Moss Mabry, 87, Costume Designer to the Stars
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
Moss Mabry, an Academy Award nominated costumer designer who dressed Doris Day and helped fashion the style of movies such as “Giant” and “The Way We Were,” died Wednesday in Oceanside, Calif. He was 87.
Mabry dressed many of Hollywood’s leading ladies, both on and off the screen. Among his clients were Lana Turner, Lauren Bacall, Elizabeth Taylor, Grace Kelly, Doris Day, and Liza Minnelli.
He sometimes accompanied celebrities on shopping trips to New York or Paris to help them choose their clothes.
Mabry designed costumes for many of the Doris Day movies and also was a good friend of her co-star, Rock Hudson, with whom he played weekly bridge games.
His career began with wardrobe work in the 1950s and spanned more than three decades. He worked on more than 80 movies, including “Dial M for Murder,” “Portnoy’s Complaint,” “The Manchurian Candidate,” and “Mutiny on the Bounty.”
Mabry never won an Oscar, but he was nominated four times for costume design: In 1956 with Marjorie Best for “Giant”; in 1964 with Edith Head for “What a Way To Go”; in 1965 for “Morituri,” and with Dorothy Jeakins in 1973 for “The Way We Were.”
He said “Giant” was his most challenging job. The script called for 42 costume changes to reflect how Taylor’s character aged over the course of 30 years.
He left no survivors.
