34 of 34 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
a failure, 8 Mar 2003
By Kimberley Wilson - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Edith Head: The Life and Times of Hollywood's Celebrated Costume Designer (Hardcover)
Edith Head was a fascinating woman who worked in a lost world. How could you go wrong with a book about her? This book does just that. Edith Head was a costume designer so you would expect to see page after page of glorious photos of her work, right? This book skimps on photos. You might expect to read some saucy tales of old Hollywood, but this book fails to provide them. It's too stiff, too careful--it reads like a libel attorney was the final editor--and it bored me. Hunt down the Dress Doctor instead.
37 of 39 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Why is this book so terrible???, 7 Nov 2003
By B Bard - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Edith Head: The Life and Times of Hollywood's Celebrated Costume Designer (Hardcover)
This is, most probably, the worst book I have ever read. I have been struggling to come up with concise reasons as to just what makes it so terrible. This book is so bad, that I am at a loss as to where to start.
First, the choice of photos is dismal. There are few photos of any costumes that won awards. The majority of the photos are head & shoulder shots, that reveal nothing of the lines or designs. The few sketches are done by others. The inclusion of them adds nothing to understanding Head's work.
Second, the writing is abysmal. The author starts in on an event, topic, subject & disposes of it in one or two sentences. Not one subject is dealt with in any depth. Things are thrown in for no apparent purpose except to take up space. As an example, we are told Head thought, after viewing Star Wars, Princess Leia's costume should have a side zipper. That's it - why is this important at all? This is not a film she had any connection with. The author tosses off a remark that someone doesn't want to hire Head because she has told too many lies. (When, to whom, what, WHAT???) One is just left with this statement, it has not been explained previously & it is never explained.
The book is merely cover-to-cover filler. The publisher & the editor should be ashamed.
If you are interested in Head's fashions, save your money & rent the movies - they will give you more information than this book.
15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Would have been a great article, 15 April 2004
By Marsha Wood Wirtel - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Edith Head: The Life and Times of Hollywood's Celebrated Costume Designer (Hardcover)
Chierichetti has produced what would have been a fascinating article for Vanity Fair or Vogue, but falls short as a full length biography. His subject spent many celebrated decades as a Hollywood costume designer but we learn little about Edith Head's actual creative process, her interactions with the stars she dressed or even how she felt about her job (other than she seemed monumentally insecure about her success). The book is also missing photographic documentation that would help the reader understand how great her impact really was. In the end, we don't learn much more about Edith Head or her life, but rather we learn the same stuff over and over: she was a champion dissembler, she had a complex emotional life, she was conflicted over her parentage and upbringing. Check, check, check. Anything else?