Helen Rose

Helen Rose (February 2, 1904 – November 9, 1985) was an American costume designer and clothing designer who spent the bulk of her career with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

Helen Rose
From left to right: Annabella Levy, Elizabeth Taylor and Helen Rose on the set of Rhapsody (1954)
Born(1904-02-02)February 2, 1904
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
DiedNovember 9, 1985(1985-11-09) (aged 81)
Palm Springs, California, U.S.
OccupationCostume designer
SpouseHarry V. Rose
Children1

Career

Helen Rose was born on February 2, 1904, to William Bromberg and Ray Bobbs in Chicago, Illinois of German Jewish and Russian Jewish descent.[1]

She attended the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts and then designed nightclub and stage costumes for various acts.[2] She moved to Los Angeles in 1929, where she designed outfits for Fanchon and Marco and later the Ice Follies. In the early 1940s, she spent two years working for 20th Century Fox, where she designed wardrobes for musical selections. In 1943, MGM hired her in the wake of Adrian's departure, and by the late 1940s, Rose was promoted to chief designer at the studio.[2]

In 1956, Rose designed the wedding dress worn by Grace Kelly for her marriage to Prince Rainier of Monaco.[3]

In the late 1960s, Rose left the studio to open her own design business and continued to provide attire for the famed and the wealthy. She also wrote a fashion column. She wrote two books: her autobiography Just Make Them Beautiful in 1976 and The Glamorous World of Helen Rose. In the 1970s, Rose also staged a traveling fashion show featuring some of her MGM-designed costumes that was called "The Helen Rose Show".[4][5]

Recognition
Elizabeth Taylor in the wedding dress Rose designed for Father of the Bride (1950)

Rose won two Academy Awards for Best Costume Design: for The Bad and the Beautiful in 1952 and for I'll Cry Tomorrow in 1955.[2] She was nominated a further eight times and was well-known for designing famous bridal gowns of the era. She designed the wedding dress of Grace Kelly[6] when she married Prince Rainier of Monaco in 1956.[7] She also designed clothing for Elizabeth Taylor in the movies Father of the Bride and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof as well as Elizabeth Taylor's bridal gown when she married Conrad "Nicky" Hilton.[7]

Personal life

Rose was married to Harry V. Rose, whose birth name was Harry Rosenstein (1902–1993), and they had a daughter.

Helen Rose died in Palm Springs, California, in 1985, aged 81.[8]

Filmography

References
  1. Avrech, Robert J. (April 4, 2014). "Remembering Legendary Costume Designer Helen Rose". seraphicpress.com. Archived from the original on November 30, 2020. Retrieved January 9, 2021.
  2. H. Kristina Haugland (2006). Grace Kelly: icon of style to royal bride. Yale University Press.
  3. "Grace Kelly's Wedding Dress and Accessories". Philadelphia Museum of Art. Retrieved 14 February 2022.
  4. "Helen Rose". Vintage Fashion Guild. Retrieved May 2, 2011.
  5. Folkart, Burt A. (November 12, 1985). "Film Costume Designer Helen Rose Dies". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 2, 2011.
  6. "The Most Iconic Royal Wedding Gowns of All Time". Harper's Bazaar. April 13, 2018. Retrieved January 9, 2021.
  7. Bergan, Ronald (March 31, 2011). "Designing Woman: Helen Rose". Slant Magazine. Retrieved May 2, 2011.
  8. "Rose, Helen (1904–1985)." Dictionary of Women Worldwide: 25,000 Women Through the Ages. Gale. 2007.

Additional info
  • 1910 United States Federal Census, Chicago, Cook County, Illinois, Enumeration District 7, Sheet 17, April 22–23, 1910.
  • 1920 United States Federal Census, Chicago, Cook County, Illinois, Enumeration District 6, Sheet 10A, January 10, 1920.
  • California Death Index on Ancestry.com.
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