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A visual history · Oscars

The winners who defined Costume Design (Color).

17 ceremonies, 1949–1967. 16 different winners.

  1. A Man for All SeasonsElizabeth Haffenden & Joan Bridge
  2. Doctor ZhivagoPhyllis Dalton
  3. My Fair LadyCecil Beaton
  4. CleopatraRenié, Vittorio Nino Novarese & Irene Sharaff
  5. The Wonderful World of the Brothers GrimmMary Wills
  6. West Side StoryIrene Sharaff
Years explored
1949–1967
Different winners
16
Category leader
Irene Sharaff · 2
About this record

Best Costume Design, Color 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

16 winners shaped this category.

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

  1. 01
    Irene Sharaff2 wins
One band per year, because no winner has gone back-to-back in the years on record. Colored by distributor; scroll sideways for the full run. Outlined blocks are years the award was not presented.
Dorothy Jeakins & Karinska'49
Leah Rhodes, Travilla & Marjorie Best'50
Samson and Delilah'51
Orry-Kelly, Walter Plunkett & Irene Sharaff'52
Marcel Vertès'53
Charles LeMaire & Emile Santiago'54
Sanzo Wada'55
Charles LeMaire'56
Irene Sharaff'57
'58–'59not awarded
Elizabeth Haffenden'60
Valles & Bill Thomas'61
Irene Sharaff'62
Mary Wills'63
Renié, Vittorio Nino Novarese & Irene Sharaff'64
Cecil Beaton'65
Phyllis Dalton'66
Elizabeth Haffenden & Joan Bridge'67

02 / The power map

Who stood behind the winners?

20th Century leads the recorded distributor credits with 3 wins. The full distribution shows whether power was concentrated or shared.

20th Century3 wins
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer2 wins
Warner Bros.2 wins
British Lion Films1 win
Daiei Film1 win
Loew's Inc.1 win
Wins by distributor
  1. 20th Century318%
  2. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer212%
  3. Warner Bros.212%
  4. British Lion Films16%
  5. Daiei Film16%
  6. Loew's Inc.16%
  7. Other741%

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
    Edith Head
    6 noms
  2. 02
    Dorothy Jeakins
    3 noms
  3. 03
    Bill Thomas
    2 noms
  4. 04
    Helen Rose & Gile Steele
    2 noms
  5. 05
    Jean Louis
    2 noms
  6. 06
    Walter Plunkett
    2 noms

Most losses

  1. 01
    Edith Head
    6L · 0W
  2. 02
    Irene Sharaff
    6L · 2W
  3. 03
    Dorothy Jeakins
    3L · 0W
  4. 04
    Bill Thomas
    2L · 0W
  5. 05
    Helen Rose & Gile Steele
    2L · 0W
  6. 06
    Jean Louis
    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
1967Elizabeth Haffenden & Joan Bridge (A Man for All Seasons)unverified
beat 4 others
  • Jean Louis (Gambit)
  • Piero Gherardi (Juliet of the Spirits)
  • Dorothy Jeakins (Hawaii)
  • Edith Head (The Oscar)
Columbia Pictures
1966Phyllis Dalton (Doctor Zhivago)unverified
beat 4 others
  • Vittorio Nino Novarese (The Agony and the Ecstasy)
  • Marjorie Best & Vittorio Nino Novarese (The Greatest Story Ever Told)
  • Edith Head & Bill Thomas (Inside Daisy Clover)
  • Dorothy Jeakins (The Sound of Music)
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
1965Cecil Beaton (My Fair Lady)unverified
beat 4 others
  • Margaret Furse (Becket)
  • Tony Walton (Mary Poppins)
  • Morton Haack (The Unsinkable Molly Brown)
  • Edith Head & Moss Mabry (What a Way to Go!)
Warner Bros.
1964Renié, Vittorio Nino Novarese & Irene Sharaff (Cleopatra)unverified
beat 4 others
  • Donald Brooks (The Cardinal)
  • Walter Plunkett (How the West Was Won)
  • Piero Tosi (The Leopard)
  • Edith Head (A New Kind of Love)
20th Century-Fox
1963Mary Wills (The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm)unverified
beat 4 others
  • Bill Thomas (Bon Voyage!)
  • Orry-Kelly (Gypsy)
  • Dorothy Jeakins (The Music Man)
  • Edith Head (My Geisha)
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer/Cinerama Releasing Corporation
1962Irene Sharaff (West Side Story)unverified
beat 4 others
  • Bill Thomas (Babes in Toyland)
  • Jean Louis (Back Street)
  • Irene Sharaff (Flower Drum Song)
  • Edith Head & Walter Plunkett (Pocketful of Miracles)
United Artists
1961Valles & Bill Thomas (Spartacus)unverified
beat 4 others
  • Irene Sharaff (Can-Can)
  • Irene (Midnight Lace)
  • Edith Head (Pepe)
  • Marjorie Best (Sunrise at Campobello)
Universal International
1960Elizabeth Haffenden (Ben-Hur)unverified
beat 4 others
  • Adele Palmer (The Best of Everything)
  • Renié (The Big Fisherman)
  • Edith Head (The Five Pennies)
  • Irene Sharaff (Porgy and Bess)
Loew's, Inc.
1957Irene Sharaff (The King and I)unverified
beat 4 others
  • Miles White (Around the World in 80 Days)
  • Moss Mabry & Marjorie Best (Giant)
  • Edith Head, Ralph Jester, John Jensen, Dorothy Jeakins & Arnold Friberg (The Ten Commandments)
  • Maria De Matteis (War and Peace)
20th Century-Fox
1956Charles LeMaire (Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing)unverified
beat 4 others
  • Irene Sharaff (Guys and Dolls)
  • Helen Rose (Interrupted Melody)
  • Edith Head (To Catch a Thief)
  • Charles LeMaire & Mary Wills (The Virgin Queen)
Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation
1955Sanzo Wada (Gate of Hell)unverified
beat 4 others
  • Irene Sharaff (Brigadoon)
  • Charles LeMaire & René Hubert (Desiree)
  • Jean Louis, Mary Ann Nyberg & Irene Sharaff (A Star Is Born)
  • Charles LeMaire, William Travilla & Miles White (There's No Business Like Show Business)
Daiei Film
1954Charles LeMaire & Emile Santiago (The Robe)unverified
beat 4 others
  • Mary Ann Nyberg (The Band Wagon)
  • Irene Sharaff (Call Me Madam)
  • Charles LeMaire & Travilla (How to Marry a Millionaire)
  • Walter Plunkett (Young Bess)
20th Century Fox
1953Marcel Vertès (Moulin Rouge)unverified
beat 4 others
  • Edith Head, Dorothy Jeakins & Miles White (The Greatest Show on Earth)
  • Clavé, Mary Wills & Madame Karinska (Hans Christian Andersen)
  • Helen Rose & Gile Steele (The Merry Widow)
  • Charles LeMaire (With a Song in My Heart)
British Lion Films
1952Orry-Kelly, Walter Plunkett & Irene Sharaff (An American in Paris)unverified
beat 4 others
  • Charles LeMaire & Edward Stevenson (David and Bathsheba)
  • Helen Rose & Gile Steele (The Great Caruso)
  • Herschel McCoy (Quo Vadis)
  • Hein Heckroth (Tales of Hoffmann)
Loew's Inc.
1951Edith Head, Dorothy Jeakins, Elois Jenssen, Gile Steele & Gwen Wakeling (Samson and Delilah)unverified
beat 2 others
  • Michael Whittaker (The Black Rose)
  • Walter Plunkett & Valles (That Forsyte Woman)
Paramount Pictures
1950Leah Rhodes, Travilla & Marjorie Best (Adventures of Don Juan)unverified
beat 1 other
  • Kay Nelson (Mother Is a Freshman)
Warner Bros. Pictures
1949Dorothy Jeakins & Karinska (Joan of Arc)unverified
beat 1 other
  • Edith Head & Gile Steele (The Emperor Waltz)
RKO Radio Pictures