Made for Each Other: Fashion and the Academy Awards » (First Edition)

In addition to working at British Vogue, Bronwyn Cosgrave covered the Academy Awards for the BBC. Her features on fashion, film, contemporary art, and interior design have appeared in the Financial Times, the Times, the Guardian, Harper's Bazaar and the Telegraph Magazine. She recently edited Sample: Cuttings from Contemporary Fashion, which the Guardian named one of 2005's best books. She is also is the author of Costume and Fashion: A Complete History. She lives in London.

At the Academy Awards, the answer to who wore what matters just as much as who won what. Focusing on the actresses nominated for Oscars and a few seminal presenters, Made for Each Other traces the fashion trends of the widely watched Oscar ceremony. From the splendor of Vivien Leigh to the spare war-era chic of Ingrid Bergman, from the arresting glamor of Marlene Dietrich to Barbra Streisand's daring sequined Arnold Scaasi pantsuit, Bronwyn Cosgrave delivers a revealing account of the entertainers who have helped shape the look of the Academy Awards and the international couturiers and behind-the-scenes fashion players on whom they've relied. Delving deep into the partnerships that have defined Oscar fashion—Claudette Colbert and Travis Banton; Grace Kelly and Edith Head; Audrey Hepburn and Hubert de Givenchy; Elizabeth Taylor and Helen Rose; Liza Minelli and Halston; Cher and Bob Mackie; Jodie Foster and Georgio Armani; Nicole Kidman and John Galliano; Hilary Swank and Randolph Duke—Cosgrave demonstrates that from the beginning fashion was as integral to Oscar night as the films it celebrated. In a package befitting the glamorous subject, Made for Each Other includes previously unseen sketches of Oscar dresses by legendary couturiers, rare vintage photographs, and fashion illustrations of key dresses created especially for this book. For fashionistas and film buffs alike, Made for Each Other is a must have for anyone interested in this perfect pairing.

Publishers Weekly

At the first Academy Awards event in 1928, Janet Gaynor had received advance word of her "best actress" award for three silent films the year before. For the ceremony she wore a store-bought Peter Pan-collared dress, but for future events she sought the advice of designer Gilbert Adrian, whom she married. In this entertaining look at the history of Academy Award fashion, Cosgrove, who covered the Oscars for British Vogue and the BBC, demonstrates that the Gaynor-Adrian pairing was the start of many between star designers and actresses-Givenchy and Audrey Hepburn, Edith Head and Grace Kelly, Thea van Runkle and Faye Dunaway, Scaasi and Streisand, Halston and Liza, Bob Mackie and Cher. Earlier screen queens (and their producers and minders) had quickly learned that a drop-dead appearance at the awards ceremony led to invaluable glam photos and inches in print: Carole Lombard, Vivien Leigh, Garbo and especially perfectionist Marlene Dietrich who, after experimenting, turned to Dior. Cosgrave could have simply served up a deep dish of anecdotes, gossip and tales of rivalry, but she has gone several steps further to deliver a carefully researched and footnoted book that belongs in every Hollywood historian's library and is sure to be consulted for a long time to come. 90 b&w photos and illus., 12-page color insert (not seen by PW). (Feb.) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.