Noel Taylor acted with the Lunts as a teenager in 1931, but began to work in costume design in the early 1940s. In 1947, he was asked by Eva Le Gallienne to design costumes for her blockbuster 1947 production of Alice in Wonderland. He would go on to create costumes for more than 100 stage shows. His work in movies and television was even more extensive. Katharine Hepburn, Gloria Swanson, Kirk Douglas, Bette Davis, Rosalind Russell and Elizabeth Taylor all wore his designs.

He designed for movies but achieved more success in television, where his costumes for the 1953 production of Hamlet for "Hallmark Hall of Fame" helped bring theatrical standards to the small screen. He designed for the Hallmark series for 17 years. Taylor was nominated for four Emmys and won one, for PBS's "Actor: The Paul Muni Story" in 1978. The Costume Designers Guild gave him a lifetime achievement award in 2004 for his contributions to television.