Dress

Claire McCardell is remembered as a pioneer of American fashion. After studying at Parsons and living in Paris, she returned to America to design functional, affordable clothes for the American woman. Her simple use of natural fabrics, such as cotton, denim and wool combined with flattering silhouettes filled a vacancy in women's fashion. Her first success was the tent-shaped Monastic dress, which had no form, but when belted became body-revealing and flattering. For the length of her career, McCardell designed inventive, sometimes daring looks that were mass-produced down to every last spaghetti tie and brass hook.

A modified monastic-style, this dress is somewhat shapeless without the spaghetti ties, which wrap multiple times around the waist. There are no waist or dart lines, and the collar with button closure is the only clear signifier identifying the front of the dress from the back. The heavy pleating at the center of the dress is very reminiscent of the designer Alix, which was a favorite source of inspiration to McCardell.