GuideBallotsDataToolsBlog

A visual history · Oscars

The winners who defined Costume Design (B&W).

17 ceremonies, 1949–1967. 13 different winners. The longest run belongs to Edith Head, with 2 straight wins.

  1. Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?Irene Sharaff
  2. DarlingJulie Harris
  3. The Night of the IguanaDorothy Jeakins
  4. 8½Piero Gherardi
  5. What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?Norma Koch
  6. La Dolce VitaPiero Gherardi
Years explored
1949–1967
Different winners
13
Category leader
Edith Head · 3
About this record

Best Costume Design, Black-and-White was first awarded in 1949, so it does not run the full 1929–2025 window.

It was awarded for the last time in 1967.

Costume design entered the Academy Awards at the 21st ceremony already split by film format, and the split was retired after the 39th.

01 / The reigns

Edith Head set the longest run.

The timeline turns the complete record into a sequence of reigns. Longer bands reveal sustained runs; color shows the credited distributor.

  1. 01
    Edith Head3 wins
  2. 02
    Helen Rose2 wins
  3. 03
    Piero Gherardi2 wins
Each band is one winner’s reign. Wider means a longer run. Colored by distributor; hover for details. Outlined blocks are years the award was not presented.
Roger K. Furse'49
Edith Head & Gile Steele'50
Edith Head & Charles LeMaire'51
Edith Head'52
Helen Rose'53
Edith Head'54–'55×2
Helen Rose'56
Jean Louis'57
'58–'59not awarded
Orry-Kelly'60
Edith Head & Edward Stevenson'61
Piero Gherardi'62
Norma Koch'63
Piero Gherardi'64
Dorothy Jeakins'65
Julie Harris'66
Irene Sharaff'67

02 / The power map

Who stood behind the winners?

Paramount leads the recorded distributor credits with 4 wins. The full distribution shows whether power was concentrated or shared.

Paramount4 wins
Cineriz (Italy)2 wins
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer2 wins
United Artists2 wins
Warner Bros.2 wins
20th Century1 win
Wins by distributor
  1. Paramount424%
  2. Cineriz (Italy)212%
  3. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer212%
  4. United Artists212%
  5. Warner Bros.212%
  6. 20th Century16%
  7. Other424%

03 / The near misses

The names that kept coming back without the ending they wanted.

Counting nominations in this category only, 1949–1967.

Most nominated, never won

  1. 01
    Howard Shoup
    5 noms
  2. 02
    Bill Thomas
    2 noms
  3. 03
    Charles LeMaire & Mary Wills
    2 noms
  4. 04
    Charles LeMaire & Renié
    2 noms
  5. 05
    Danilo Donati
    2 noms
  6. 06
    Walter Plunkett
    2 noms

Most losses

  1. 01
    Edith Head
    9L · 3W
  2. 02
    Jean Louis
    6L · 1W
  3. 03
    Howard Shoup
    5L · 0W
  4. 04
    Helen Rose
    4L · 2W
  5. 05
    Bill Thomas
    2L · 0W
  6. 06
    Charles LeMaire & Mary Wills
    2L · 0W

04 / The archive

Every year.
Every winner.

The complete reference behind the story. Open any year to see the rest of the field when nominee records are available.

YearWinnerDistributor
1967Irene Sharaff (Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?)unverified
beat 4 others
  • Danilo Donati (The Gospel According to St. Matthew)
  • Danilo Donati (Mandragola)
  • Helen Rose (Mister Buddwing)
  • Jocelyn Rickards (Morgan!)
Warner Bros. Pictures
1966Julie Harris (Darling)unverified
beat 4 others
  • Moss Mabry (Morituri)
  • Howard Shoup (A Rage to Live)
  • Jean Louis & Bill Thomas (Ship of Fools)
  • Edith Head (The Slender Thread)
Anglo-Amalgamated
1965Dorothy Jeakins (The Night of the Iguana)unverified
beat 4 others
  • Edith Head (A House Is Not a Home)
  • Norma Koch (Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte)
  • Howard Shoup (Kisses for My President)
  • René Hubert (The Visit)
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
1964Piero Gherardi (8½)unverified
beat 4 others
  • Edith Head (Love with the Proper Stranger)
  • Travilla (The Stripper)
  • Bill Thomas (Toys in the Attic)
  • Edith Head (Wives and Lovers)
Cineriz (Italy)/Columbia Films S.A. (France)
1963Norma Koch (What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?)unverified
beat 4 others
  • Don Feld (Days of Wine and Roses)
  • Edith Head (The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance)
  • Ruth Morley (The Miracle Worker)
  • Denny Vachlioti (Phaedra)
Warner Bros. Pictures
1962Piero Gherardi (La Dolce Vita)unverified
beat 4 others
  • Dorothy Jeakins (The Children's Hour)
  • Howard Shoup (Claudelle Inglish)
  • Jean Louis (Judgment at Nuremberg)
  • Yoshirō Muraki (Yojimbo)
Cineriz (Italy)/Pathé (France)
1961Edith Head & Edward Stevenson (The Facts of Life)unverified
beat 4 others
  • Deni Vachlioti (Never on Sunday)
  • Howard Shoup (The Rise and Fall of Legs Diamond)
  • Bill Thomas (Seven Thieves)
  • Marik Vos (The Virgin Spring)
United Artists
1960Orry-Kelly (Some Like It Hot)unverified
beat 4 others
  • Edith Head (Career)
  • Charles LeMaire & Mary Wills (The Diary of Anne Frank)
  • Helen Rose (The Gazebo)
  • Howard Shoup (The Young Philadelphians)
United Artists
1957Jean Louis (The Solid Gold Cadillac)unverified
beat 4 others
  • Helen Rose (The Power and the Prize)
  • Edith Head (The Proud and Profane)
  • Kohei Ezaki (Seven Samurai)
  • Charles LeMaire & Mary Wills (Teenage Rebel)
Columbia Pictures
1956Helen Rose (I'll Cry Tomorrow)unverified
beat 4 others
  • Beatrice Dawson (The Pickwick Papers)
  • Jean Louis (Queen Bee)
  • Edith Head (The Rose Tattoo)
  • Tadaoto Kainosho (Ugetsu)
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
1955Edith Head (Sabrina)repeatunverified
beat 4 others
  • Georges Annenkov & Rosine Delamare (The Earrings of Madame de...)
  • Helen Rose (Executive Suite)
  • Christian Dior (Indiscretion of an American Wife)
  • Jean Louis (It Should Happen to You)
Paramount Pictures
1954Edith Head (Roman Holiday)unverified
beat 4 others
  • Walter Plunkett (The Actress)
  • Helen Rose & Herschel McCoy (Dream Wife)
  • Jean Louis (From Here to Eternity)
  • Charles LeMaire & Renié (The President's Lady)
Paramount Pictures
1953Helen Rose (The Bad and the Beautiful)unverified
beat 4 others
  • Jean Louis (Affair in Trinidad)
  • Edith Head (Carrie)
  • Charles LeMaire & Dorothy Jeakins (My Cousin Rachel)
  • Sheila O'Brien (Sudden Fear)
Loew's Inc.
1952Edith Head (A Place in the Sun)unverified
beat 4 others
  • Walter Plunkett & Gile Steele (Kind Lady)
  • Charles LeMaire & Renié (The Model and the Marriage Broker)
  • Edward Stevenson & Margaret Furse (The Mudlark)
  • Lucinda Ballard (A Streetcar Named Desire)
Paramount Pictures
1951Edith Head & Charles LeMaire (All About Eve)unverified
beat 2 others
  • Jean Louis (Born Yesterday)
  • Walter Plunkett (The Magnificent Yankee)
20th Century-Fox
1950Edith Head & Gile Steele (The Heiress)unverified
beat 1 other
  • Vittorio Nino Novarese (Prince of Foxes)
Paramount Pictures
1949Roger K. Furse (Hamlet)unverified
beat 1 other
  • Irene (B.F.'s Daughter)
Rank Film Distributors Ltd.