Happy Birthday, Edith Head! Watch Audrey Hepburn’s 1951 Screen and Costume Test for ‘Roman Holiday’ (VIDEO)

To celebrate the birthday of bespectacled costuming legend Edith Head (1897-1981), check out this fascinating behind-the-scenes video for 1953’s “Roman Holiday.” 

The William Wyler classic romance, co-starring Gregory Peck, launched the career of Audrey Hepburn and won her an Oscar. In the video, made in 1951, we see a charmingly reserved Hepburn give a “personality test” for viewers. Head explains the costume she’s provided for Hepburn — a chic blouse with sleeves rolled up and pair of trousers. “You see, she’s supposed to be a princess disguised as
an ordinary girl on the streets of Rome. So we made her a simple costume, so she
wouldn’t look different,” says Head. “In the picture, she had to look
casual, informal and we felt, due to the heat of Rome in summer, a girl would
really do this sort of thing.”

Check out critic Carrie Rickey’s tribute to Head here; Huffington Post tribute here.