Creating the illusion A fashionable history of Hollywood costume designers

Film and fashion historian Jorgensen (Edith Head: The Fifty-Year Career of Hollywood's Greatest Costume Designer) calls this title the book that he always wished to have existed, and because of that, readers have a title that was written and researched with much dedication and insight. Filled with minute details, sketches, and beautiful full-page photographs, this work tells of the scandals surrounding favorite designers and introduces some lesser-known ones. Coauthors Jorgensen and Scoggins, an attorney and freelance journalist respectively, subdivide the book to correlate with Hollywood film eras (silent, golden age, modern), showing how each built on its predecessor and how the greats continue to influence costume design today. Because the study of costume in film history is starting to come to the forefront, after many years being eclipsed by the advent of sound and advances in cinematography, the authors must piece together information about the designers through census records, magazine articles, and movie star biographies. The resulting labor of love provides an excellent bibliography at the end of the book. VERDICT Readers will enjoy this beautiful quick reference book of design, stars, and film history.-- Jennifer -Thompson, Richland Lib., Columbia, SC © Copyright 2015. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.