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Table of Contents
About The Book
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.
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.
Product Details
- Publisher: Simon & Schuster (June 17, 2025)
- Length: 336 pages
- ISBN13: 9781668045251
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Raves and Reviews
"[An] excellent, delightfully readable biography… Debut biographer Dickinson digs up buried treasure in this essential and inspiring account." —Kirkus (starred review)
“A delightful, inspiring tale of a visionary designer. I loved it! Pockets in women’s clothes? Hoodies? Zippers? We all have Claire McCardell to thank. And now, because of Elizabeth Evitts Dickinson’s riveting new book, we will all know her name.” —Julie Satow, New York Times bestselling author of When Women Ran Fifth Avenue
“Claire McCardell revolutionized the way we dress; everything was intentional, nothing was frivolous, and comfort was as vital as glamour. This book captures her remarkable ingenuity and entrepreneurial spirit, and it offers a new, intimate glimpse into the experiences, people, and places that shaped her perspective.” —Tory Burch
“A beautifully spun story of resilience and tenacity. Dickinson brings to life the most important and underappreciated designer of the 20th Century.”—Avery Trufelman, producer and host of the Articles of Interest podcast
"This is a timely and important book, a testimony to a powerful woman whose legacy might be lost if not for the prodigious scholarship of Elizabeth Evitts Dickinson. It's also just a darn good read." —Laura Lippman, New York Times bestselling author of Murder Takes a Vacation
"An insightful, beautifully written tribute to a designer who was ahead of her time. In a world where women are still fighting for full agency, this book reminds us that fashion, at its best, is about freedom on our own terms. It’s an essential read."—Susan Magsamen, New York Times bestselling co-author of Your Brain on Art
"Claire McCardell tossed out the corsets and crinolines and changed the way women dress. This icon of mid-century modernism was the anti-Dior, and her life is a unique American drama of design, business, and sheer nerve. Today, her influence is so pervasive that we hardly see it."—Ellen Lupton, curator emerita, Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum
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