Edith Head Quotes

Even the most beautiful legs - Marlene Dietrich's, for instance - look better when the kneecap is covered.

- Edith Head

As women, we all have certain weaknesses. I know one who can't resist pretty shoes but has nothing suitable to wear with them. Others adore frilly lingerie but never have any money to buy outer clothing.

- Edith Head

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.

- Edith Head

Before you are interviewed for the job you want, try on the complete outfit you intend to wear.

- Edith Head

Many women have asked me if it is possible to have a well-built wardrobe on a limited budget. 'Money,' I tell them, 'is no guarantee of taste, and an overstuffed wardrobe is often as bare as a skeleton when it comes to wearable apparel.'

- Edith Head

Your dresses should be tight enough to show you're a woman and loose enough to show you're a lady.

- Edith Head

I always wear beige, black or white. For one thing I look good in them. For another, when I'm beside a star at a fitting, and she looks into the mirror, I don't want to be competing in any way.

- Edith Head

Many faux pas of fashion can be avoided if you curb your instinctive desire to buy things with your heart instead of your head.

- Edith Head

What a costume designer does is a cross between magic and camouflage. We create the illusion of changing the actors into what they are not. We ask the public to believe that every time they see a performer on the screen, he's become a different person.

- Edith Head

If you hunger for certain types of clothes, for which you have little use, put yourself on a diet. Just as you resist too much whipped cream and French pastry to keep your figure in shape, you can say no to those yearned-for but unneeded purchases that lead to a wardrobe that is shapeless and without form.

- Edith Head

My motto is that the audience should notice the actors, not the clothes.

- Edith Head

We don't make glamorous movies today. Everything now is very realistic, artistic - and depressing. When is the last time you you saw a wonderful musical or a fabulous fantasy?

- Edith Head

Growing old gracefully used to begin at about 35, but today women prefer to 'stay young gratefully' with thanks to designers, beauticians and plastic surgeons.

- Edith Head

There's no such thing as a standard size movie star, or woman for that matter.

- Edith Head

With women, there's a basic female instinct of caring deeply about the way they look; women stars have a narcissist complex.

- Edith Head

Some people need sequins, others don't.

- Edith Head

A designer is only as good as the star who wears her clothes.

- Edith Head

Fashion is a language. Some know it, some learn it, some never will - like an instinct.

- Edith Head

I've dressed thousands of actors, actresses and animals, but whenever I am asked which star is my personal favorite, I answer, 'Grace Kelly.' She is a charming lady, a most gifted actress and, to me, a valued friend.

- Edith Head

Building a proper wardrobe is like building a home. Indeed, you should think of it like a home, because it is something you're going to live in. It must be comfortable and suit all your needs.

- Edith Head

You can lead a horse to water and you can even make it drink, but you can't make actresses wear what they don't want to wear.

- Edith Head

Every different director has another language - for instance, Hitchcock does not like any bright color ever, unless the story says 'there goes the girl in a red dress.'

- Edith Head

I have yet to see one completely unspoiled star, except for the animals - like Lassie.

- Edith Head

I have yet to see one completely unspoiled star, except for Lassie.

- Edith Head

You can have anything you want in life if you dress for it.

- Edith Head