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BEGUILING HOLLYWOOD

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All dressed up and nowhere to gho…st

October 31, 2017 by Vickie Lester

Happy Halloween! I have to say The Mister is the best, not only did he photograph me swooping around the garden as I attempted to look sinister, he even indulged me when I said, “Hey! I think I know a way to make me look like I’m flying. Okay, okay, it didn’t exactly work, but we tried! Come to think of it, I must have been thinking of the scene from Jean Cocteau’s Beauty and the Beast, but I forgot […]

Categories: Art, Blogging, Books, Choreography, Culture, Design, Entertainment, fashion, Film, Friendship, Halloween, History, Hollywood, Los Angeles, Memoir, Movies, Photography, Truth & Rumors, Uncategorized, Writing • Tags: all hallows eve, Costume, Ghost, Halloween costume, Happy Halloween, Jean Cocteau, mothers and daughters, opera coat, trick or treat

14

“What a costume designer does is a cross between magic and camouflage.” Edith Head

October 28, 2016 by Vickie Lester

From left to right – Model, Orry Kelly, Bernard Newman, Travis Banton, Edith Head, Adrian, and Irene. With model showing evening gown, 1955: Edith at bat 1957: A fashion show from the “Think Pink” sequence at the premiere of “Funny Face” – model Ginni Adams with Edith Head: Dressing Debbie Reynolds for a benefit, 1960: Hosting a charity event at her home, Casa Ladera, 1967: With Tony Curtis, Anne Baxter and Omar Shariff, 1967: At the Costume Designers Ball with […]

Categories: Art, Baseball, Blogging, Books, Culture, Design, Entertainment, fashion, Film, History, Hollywood, Life, Los Angeles, Movies, Photography, Relationships, Story, Theater, Travel, Truth & Rumors, Writing • Tags: #fashionforthestars, #itsinhiskissbyvickielester, Academy Award, actor, actress, Adrian, arbiter of taste, behind the scenes, benefit, Bernard Newman, celebrities, charity, Classic Movies, Costume, Costume Designer, Edith Head, Edith Head birthday, Edith Head's birthday October 28, EdithHead, fashion, FUNNY FACE, head of department, history, Hollywood, Irene, Los Angeles, Models, Movie stars, Old Hollywood, on set, Orry-Kelly, photos, pictures, publicity stills, studio, tiny, Travis Banton, tyrant, wardrobe

35

Edith Head, who was born Oct. 28th, 1897, was married to Wiard Ihnen – Production Designer

October 28, 2015 by Vickie Lester

Even Google got into the act today with Miss Edith’s birthday: They lived in a wonderful house called, Casa Ladera…

Categories: Architecture, Art, Blogging, Culture, Design, Entertainment, fashion, Film, Friendship, History, Hollywood, Life, Los Angeles, Marriage, Memoir, Movies, Photography, Relationships, Story, Theater, Travel, Truth & Rumors • Tags: Academy Award, actor, actress, Adrian, arbiter of taste, Art Director, behind the scenes, benefit, Bernard Newman, Blood on the Sun, Casa Ladera, celebrities, charity, Classic Movies, Costume, Costume Designer, Edith Head, Edith Head birthday, Edith Head's birthday October 28, fashion, FUNNY FACE, head of department, history, Hollywood, Irene, Jane Eyre, Los Angeles, Models, Movie stars, Old Hollywood, on set, Orry-Kelly, photos, pictures, Production Designer, publicity stills, studio, tiny, Travis Banton, tyrant, wardrobe, Wiard Ihnen, Wilson

11

Ann Blyth turns into a sea creature, with an assist from Bud Westmore on “Mr. Peabody and the Mermaid”

October 30, 2014 by Vickie Lester

Categories: Art, Blogging, Culture, Design, Entertainment, fashion, Film, Halloween, History, Hollywood, Humor, Life, Los Angeles, Movies, Photography, Story, Travel, Truth & Rumors, Uncategorized • Tags: Ann Blyth, behind the scenes, Bud Westmore, Classic Movies, Costume, design, fashion, film, Halloween, history, Hollywood, humor, Los Angeles, Makeup, mermaid, movie makeup, MR. PEABODY AND THE MERMAID, on set, photography, William Powell

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Carla Laemmle (104) recalls life in and around movies at Universal Studios – Los Angeles Times

June 15, 2014 by Vickie Lester

This post has been getting a lot of traffic since Carla died on June 12th, 2014, I thought I’d put it front and center…for she burned bright and long. Today Laemmle is a tiny woman with curly, white hair and bright dancing eyes. She welcomes her visitor with a warm hug. Her house, where she’s lived for some 60 years off of Melrose Avenue near Normandie Avenue, is decorated with several photos of her including one in which she is […]

Categories: Art, Blogging, Books, Choreography, Culture, Design, Entertainment, fashion, Film, Friendship, History, Hollywood, Humor, Life, Literature, Los Angeles, Memoir, Movies, Music, News, Photography, Story, Theater, Travel, Truth & Rumors, Uncategorized • Tags: actor, actress, ballet, beautiful, behind the scenes, Carl Laemmle, Carla Laemmle, centarian, Classic Movies, coreography, Costume, Dancer, design, designed by Erte, DRACULA, Erte, fashion, film, growing up on the lot, history, Hollywood Hotel, Hollywood Revue of 1929, Hunchback of Notre Dame, Lon Chaney, Los Angeles, Los Angeles Times, Old Hollywood, on set, on the lot, Phantom of the Opera, photography, produced by Carl Laemmle, Quasimodo, scantily clad, The Broadway Melody of 1929, Universal Pictures, Universal Studios

13

Katherine Heburn, cute as bug in Christopher Strong (1933)

March 23, 2014 by Vickie Lester

I wouldn’t have loved you if you’d been a usual man. And you wouldn’t have loved me if I’d been a woman who didn’t dress like an insect… Okay, that’s not what Lady Cynthia Darrington said, but it would have been better if she had. Behold the gown designed by Walter Plunkett: The sketch:

Categories: Art, Culture, Design, Entertainment, fashion, Fiction, Film, History, Hollywood, Humor, Los Angeles, Movies, Photography, Story, Theater, Uncategorized • Tags: 1933, Christopher Strong, Costume, Costumes by Walter Plunkett, Deco, directed by Dorothy Arzner, fashion, gown, Katharine Hepburn, KatharineHepburn, melodrama, RKO

2

Alfred Hitchcock’s Notorious

September 29, 2013 by Vickie Lester

“Notorious was my first opportunity to dress Ingrid the way she should be. For such a big woman, she was a joy to dress. I was able to do evening clothes, sports clothes, street clothes – the whole gamut. I just had to be sure what I did pleased Hitch. He was very specific about costumes for his leading ladies. He spoke a designer’s language, even though he didn’t know the first thing about clothes. He specified colors in the […]

Categories: Art, Blogging, Books, Culture, Design, Entertainment, fashion, Film, History, Hollywood, Life, Los Angeles, Movies, Photography, Theater, Truth & Rumors, Uncategorized, Writing • Tags: "Edith Head's Hollywood", 1946, Alfred Hitchcock, behind the scenes, book, Cary Grant, Classic Movies, Costume, Costume Designer, costume sketch, design, design language, director, Edith Head, edithhead.biz, fashion, film, history, Hollywood, Ingrid Bergman, Movie Star, NOTORIOUS, Old Hollywood, on set, Paddy Calistro, photography, Robert Capa, spy, Susan Claasen

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PASADENA PLAYHOUSE – WARDROBE

November 7, 2012 by Vickie Lester

Later today I’m posting information about a wonderful production, “A Conversation with Edith Head” that will be at the Pasadena Playhouse November 8th – December 1st… But, first I’d like you to see some theatrical wardrobe design and construction from 1928 – just a few years after Edith Head started working in movies. The sketches: Working on the wardrobe out in the sun in the theater forecourt: And then there were the masks for Eugene O’Neill’s “Lazarus Laughed”: Working on […]

Categories: Architecture, Art, Culture, Design, Entertainment, fashion, Film, History, Hollywood, Los Angeles, Movies, Photography, Theater, Uncategorized • Tags: "Edith Head's Hollywood", 1928, A CONVERSATION WITH EDITH HEAD, by Paddy Calistro and Susan Claassen, Costume, Costume Designer, diva, Edith Head, Eugene O'Neill, LAZARUS LAUGHED, Pasadena Playhouse, Pasadena Premiere, sketch, The Carrie Hamilton Theater, wardrobe, wit

1

HALLOWEEN – STILL ON APPROACH

October 20, 2012 by Vickie Lester

Las Floristas is a big hoop-de-doo ball for charity. It usually takes place in April and in these pics the event took place at the Ambassador Hotel (earthquake damaged and torn down in 2005-ish) — I know, costumes from the wrong time of year, but I thought these prize winning headdresses were worthy of a Halloween gander. Before Garmin – a 3D version of our freeway system: Can you say breathtakingly… Maleficent? Did I mention tomorrow is story Sunday? And […]

Categories: Art, Culture, Design, Entertainment, fashion, Halloween, History, Hollywood, Humor, Los Angeles, Photography, Travel, Uncategorized, Writing • Tags: ball, charity, Costume, culture, fund raiser, Halloween, headdress, history, Hollywood, Las Floristas, Los Angeles, philanthropic, prize, The Ambassador Hotel, whimsey, Wilshire Blvd.