Jump to Content

Collection Guide
Collection Title:
Collection Number:
Get Items:
Conley (Renié and Leland) costume design collection
2241  
View entire collection guide What's This?
Search this collection
Collection Details
 
Table of contents What's This?
  • Scope and Contents
  • Biographical / Historical
  • Conditions Governing Access
  • Rights Statement for Archival Description
  • Conditions Governing Use
  • Immediate Source of Acquisition
  • Preferred Citation
  • Processing Information

  • Contributing Institution: USC Libraries Cinematic Arts Library
    Title: Renié and Leland Conley costume design collection
    Creator: Renie
    Identifier/Call Number: 2241
    Physical Description: 6.35 Linear Feet 3 boxes
    Date (inclusive): c. 1940-1966
    Abstract: This collection includes production stills, costuming notes, and costume illustrations from various film projects worked on by American costume designer Renié.
    Language of Material: English.
    Container: 1
    Container: 2
    Container: 3

    Scope and Contents

    This collection includes production stills, costuming notes, and costume illustrations from various film projects worked on by American costume designer Renié. Costume illustrations include swatches of fabric. Illustrations for films include The Model and the Marriage Broker (1951), Tonight We Sing (1953), The Big Fisherman (1959), Snow White and the Three Stooges (1961), and Cleopatra (1963). The stills cover her early career at RKO and include notes on fabrics and construction. The Costume Breakdown for Cleopatra binder contains costuming notes and swatches for Cleopatra's handmaidens and other minor characters.

    Biographical / Historical

    Renié Conley was an American costume designer who was trained at the Chouinard Art Institute in Los Angeles and at UCLA before serving her apprenticeship as a theatrical set designer. She then became a sketch artist for MGM and Paramount. Conley was active in film costume design from 1937-1981. Nominated for five Academy Awards, she won an Oscar for her work on the costumes of Cleopatra (1963), in collaboration with star designer Irene Sharaff. Conley was one of the founders and past presidents of the Costume Designers Guild, she later taught in Los Angeles.

    Conditions Governing Access

    Advance notice required for access.

    Rights Statement for Archival Description

    Finding aid description and metadata are licensed under an Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license.

    Conditions Governing Use

    All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Cinematic Arts Library at ctlibarc@usc.edu. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the Cinematic Arts Library as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained.

    Immediate Source of Acquisition

    Gift of Renié Conley and her husband Leland, October 1, 1976.

    Preferred Citation

    [Box/folder no. or item name], Renié and Leland Conley costume design collection, Collection no. 2241, Cinematic Arts Library, USC Libraries, University of Southern California.

    Processing Information

    Collection is partially processed.

    Subjects and Indexing Terms

    Art objects
    Costume design -- Archival resources
    Costume designers -- United States -- Archival resources
    Fashion drawing -- Archival resources
    Motion pictures -- Archival resources
    Sketches
    Swatches (Dry-goods)
    Television -- Archival resources
    Renie -- Archives