dual personalities

Edith Head died in 1981 at the age of 83, but because she was honored by Google on her birthday (October 28),

she has had a “new life” on the internet and in the blogosphere this week. Lots of bloggers posted about her and the memorable costumes she designed for actresses ranging from Mae West to Grace Kelly to Natalie Wood and Audrey Hepburn over her long career. Yes, she won a staggering eight Academy Awards and was nominated for 33!

I will not repeat what many bloggers have posted about the iconic designs Head provided for iconic Hitchcock and Cecil B. DeMille films. No, but I would like to mention a movie frequently overlooked when dissecting her career. It is one of the 33 for which she was Oscar-nominated: John Ford’s The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance!

Who can forget John Wayne’s double-breasted cavalry bib shirt and that terrific 10-gallon Stetson:

Or his gingham go-to-meetin’ dress shirt?

And Head must have had fun designing Lee Marvin’s Liberty Valance costume. What a menacing figure he cuts in his striped pants, exuberantly embroidered vest and Mexican hat, twirling his silver-handled quirt! His costume says: I am one mean bad-ass and don’t forget it.

Jimmy Stewart looks very John Hough-like in his suit, about to be chosen as their representative to the Constitutional Convention.

Edith Head once said she really enjoyed designing the costumes for The Sting because they were mostly for men. I imagine she had a fine time working with John Wayne, Jimmy Stewart, Lee Marvin, and the incomparable Woody Strode!

Lest we forget: she was a very versatile lady.

P.S. She also designed the costumes for White Christmas. Who will ever forget Danny Kaye’s grey pants, grey socks, grey shoes ensemble? And, of course, these two goofballs: