Finding Aid for the Renié and Leland Conley costume design collection 2241
Sarah Jardini for History Associates Incorporated
USC Libraries Cinematic Arts Library
2022 April
Doheny Memorial Library G4
3550 Trousdale Parkway
Los Angeles, California 90089-0185
ctlibarc@usc.edu
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
[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.
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