Advanced Search

Works of: Claire McCardell

Filter
Info

Works of: Claire McCardell

1 to 24 of 33 Artist Information

2005.65.9

Claire McCardell

Date: c.1939

Medium: Rayon and silk crepe faille

Object: Evening dress

Object number: 2005.65.9

87.144.9

Claire McCardell

Date: 1941

Medium: Wool jersey

Object: Swimsuit

Object number: 87.144.9

72.116.1

Claire McCardell

Date: 1942

Medium: Wool jersey and metal

Object: Copy of "Diaper" Swimsuit

Object number: 72.116.1

96.61.6

Claire McCardell

Date: c. 1947

Medium: Rayon and brass

Object: Dress

Object number: 96.61.6

72.61.60

Claire McCardell

Date: 1945-1955

Medium: Beige and black cotton twill and black wool jersey

Object: Ensemble

Object number: 72.61.60

85.174.2

Claire McCardell

Date: 1945

Medium: Cotton chambray

Object: Ensemble

Object number: 85.174.2

76.33.17

Claire McCardell

Date: 1946

Medium: Black wool jersey

Object: Dress

Object number: 76.33.17

2002.69.1

Claire McCardell

Date: 1946

Medium: Wool jersey

Object: Set

Object number: 2002.69.1

72.61.90

Claire McCardell

Date: 1947-1950

Medium: Cotton

Object: Ensemble

Object number: 72.61.90

72.61.167

Claire McCardell

Date: c. 1950

Medium: Wool jersey

Object: Two-piece dress

Object number: 72.61.167

72.61.54

Claire McCardell

Date: 1948

Medium: Nylon and metal

Object: Swimsuit

Object number: 72.61.54

75.226.1

Claire McCardell

Date: c. 1950

Medium: Elastic and brass

Object: Belt

Object number: 75.226.1

96.61.1

Claire McCardell

Date: 1948

Medium: Ribbed cotton

Object: Dress

Object number: 96.61.1

72.61.129

Claire McCardell

Date: 1949

Medium: Rayon faille

Object: Evening set

Object number: 72.61.129

72.61.181

Claire McCardell

Date: 1950

Medium: Nylon

Object: Evening dress

Object number: 72.61.181

72.61.182

Claire McCardell

Date: 1950

Medium: Printed nylon

Object: Evening dress

Object number: 72.61.182

87.51.1

Claire McCardell

Date: 1950

Medium: Cotton

Object: Dress

Object number: 87.51.1

72.61.75

Claire McCardell

Date: c. 1953

Medium: Cotton denim

Object: Jacket

Object number: 72.61.75

72.61.91

Claire McCardell

Date: 1951

Medium: Cotton piqué

Object: Dress

Object number: 72.61.91

98.110.1

Claire McCardell

Date: 1952

Medium: Multicolor cotton

Object: Dress

Object number: 98.110.1

98.103.3

Claire McCardell

Date: Resort 1952-1953

Medium: Red and yellow cotton with elastic

Object: Romper

Object number: 98.103.3

92.79.8

Claire McCardell

Date: c. 1955

Medium: Silk satin

Object: Evening dress

Object number: 92.79.8

2014.56.3

Claire McCardell

Date: c. 1955

Medium: Plastic (possibly) and gold metal

Object: Sunglasses

Object number: 2014.56.3

76.173.1

Claire McCardell

Date: c. 1955

Medium: Silk faille and brass

Object: Evening dress

Object number: 76.173.1

Refine Results

Artist Info

Claire McCardell

Claire McCardell is a central figure in modern American sportswear. When Time magazine featured McCardell on the cover (May 2, 1955), she was described as “the person who understands best how American women want to look.” Her clothing had a casual, yet functional ease. “I like buttons to button, buckles to buckle, sashes to tie,” she said.

McCardell studied at Parsons School of Design in New York. She spent most of her career at Townley Frocks, where she became head designer in 1932. She left briefly to design for Hattie Carnegie, but her simple designs were not suited to the Carnegie aesthetic. She returned to Townley and was the company’s chief designer until her death in 1958 at the age of 52.

The “Monastic” dress is perhaps McCardell’s most lauded early design. Debuting in 1938, it was seemingly formless, but the wearer had only to add a belt to define the waist and achieve a flattering silhouette. In 1942, McCardell debuted her familiar “Popover” dress, a simple denim wrap, to be worn by practical women during the war years. It became a staple of her collections—varying in length or pattern, and morphing from playful, casual cottons to fine silks for evening. She also wanted clothing to be active and fun, as evidenced by her playwear—cotton rompers, mix-and-match separates, and diaper-style bathing suits.

McCardell followed many of the basic lines of the postwar New Look, but stripped them of their rigidity and formality. A great many of her designs emphasize the waist—by means of a belt, however, not a girdle—and many have full skirts (yet do not require a petticoat). McCardell did not dictate style. Often her designs could be worn a number of ways. Sashes or spaghetti-string ties, for instance, could be styled according to the wearer’s preference. McCardell rather encouraged such individuality.

McCardell’s fashions were not conceived to be put on “a pedestal in the Museum of Modern Art.” As she put it: “Clothes are for real live women . . . They are made to be worn, to be lived in.” Yet, in museums and on pedestals they now reside, perhaps because the humble McCardell still seems eminently modern.