Edith Head

The Edith Head papers span the years 1911–1981 (bulk 1950s–1970s) and encompass 16 linear feet. The collection contains subject files, contracts, correspondence, scrapbooks, awards (including 24 Academy Award nomination certificates and all of Head's Oscar statuettes), tape recordings, and costume sketches. With the exception of production material, including a wardrobe plot for Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid, the collection provides little documentation on how Head functioned as a costume designer.

The subject files contain clippings, programs, material related to fashion shows and tours, studio biographies, articles written by Head, material related to books authored by Head, and material related to Vogue patterns (Head designed evening dresses exclusively for Vogue beginning in 1976). Items of interest include an American Film Institute seminar transcript; clippings related to Edith Head's Beverly Hills home (Casa Ladera) and events held there; and a 1948 letter regarding the formation of the Costume Designers Group. The earliest item in the collection is Head's 1911 grammar school diploma.

Contracts with Paramount (1932–1965), Universal (1965–1968), the William Morris Agency (1961–1968), and miscellaneous parties (1942–1972) document Head's career. The correspondence dates from 1951 (bulk 1962–1981) and is primarily non-film related. Much of the correspondence deals with various fashion shows and Head's other outside activities, including personal appearances.

Six scrapbooks contain various clippings on Edith Head. Among the open-reel tape recordings are numerous broadcasts of Head's CBS radio show, Fashion Notes (1963–1965). There are a number of small costume sketches for A Doll's House (1973), Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid, Gable and Lombard (1976), and The Last Married Couple in America (1980).

There are 16x20 costume sketches for some two dozen films (1940s–1970s). The earliest sketches are from Masquerade in Mexico (1945) and the latest from W. C. Fields and Me (1976). With the exception of The Ten Commandments (1956), most films are represented by only one or two sketches. Other titles represented include All About Eve (1950), Roman Holiday (1953), To Catch a Thief (1955), Sweet Charity (1969), Myra Breckinridge (1970), The Sting (1973), and The Great Waldo Pepper (1975). Of particular interest are a small number of sketches collected by Head from such designers as Travis Banton, Cecil Beaton, Howard Greer, Harold Grieve, Rene Hubert, and Robert Kalloch.

Items relating exclusively to Head's second husband have been removed and placed in the Wiard Ihnen papers. An oak hexagonal table and chairs from Head's dining room, an antique Mexican chest, and pottery have been placed in the library's Special Collections reading room.

Gift (bequest) of Edith Head, 1983.