Can anyone recommend a book on Hollywood designers

[charliechaplinfan]

I've come across a few books on Amazon and have a bit of Christmas money to spend. Does anyone own them or has seen them in book shops I don't want a dressmakers manual but a book with an appreciation of the costumes with illustrations and background no the designers. Here's some references

Dressed a Century of Hollywood costumes



Edith Head 400



Gilbert Adrian



I'm inclined towards the first one that runs to over 500 pages but an a fan of the other designers.

[MissGoddess]

If you can find it, actress Marsha Hunt put together a good one that gives you a nice overview of several costume designers she worked with over the course of her career:

The Way We Wore


I'd love to see a good one about Travis Banton and Jean Louis, my two favorites.

[moira finnie]

Oh, that book by Marsha Hunt is the best! Part-autobiography, design history and overview of the period!

A very good and inexpensive guide that I have found stimulating and informative was
Costume Design in the Movies: An Illustrated Guide to the Work of 157 Great Designers (Dover Books) by Elizabeth Leese

Another good one is a well written overview written for design students (It is cheaper to buy this one used):
Who's Who in Fashion by Holly Price and Ann Stegemeyer

Two older books written about design by the same excellent writer were:
Edith Head: The Life and Times of Hollywood's Celebrated Costume Designer by David Chierichetti

Hollywood Costume Design by David Chierichetti

A descendant of Irene (Irene Lentz, the designer who flourished in the '40s) has an interesting website devoted to this talented woman:
http://www.karlyns.com/irene-lentz-and-design/

More about Irene's designs are here:
http://www.irene-lentz.com/

I do not know of any particular book devoted to Jean-Louis, though the man deserves one!

Travis Banton was such a talented and complex guy as a painter, designer, and influence on so many others, it is surprising that there has not been a biography written about him. Here is a blurry (sorry) video featuring some of his best known designs. If you look on ebay, Banton's paintings show up occasionally for sale too.
[youtube][/youtube]

[Ann Harding]

A very good and inexpensive guide that I have found stimulating and informative was
Costume Design in the Movies: An Illustrated Guide to the Work of 157 Great Designers (Dover Books) by Elizabeth Leese

I confirm. I bought that book years ago in San Diego. It's a very good survey of all the Hollywood designers.

[charliechaplinfan]

I got the Dressed book by Deborah Landis for Christimas, it's an impressive coffee table book, good for browsing, it includes all decades, I found even the recent pictures of interest, which is unusual for me. The book on Edith Head is very meaty, I'm looking forward to tucking into that.

[moira finnie]

Here is a nifty article from the LA Times magazine on 14 influential gowns first seen in the movies:
http://www.latimesmagazine.com/2010/02/send-in-the-gowns.html

[Sue Sue Applegate]

Great links and comments on this thread. I think I need to work on my all-time favorites of fashionistas.

[charliechaplinfan]

I love that article on the gowns, Audrey Hepburn and Marilyn Monroe being well represented. When it comes to the modern film costumes most of them leave me cold, apart from Moulin Rouge. I just love old time Hollywood glamour.

[moira finnie]

I wasn't sure where to post this so here goes...

The worst fashion photo in the history of film? Maybe not, but publicity shots like this one may be among the reasons that the interesting June Vincent (Black Angel, Song of Idaho, Counterspy Meets Scotland Yard) never made it out of B pictures. No wonder she looks peevish.


Here's the text sent out with the picture, which features a good use of the word "stunning" and those "cozy slipper-socks" have gotta go:
"Informal Party Clothes for the Holiday Season:
An incentive for those who stay-at-home-and-like-it are these stunning outfits designed for informal parties during the holiday season. Universal's Miss Vincent shows a grey men's sport costume combining short slacks with matching jerkin. The wool jersey blouse is in a bright yellow and a red suede belt with silver chain ornamentation decorates the waistline. June's cozy slipper-socks are also in bright red with peasant embroidery trim."

[charliechaplinfan]

Looks like the kind of ensemble that might get someone commited.