Claire McCardell: The Designer Who Set Women Free

By: Elizabeth Evitts Dickinson

Sign Up Now! Already a Member? Log In
You must be logged into Bookshare to access this title. Learn about membership options, or view our freely available titles.

Synopsis: The riveting hidden history of Claire McCardell, the most influential fashion designer you&’ve never heard of. Claire McCardell forever changed fashion—and most importantly, the lives of women. She shattered cultural norms around women&’s clothes, and today much of what we wear traces back to her ingenious, rebellious mind. McCardell invented ballet flats and mix-and-match separates, and she introduced wrap dresses, hoodies, leggings, denim, and more into womenswear. She tossed out corsets in favor of a comfortably elegant look and insisted on pockets, even as male designers didn&’t see a need for them. She made zippers easy to reach because a woman &“may live alone and like it,&” McCardell once wrote, &“but you may regret it if you wrench your arm trying to zip a back zipper into place.&” After World War II, McCardell fought the severe, hyper-feminized silhouette championed by male designers, like Christian Dior. Dior claimed that he wanted to &“save women from nature.&” McCardell, by contrast, wanted to set women free. Claire McCardell became, as the young journalist Betty Friedan called her in 1955, &“The Gal Who Defied Dior.&” Filled with personal drama and industry secrets, this story reveals how Claire McCardell built an empire at a time when women rarely made the upper echelons of business. At its core, hers is a story about our right to choose how we dress—and our right to choose how we live.