Bob and Bertha Lord and Taylor Fashion Illustrator

American fashion designer (1905-1958)

American fashion designer Claire McCardell surrounded past models wearing her designs, Fourth dimension, 2 May 1955

Claire McCardell (May 24, 1905 – March 22, 1958) was an American fashion designer of prepare-to-wear clothing in the twentieth century. She is credited with the cosmos of American sportswear.^[1]

Early life [edit]

McCardell was the eldest of four children born to Eleanor and Adrian McCardell in Frederick, Maryland. Adrian was a Maryland country senator and president of the Frederick County National Bank.^[2] As a child, McCardell earned the nickname "Kicking" for her ability to keep the boys from pushing her around.^[3]

Fascinated past fashion from a young historic period, McCardell wanted to move to New York Metropolis to study fashion blueprint at age 16. Unwilling to ship a teenager and so far away, McCardell'due south father convinced her to enroll in the home economics program at Hood Higher instead. After two years of report in Maryland, McCardell moved to New York and enrolled in Parsons (then known as the New York Schoolhouse of Fine and Applied Art). In 1927, McCardell went to Paris, continuing her studies at the Parsons co-operative school at the Identify des Vosges.^[2] In Paris, McCardell and her classmates were able to purchases samples by couturiers such every bit Madeleine Vionnet that they took apart in order to written report their structure.^{[iv] [v]}

McCardell was graduated from Parsons with a certificate in costume design in 1923.^[half-dozen] After graduation, she worked odd jobs sketching at a fashionable wearing apparel shop,^[ii] painting flowers on newspaper lamp shades, and acting as a fit model for B. Altman. Then she met designer Robert Turk.^[three]

1930s and 1940s [edit]

Late in 1930, McCardell began working as an banana designer for Robert Turk.^[2] Soon afterwards, Turk moved to a larger company, Townley Frocks, and brought McCardell with him. In 1932, Turk drowned and Claire was asked to stop his fall line.^{[2] [3] [4]}

The 27-year-old chief designer before long traveled to Paris for inspiration, equally did most American designers. Non interested in copying European high fashion, McCardell searched for inspiration in art and street fashion. During the 1930s, she began to show innovations such as sashes, spaghetti cord ties, and the use of menswear details that would become role of her design signature.^[6] In 1938, she modernized the dirndl.^{[2] [6]} She also pioneered matching separates.^{[half dozen] [7]}

Beachwear designed past McCardell circa 1948

In 1938, Claire McCardell introduced the Monastic Dress, a bias-cut tentlike dress.^[viii] It had no seamed waist and hung loosely, just with a versatile belt it could be adapted to hug a woman'due south curves gracefully.^{[2] [7] [ix]} All-time & Co. exclusively sold the dress for $29.95 and it sold out in a day.^[iii] The "Monastic Dress" was widely copied and the cost of trying to cease knock-offs drove Townley Frocks out of business.^{[iii] [7]}

Afterward the closure of Townley Frocks, Hattie Carnegie hired McCardell to work for her famed dressmaking firm, but her designs were not successful with Carnegie's clients, who were in search of more elaborate trade.^[x] While working for Hattie Carnegie, McCardell met Diana Vreeland (and then at Harper'southward Bazaar). She would get McCardell's lifelong friend and champion.^[6] In 1940, just before leaving Carnegie, McCardell attended her last Parisian fashion show, preferring from then on to avoid any French influence on her clothing.^[eleven]

Townley Frocks reopened in 1940 under new management and McCardell returned to the brand. The company's labels then read, "Claire McCardell Clothes by Townley", making her ane of the first American designers to have name recognition.^[6]

World War II cut American designers off from European inspiration and limited the availability of some materials. McCardell flourished under these restrictions.^{[2] [6] [9]} Although many designers considered them besides basic, McCardell already worked with fabrics such every bit denim, calico, and wool jersey that were hands available during the war.^[two] She popularized the ballet flat when, responding to the shortage of leather, McCardell commissioned Capezio to produce a range of ballet flats to match her designs.^[12] When the regime announced a surplus of weather balloon cotton wool materials in 1944, McCardell rapidly bought them upwards, using them to design clothes that patriotic American women wore with pride.^[ii]

In 1941, McCardell produced a line of separates that fabricated 9 outfits from five pieces. The pieces included a taffeta skirt, a jersey pinnacle, and a jersey jacket.^[12] That same year, she showed her commencement "Kitchen Dinner Dress". Made of cotton, the "Kitchen Dinner Dress" had a total skirt with an attached frock.^{[6] [13]}

In 1942, McCardell created her famed "Popover Dress". Information technology was a response to a Harper's Bazaar claiming to create something fashionable one could wear to clean the house and so, wear to a cocktail party. The unproblematic greyness apparel came with a matching potholder that fit into the dress pocket.^[one] The "Popover Dress" sold for $six.95 ^[11] and more than than 75,000 were sold in the first flavour alone.^[2] These dresses became a staple of McCardell collections and over fourth dimension, she fabricated versions in different lengths and fabrics.^[x] The "Popover Dress" received a citation from the American Fashion Critics Clan and in 1943, McCardell won a Coty Honor.^[3]

Beginning in 1945, McCardell was featured as an "American Look" designer by Lord & Taylor'southward department store.^[xiv] In 1946, McCardell won the Best Sportswear Designer Award and in 1948 she won the Neiman-Marcus Award.^[ii]

1950s [edit]

As McCardell's fame grew, her influence within Townley also rose. In 1952, she became a partner in the company.^[15]

Later on the war, McCardell worked equally a volunteer critic in the fashion design department at Parsons.^[4] In 1950, President Harry Due south. Truman, Bess Truman, and Margaret Truman presented McCardell with a Adult female of the Yr Honor from the Women's National Printing Club.^[xvi] This was the honour McCardell cherished nearly.^[3]

In April 1953, the Frank Perls Gallery in Beverly Hills launched a retrospective exhibition of 20 years of McCardell's garments.^[17] The exhibit included the "Monastic Wearing apparel", the "Diaper Bathing Suit", Capezio ballet flats, and piece of work-wearable-inspired pieces with rivets.^[18] In his introduction to the showroom, retailer Stanley Marcus wrote, "...she is one of the truly creative designers this country has produced... She is to America what Vionnet was to France."^[18]

In 1954, she worked on an informational panel formed past Fourth dimension Inc. to create a new mag that would become Sports Illustrated.^{[2] [4]}

A book entitled What Shall I Wear? The What, Where, When, and How Much of Manner was published in 1957^[2] under McCardell's name.

Personal life and death [edit]

In 1943, McCardell married the Texas-built-in architect, Irving Drought Harris, who had ii children by an before wedlock,^{[4] [6]} and established a home base in Manhattan.

McCardell's life and work were cut brusk by a diagnosis of final colon cancer in 1957. With the help of long-time friend and classmate, Mildred Orrick, McCardell completed her final collection from her hospital bed. She checked out of the hospital in order to make the introductions for her last rail show. McCardell died on March 22, 1958 at the age of 52.^[2] She is buried in the family plot at Mountain Olivet Cemetery, Frederick, Maryland.

After her death, McCardell's family decided to shut the label. Her blood brother explained, "Information technology wasn't that hard [to shut the label]. Claire's ideas were always her own."^[iii]

Legacy and influence [edit]

In 1981, Lord & Taylor re-issued the "Popover Dress" as part of a McCardell retrospective at their Fifth Artery store in Manhattan.^[19] Versions of the "Popover Dress" are held by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Rhode Island School of Design, and the Museum at F.I.T.^{[xx] [21] [22]} Versions of the "Monastic Apparel" are held past the Metropolitan Museum of Fine art and LACMA.^{[23] [24] [25]}

In 1990, Life named McCardell one of the 100 well-nigh important Americans of the twentieth century.^[6] A twelvemonth later, she was inducted into the Maryland Women's Hall of Fame.^[ii]

In 1998, forty years later on her death, three separate retrospectives of Claire McCardell's work were staged at Metropolitan Museum of Art, F.I.T., and the Maryland Historical Gild in Baltimore.^[xi]

Fashion designers such equally Isaac Mizrahi, Donna Karan, Calvin Klein, Norma Kamali, and Cynthia Rowley all have been influenced by McCardell.^[11] Anna Sui'south line of leap-summer 1999 was directly inspired past her work.^[11] Of McCardell's work Anna Sui said, "What I truly appreciate was her textile sensibility, fifty-fifty with more constructed fabrics like denim. She made them all wait so soft and drapy. The halters she did were so modern. The thing is, you look at some of the things she did, and you tin't believe information technology was the 40s.''^[11]

In 2019, the Frederick Art Gild launched the Claire McCardell Project to underwrite the creation and installation of a larger-than-life bronze statue of McCardell in her hometown of Frederick, Maryland. The guild commissioned award-winning sculptor Sarah Hempel Irani for this monumental task and, thanks to customs back up, reached its fundraising goal in less than two years. In October 2021, the statue will be placed on a granite pedestal in an elegant garden setting in Frederick'southward Carroll Creek Park.^[26]

Characteristics of McCardell designs [edit]

• 1938 Monastic dress - a bias-cutting, tent-shaped garment with dolman sleeves, belted with spaghetti ties that wrap multiple times effectually the waist to create shape
• 1942 Popover wearing apparel - versatile wrap dress with patch pockets and wide dolman sleeves that could be "popped" over other dress and used as a housedress; also worn as a dressing gown or party dress ^[27]
• Diaper bathing suit - made of low-cal cotton with a panel that wrapped upwards betwixt the legs, and was secured by thin strings^[28]
• Streamlined wool bathing suits
• Pockets in everything from capris to evening gowns
• Ballet slippers as everyday footwear^[eleven]
• Trouser pockets and pleats in women'due south wearable
• Zippers on the side instead of the back, enabling women to dress without assistance
• Revealing sundresses and casual wear^[29]
• Material draping and gathering to accentuate the natural shape of the body^[30]
• Use of common, natural-fiber fabrics such as cotton wool, twill, gingham, denim, and jersey in a variety of garments, not just as twenty-four hours wear^{[i] [xi]}
• Elimination of highly-structured undergarments such as corsets, crinolines, and girdles
• Utilize of rivets and other work clothes fasteners^[2]

References [edit]

1. ^ ^{a b c} Gunn, Tim; Calhoun, Ada (2013-09-03). Tim Gunn's Way Bible: The Fascinating History of Everything in Your Closet. Simon and Schuster. ISBN9781451643862.
2. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k fifty k north o p q} "Claire McCardell, MSA SC 3520-13581". msa.maryland.gov . Retrieved 2016-07-06 .
3. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h} "Thoroughly modern McCardell Designer: Frederick native Claire McCardell started a fashion revolution in the 1930s. At present, her legacy is being celebrated in a book, a gallery and a retrospective prove". Retrieved 2016-07-06 .
4. ^ ^{a b c d e} "Claire McCardell and the American await". Retrieved 2016-07-06 .
5. ^ F, José Blanco; Hunt-Hurst, Patricia Kay; Lee, Heather Vaughan; Doering, Mary (2015-11-23). Clothing and Fashion: American Fashion from Head to Toe. ABC-CLIO. ISBN9781610693103.
6. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i j} Polan, Brenda; Tredre, Roger (2009-x-01). The Neat Style Designers. Berg. ISBN9780857851741.
7. ^ ^{a b c} Tortora, Phyllis Thousand.; Eubank, Keith (2009-06-fifteen). Survey of Historic Costume Study Guide. Bloomsbury Publishing USA. ISBN9781609012212.
8. ^ Dickinson, Elizabeth Evitts, A Dress for Everyone, The Washington Post Magazine, Dec 12, 2018
9. ^ ^{a b} Fields, Jill (2007-01-01). An Intimate Affair: Women, Lingerie, and Sexuality. Academy of California Press. ISBN9780520223691.
10. ^ ^{a b} "The Museum at FIT - Online Collections". fashionmuseum.fitnyc.edu . Retrieved 2016-07-06 .
11. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h} White, Constance C. R. (1998-11-17). "Jubilant Claire McCardell". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2016-07-06 .
12. ^ ^{a b} Condra, Jill (2008-01-01). The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Clothing Through World History: 1801 to the present. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN9780313336652.
13. ^ "Auctions by Date". www.augusta-sale.com . Retrieved 2016-07-06 .
14. ^ "Guide to the Claire McCardell fashion sketches, 1931-1958". New School Libraries and Archives. New Schoolhouse University. Retrieved July half-dozen, 2016.
15. ^ Kennedy, Alicia; Stoehrer, Emily Banis; Calderin, Jay (2013-02-01). Mode Design, Referenced: A Visual Guide to the History, Language, and Exercise of Fashion. Rockport Publishers. ISBN9781592536771.
16. ^ Co, Turner Publishing (1997-01-01). Reliable Sources: The National Printing Social club in the American Century. Turner Publishing Visitor. ISBN9781563113758.
17. ^ Yohannan, Kohle (1998-10-15). Claire Mccardell. Harry N. Abrams. ISBN9780810943759.
18. ^ ^{a b} Marcus, Stanley (2001-01-01). Minding the Store. University of North Texas Press. ISBN9781574411393.
19. ^ LLC, New York Media (1981-03-02). New York Magazine. New York Media, LLC.
20. ^ ""Pop-over" | C.I.45.71.2ab | Work of Fine art | Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History | The Metropolitan Museum of Art". The Met's Heilbrunn Timeline of Fine art History . Retrieved 2016-07-06 .
21. ^ ""Popover" Clothes – Objects - RISD MUSEUM". risdmuseum.org . Retrieved 2016-07-06 .
22. ^ "The Museum at FIT - Online Collections". fashionmuseum.fitnyc.edu . Retrieved 2016-07-06 .
23. ^ "Claire McCardell | "Monastic Dress" | American | The Met". The Metropolitan Museum of Art, i.due east. The Met Museum . Retrieved 2016-07-06 .
24. ^ "Claire McCardell | Apparel | American | The Met". The Metropolitan Museum of Art, i.east. The Met Museum . Retrieved 2016-07-06 .
25. ^ "Woman'southward Wearing apparel, 'Monastic' | LACMA Collections". collections.lacma.org . Retrieved 2016-07-06 .
26. ^ Clegg, Jeannine (May 6, 2021). "Claire McCardell, Iconic Designer, to be Memorialized in Statuary". Threads . Retrieved June 6, 2021.
27. ^ "Claire McCardell: "Popover" dress (C.I.45.71.2ab) | Heilbrunn Timeline of Fine art History" The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Web. 14 Nov 2009.
28. ^ "Claire McCardell: Play/bathing suit (C.I. 45.71.4) | Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History" The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Web. 14 November 2009.
29. ^ "Claire McCardell: Sundress (C.I.58.49.5) | Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History" The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Web. fourteen November 2009.
30. ^ "Claire McCardell: Evening gown (C.I.58.17.two) | Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History" The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Web. 14 Nov 2009.

External links [edit]

• McCardell's page at the New School'southward website
• 1955 Time mag article on McCardell's life and work
• 1998 New York Times commodity on McCardell's life, piece of work, and contemporary influence
• McCardell's biography from the Maryland Women's Hall of Fame
• McCardell's biography from Fashion Encyclopedia
• Original McCardell design sketches, from The New School's archives
• Extant examples of McCardell'south work at the Metropolitan Museum of Art
• American Ingenuity: Sportswear 1930s–1970s, an exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art Libraries (fully available online every bit PDF), which contains textile on Claire McCardell (encounter index)

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