Claire MccardellThis is the first biography of fashion designer Claire McCardell (1905-1958), the pioneering creator of American sportswear. When other designers were slavishly copying Paris couture, McCardell insisted on clothes for an American lifestyle: useful, wearable, and affordable.Kohle Yohannan and Nancy Nolf show how McCardell's "comfort first" ideology fostered pride and belief in American fashion. Her design inspiration drew from the pages of her own life -- she loved sports and the freedom of men's clothing -- and she disdained shoulder pads, corsets, and heavy construction in favor of self wrap-and-tie styles. She preferred ordinary fabrics to more expensive ones, believing that "clothes should be useful".In this illustrated tribute to a great American designer, McCardell is pictured wearing her own clothes, and specially commissioned photographs of McCardell garments from the archives of New York's Fashion Institute of Technology reveal her subtle craftsmanship. This publication coincides with an exhibition opening at FIT in October 1998. |
From inside the book
Page 7
... related ephemera to document McCardell's career . This project has been an enthusiastic collaboration with Kohle Yohannan of The Parsons School of Design , New York , and Nancy Nolf of Hood College , Frederick , Maryland , who have ...
... related ephemera to document McCardell's career . This project has been an enthusiastic collaboration with Kohle Yohannan of The Parsons School of Design , New York , and Nancy Nolf of Hood College , Frederick , Maryland , who have ...
Page 115
... related to others more prosaic : playing cards , kitchen counters , composite kitchen fixtures , Fuller Brush cleaning products , even white bread ! The patriotic designer's indomitable belief in American industry was probably ...
... related to others more prosaic : playing cards , kitchen counters , composite kitchen fixtures , Fuller Brush cleaning products , even white bread ! The patriotic designer's indomitable belief in American industry was probably ...
Page 119
... related honor , including being elected as chairman at the Fashion Group and asked to serve on the advisory board of the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute in New York . In 1945 , just as American fashion had begun to make ...
... related honor , including being elected as chairman at the Fashion Group and asked to serve on the advisory board of the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute in New York . In 1945 , just as American fashion had begun to make ...
Common terms and phrases
Adolph Klein Adrian McCardell advertising American designer American fashion American Look American sportswear American style American women bathing suit became Best & Co buyers Capezio career casual Center for Creative Chanel Claire McCardell Clothes Claire's Coco Chanel collections costume cotton Coty Award Courtesy Voque couture create Creative Photography Day dress defied Dior denim designer's Despite Diana Vreeland early ensemble fabrics fashion designer fashion editor Fashion Institute Frederick French garment Gift of Adrian girl Harper's Bazaar Harris Hattie Carnegie honored Hood College innovative Institute of Technology interview Irving Kitchen Dinner dress Kohle Yohannan later Lord & Taylor Louise Dahl-Wolfe Madeleine Vionnet magazine McCardell Family Archives Mildred Orrick modern Monastic dress Museum Nancy Nolf Paris Parsons School Photo photographs Pop-over popular Sally Kirkland sashes season Seventh Avenue showroom silhouette skirt swimwear Townley Frocks Townley's University of Arizona untitled speech wardrobe wartime Women's Wear Daily wool jersey wrap-and-tie York young