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Edith Head Research Paper

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Edith Head was a prolific costume designer known most notably for her film production which led to her winning eight Academy Awards. Head’s resume is extensive, working on 1,131 productions from the mid-1920s through early 1970s. She won eight Oscars and was nominated for 35. Her impact is still felt today and many artist like Todd Oldham are still inspired by her great works saying, “Edith has been a huge influence on all of us" (Rothman). By being around various cultures and her upbringing, Head adapted various designs and techniques that allowed her to become Hollywood’s best designer of her time.

Edith Head was born in 1897 in San Bernardino, California. She was the daughter of Jewish parents. While young, she would follow her father, …show more content…

This design was for Dorothy Lamour in The Jungle Princess (Edith Head papers). By definition, a sarong is a long piece of cloth that wraps around the body, and is generally tucked in at the waist or sometimes under the underarms. This article of clothing originated in Southeast Asia. This piece is usually worn by men, but Head was given the difficult task of transforming it to fit Lamour while still looking sultry and culturally appropriate. When creating this design, Head kept the cultural aspect by keeping the sarong's signature draping and brightly colored floral patterns, but cutting it shorter to give it a risqué feel while keeping the censorship code. The viewer is immediately drawn to the color of the sarong and its patterns. The most notable scene shows Lamour and her sarong sisters. Her design comes to life because her piece is flamboyant in color compared to the others girls and shorter in order to bring attention to not only Lamour but also the sarong she is wearing. Her design gives gives a nice balance of tropical feel to go along with the scene of the movie while maintaining cultural appropriateness. The other girls are stacked up towards Lamour which puts an emphasis on not only Lamour but more importantly her dress that was elegantly designed by Head (Edith Head papers). Head successfully created a piece that is still iconic to this day because it brought out the culture of Southeast Asia

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