Lot 320: An original sketch for Kim Novak in Vertigo

[COSTUME DESIGN]

EDITH HEAD. Original costume design for a dress set worn by Kim Novak in Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo. Circa 1958. Pencil, ink and gouache sketch on paper. Unsigned, with pencil notations "gathers but only at top" (upper right) and "Kim Novak Vertigo frame for 14 x 17" (upper edge). The sheet measures 15 3/4 x 12 3/4 inches (40 x 32.4 cm). Very faint creasing to lower section, left corners mildly soiled from handling, light smudges to lower left corner.

A sketch for a lavender set worn by Kim Novak as Judy Barton. She wears the outfit later in the movie, near the beginning of the third act. Judy and Scottie, played by Jimmy Stewart, go to Ernie's Restaurant after Judy wrote (but tore up!) a letter confessing the central Madeleine/Judy deception and her own love for him. Like many of Head's sketches, the final design for the film differs slightly from the early sketches. The outer garment in the sketch resembles a shrug or bolero, closing only at the top, while in the film it resembles a cardigan, able to be buttoned entirely closed. The dress in the film has a large flower detail at hip-height, which is either absent or not visible in the sketch. The overall silhouette remained the same.