Biography highlights pioneer in American fashion from Frederick

A new biography by Baltimore author Elizabeth Evitts Dickinson puts fashion pioneer Claire McCardell back at the center of American style. “Claire McCardell: The Designer Who Set Women Free” says that the Frederick-born designer revolutionized women’s clothing from the 1930s through the 1950s. Her legacy is now highlighted alongside an exhibit at the Maryland Center for History and Culture.”So much of what we wear today is what Claire McCardell invented,” Dickinson said. “She created mix-and-match separates in 1934. She pioneered the modern wrap dress. She gave us ballet flats, denim in womenswear, and she put hoods on sweaters.”Dickinson’s debut chronicles McCardell’s mission to empower women through practical, modern design. “She helped pioneer ready-to-wear, designed clothes to fit a range of bodies, and made a swimsuit women could really swim in,” Dickinson said. In her lifetime, McCardell achieved mainstream fame. “She was on the cover of Time magazine, she was in Life magazine — she was arguably the most famous fashion designer in America,” Dickinson said. “I wanted not only to understand how we forgot her, but what she continues to give us today through what she designed.”Dickinson said McCardell’s impact extends beyond fashion insiders.”I had no idea about all the dress codes and restrictions, and the ways McCardell had to knock again and again to be let into a very male-dominated industry.”Designers have long acknowledged the debt. Calvin Klein has called McCardell his biggest inspiration and said she “invented American fashion.” The book is available at the center and everywhere books are sold.

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