DESIGN Edith Head, 1950s Grace Kelly, Rear Window, 1954, Dress by Edith Head Joseph Levine, Carroll Baker Stuart Moulton and Susan Claassen as Edith Head Photography by Tim Fuller and Edith Head, Harlow, 1964 Grace Kelly and Edith Head, 1954 spent hundreds of hours poring over Head’s papers, calendars, diaries and mementos at the Margaret Herrick Library at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences Library in Los An- HEAD STRONG geles to research the role. She wanted to get it right… and she Susan Claassenʼs star turn as Hollywood does. Golden Age designer Edith Head dazzles vintage The project was fi rst developed years ago when, as Claassen freely style fashionistas, as our Lance Avery Morgan learns admits, she discovered her own likeness to that of Head’s was uncanny and the rest, as they say, is show business history. Then The New York Times came calling. Mountains of press ensued and “THERE WERE BETTER DESIGNERS, BUT NONE WERE BETTER the packed-house capacity of the show remains a staple on the diplomats,” shares Susan Claassen of her alter ego, Hollywood’s Golden theatre circuit. Age costume designer Edith Head. Claassen, who recently appeared at Austin Cabaret Theatre in her tour de force, A Conversation With Edith Head In fact, the resemblance of the two is so striking that even Tippi is a whirlwind of talent. In fact, the star is a bundle of energy. How could Hedren, whom Head so beautifully dressed for Hitchcock pictures she not be to keep up the breakneck pace needed to mount such a roadshow in the 1960’s, calls Claassen ‘Edith,’ who confesses, “People think I performance? really am her.” She continues, “I’d be 118, of course if that were so, but Edith Head is still relevant since she died relatively recently in Stuart Moulton, Claassen’s show host and founder of Austin Cabaret 1981 (after dressing Steve Martin’s fi lm noir classic, Dead Men Don’t Theatre, had alluded to her vivacity and shares of her performance of Head Wear Plaid. Plus, Claassen is touched that Head’s own star appeal by sharing, “She’s strong and independent (yet incredibly vulnerable as well). endures with the fans. “What a privilege,” she avers, “People want Edith Head was the fi rst businesswoman in a (still) male-driven Hollywood to remember a fi lm she designed, who they were with, or a fabulous and she could play with the big dogs. A lot of people think that this show outfi t they recall that still has fond memories.” would have more appeal to women than to men, but it has been so well- received by both sexes because everyone can relate to that common struggle The fact that Head is still relevant is an understatement. “She to get to the top and stay there. She’s really fascinating.” was a remarkable woman and it is a gift to portray her. Listen, you don’t appear on a postage stamp, have an animation and It turns out that the play is truly a smart vehicle. Confi des Claassen, “Over become a Google Doodle (on Head’s birthday) without a lifetime 85 percent of the play is in Edith Head’s own words.” It turns out the actress of work to which Edith Head devoted herself,” she states. 58 THESOCIETYDIARIES.COM Above left to right: Audrey Hepburn, Roman Holiday, 1953. Dress by Edith Head. Audrey Hepburn, Sabrina, 1954. Dress by Edith Head. Doris Day sketch, The Man Who Know Too Much, 1955. Dress by Edith Head. Elizabeth Taylor, A Place in the Sun, 1950. Dress by Edith Head. Kim Novak, Vertigo, 1958. Dress by Edith Head. Patricia Neal Sketch, Hud, 1960. Dress by Edith Head. Grace Kelly. Dress by Edith Head, 1954. Most of that lifetime of work can still be seen on Turner Classic Movies, Amazon Prime and Netfl ix, so the legend continues. When Claassen is asked what fi lms Head designed that she has HEAD OF THE CLASS the most affi nity for, she is quick to admit it is All About Eve, The Lady Eve. Rear Window, and To Catch A Thief (the latter two both starring Edith Head Tells All. A fashion icon Grace Kelly), She confi des, “From the moment Few Style Bon Mots… Grace Kelly fi rst fl ips on the light switch in Rear Window the style never stops.” Head herself stated, “I’ve dressed thousands of Many women have asked me actors, actresses and animals, but whenever I am asked which star if it is possible to have a well- is my personal favorite, I answer, ‘Grace Kelly.’ She is a charming built wardrobe on a limited lady, a most gifted actress and, to me, a valued friend.” budget. ʻMoney,ʼ I tell them, ʻis no guarantee of taste, and When I ask her about Head’s theory of fashion design, Claassen an overstuffed wardrobe is muses, “She understood that the purpose of the costume designer often as bare as a skeleton is to drive the fi lm’s narrative.” In that driver’s seat from the 1924 when it comes to wearable until 1981, Head was a woman in a man’s fi eld in a man’s industry. apparel.ʼ The other designers at the time she began in the studio system were all men. She took Travis Banton’s place at her home studio Growing old gracefully used Paramount and rivaled the other studios’ design geniuses, most of You can have anything you to begin at about 35, but whom have been forgotten with time like Adrian (MGM), Walter want in life if you dress for it. today women prefer to ʻstay Plunkett (RKO), Charles LeMaire (20th Century Fox), and Orry- young gratefullyʼ with thanks Kelly (Warner Bros). Head’s legend endures though. “You have Fashion is a language. Some to designers, beauticians and to remember she was the original brander,” emphasizes Claassen. know it, some learn it, some plastic surgeons. “She was everywhere when Hollywood designers did not have that never will - like an instinct. kind of exposure or household name value. With her syndicated Building a proper wardrobe is newspaper columns, books, dress patterns, and personal appear- A designer is only as good like building a home. Indeed, ances…Edith Head became a star in her own right.” as the star who wears her you should think of it like a clothes.Your dresses should be home, because it is something That star power of Head that Claassen brings so vividly to life tight enough to show youʼre a youʼre going to live in. It must yielded 35 Oscar nominations (the Oscars didn’t recognize cos- woman and loose enough to be comfortable and suit all tume design as a category until well into the golden era of Hol- show youʼre a lady. your needs. lywood, 1949), and Head won eight. Doing the math on that, she was nominated almost every year from her mid-career years What a costume designer Thereʼs no such thing as a onward. In addition to Grace Kelly, Head dressed a Who’s Who does is a cross between magic standard size movie star, or in the pantheon of classic stars including Audrey Hepburn, Doris and camoufl age. We create woman for that matter. Day, Loretta Young, Kim Novak, Natalie Wood, Elizabeth Taylor, the illusion of changing the ac- and a plethora more. Her secret to dressing an array of faces and tors into what they are not. Many faux pas of fashion can fi gures and making them feel magical? Head herself is famous for be avoided if you curb your saying, “I always wear beige, black or white. For one thing I look Even the most beautiful instinctive desire to buy things good in them. For another, when I’m beside a star at a fi tting and legs - Marlene Dietrichʼs, for with your heart instead of your she looks into the mirror, I don’t want to be competing in any other instance - look better when the head. way.” kneecap is covered. I have yet to see one com- The inimitable fashion savvy of Head and Claassen are both Some people need sequins, pletely unspoiled star, except interwoven like a needle and thread. About personal style, others donʼt. for Lassie. Claassen adheres to Edith Head’s own dictum to “fi nd your own style, Honey, and stick to it.” SEPTEMBER • OCTOBER 59.