Your dresses should be tight enough to show you’re a woman and loose enough to show you’re a lady. – 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
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
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
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
With women, there’s a basic female instinct of caring deeply about the way they look; women stars have a narcissist complex. – 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
Before you are interviewed for the job you want, try on the complete outfit you intend to wear. – 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
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
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
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
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
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
Even the most beautiful legs – Marlene Dietrich’s, for instance – look better when the kneecap is covered. – 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
