postwar Abstraction

Land Use: Humanity’s Interaction with Nature

Dale Chihuly: The Oklahoma Collection

CALENDAR

Exhibition Ticketing

Free

  • Members
  • Children (17 & Under)

$14.95 + tax

  • Adults

$12.95 + tax

  • Seniors (62+)
  • College Students

FREE

  • Active-Duty Military
BUY TICKETS

Tours

(Per Person)

Free

  • p-12th Grade School Groups
    Children 17 & under

$11.95 + tax
/person

  • Adults (10 or More)

$9.95 + tax
/person

  • Senior Tours
    (10 or More)

$9.95+tax
/person

  • College Students (10 or more)
Schedule Tour

Film

Now Playing

Loading...
A film still from Nightshift
May 22, 2025
- May 23, 2025
icon arrow right@2x

Nightshift – New 4K Restoration

View All Showtimes
FILM Tickets

Film Admission

$5

  • Film Society

$6

  • Military
  • Members
  • Adult groups of 15+ people
  • Children (12 and under)

$8

  • Seniors (62+)
  • School Tours
  • College Students
  • Teens (13-18)

$10

  • Adults

PLUS TAX

Current Screenings

Upcoming Screenings

Virtual Cinema