Schirmer Encyclopedia of Film

Costume
designers had large followings and many, such as Adrian,
Irene, Greer, Shoup, and Banton, ran their own labels,
typically designing personal clothes for stars and clients
while working on as many as ten films a year. By the
1950s, with the exception of Head, who remained publicly
known, this fame disappeared. Though costume
design continues to initiate sweeping trends, the costume
designer’s name is rarely recognized. Iconic outfits such
as Liza Minnelli’s black halter-top, shorts, and gartered
black stockings in Cabaret (1972) designed by Charlotte
Flemming (1920–1993), Indiana Jones’s fedora, leather
jacket, and khaki pants for Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
conceived by Deborah Nandoolman (b. 1952), and
Patrizia Von Brandenstein’s white, three-piece suit (off
the rack) for John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever
(1977) are rarely connected to their originators.
But in the twenty-first century, the retailing of cinematic
couture has come back. Some Japanese costume
designers have their own clothing lines, as do some
American designers such as Patricia Field. Bollywood
(Indian film industry) designers regularly dress the public.
But the ingenuity of the costume designer in film
remains paramount. In the face of restrictions from lighting
requirements to the actor’s shape, it continues to
revolutionize tailoring and set groundbreaking trends
while addressing complex cinematic needs.
SEE ALSO Fashion; Production Process
FURTHER READING
Chierichetti, David. Hollywood Costume Design. New York:
Harmony Books, 1976.
De Mille, Cecil B. The Autobiography of Cecil B. DeMille. New
York: Garland Publishing, 1985.
Finch, Christopher, and Linda Rosenkrantz. Gone Hollywood:
The Movie Colony in the Golden Age. Garden City, NY:
Doubleday, 1979.
Finler, Joel W. The Hollywood Story. New York: Crown, 1988.
Gaines, Jane, and Charlotte Herzog, eds. Fabrications: Costume
and the Female Body. London and New York: Routledge,
1989.
La Vine, W. Robert. In a Glamorous Fashion: The Fabulous Years
of Hollywood Costume Design. New York: Scribners, 1980.
Landis, Deborah Nadoolman. Screencraft Costume Design.
Switzerland and Hove, UK: Rotovision, 2003.
Leese, Elizabeth. Costume Design in the Movies. Bembridge, UK:
BCW Publishing, 1976.
Mulvagh, Jane. Vogue History of Twentieth Century Fashion.
London: Viking, 1988.
Schreier, Sandy. Hollywood Dressed and Undressed: A Century of
Cinema Style. New York: Rizzoli, 1998.
Drake Stutesman
382 SCHIRMER ENCYCLOPEDIA OF FILM