“Pull-yourself-together! What will you do? Is this a question? You will show him you remember that he is Mr. Incredible and remind him who you are.” Ah yes, we all remember watching the infamous Edna Mode on the big screen: running around in her mansion with her signature bangs and glasses. This character is not entirely fictitious and mirrors the life of one of Hollywood’s most famous costume designers. Her name? Edith Head.
The Oklahoma City Museum of Art (OKCMOA) is exhibiting the Edith Head Collection in Oklahoma City. The collection includes information surrounding her rise to fame, work ethic, and costume design process. Comparing interviews from her heyday to Edna from the 2004 film The Incredibles, the excitement, passion, and sass were not exaggerated.
Ironically, Edith never intended to become a costume designer, much less one for celebrities and large productions. She started her art journey by taking classes at night to make additional money teaching kids. As her students introduced her to the art scene, she stole all the best drawings from the night art class participants and created a plagiarized portfolio.
When asked about the stolen work, Head stated, “He knew it. That’s why he laughed. He thought that anyone who had that much desire to get into the studio deserved the job.” By the time the company found out, Head had taken the shop by storm.
Working her way up to her first solo project, she created dresses that were so stunning that she saved Paramount from going bankrupt. “Costume design is to tell a story. It has nothing to do with fashion at all,” Head explained.
When the public often questioned who copied who when it comes to an extravagant new design, Head stated, “Couture has copied my things for years in addition to countless other costume designers, claiming theirs were the original ideas. It’s all part of the business, unfortunately.” Despite tough competition, Edith Head kept her head high and her status higher. She continued working with all the big names, such as Audrey Hepburn, Grace Kelly, Alfred Hitchcock, and Cecil B. DeMille, according to the OKCMOA.
Oh, and what’s with the glasses?
While Head knew what clothes could do for a person’s overall presence in a room, she wore these to see what the costumes would look like in black and white. The color theory of real life was in disarray with black-and-white film, so she was one step ahead by cutting out the initial color altogether.
35 Oscar nominations and 8 Oscars later, Edith Head’s work has been filmed in 400 films. While costume art was a hobby turned career, Edith Head knew she could make a difference in the industry— no matter how many roadblocks she ran into. “After years and years and years of people making fun of my clothes, now people are copying them.” The confidence she exuded partnered with her decorated resume fabricated the legacy she has today. “Edith Head: Hollywood’s Costume Designer has been generating a great deal of buzz behind the scenes as we’ve been working on this original exhibition for the past few years,” stated OKCMOA President and CEO Michael Anderson, PhD. From June 22 to Sep. 29, Head’s collections will be available for admiring. Reminisce with the black and white colored glasses of the past and leave reinspired for one’s untelling but promising future.
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