Creating the Illusion: A Fashionable History of Hollywood Costume Designers

Besides Edith Head, how many influential costume designers could most cineastes name? Jay Jorgensen and Donald L. Scoggins's Creating the Illusion should help raise that number. This encyclopedic compilation contains profiles of--and interviews with--costume designers who've left indelible impressions on film throughout the last century.

For the adaptation of Frank L. Baum's The Wizard of Oz, costume designer Adrian (a one-name wonder long before Cher's and Madonna's time) feared the silver slippers from the book wouldn't pop on screen, so he made them ruby--and created movie history. While Oscar-winner Gloria Wakeling moonlighted in TV, she designed Barbara Eden's pink costume on I Dream of Jeannie. The intimidating Irene Sharaff created larger-than-life gowns for The King and I and Cleopatra, among others. Marilyn Monroe's white, billowing dress? Designed by William Travilla. Who's responsible for Neo's black duster in The Matrix? Kym Barrett. They're all here, along with many more, receiving rightful credit for helping shape iconic characters and sartorial moments in pop culture. --Elyse Dinh-McCrillis, blogger at Pop Culture Nerd

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