Two exhibitions celebrate groundbreaking Frederick-born designer Claire McCardell

BY LAURA DUKES Special to The News-Post

A functional but stylish design is pretty much a given for today’s female clothing articles, and a Frederick native played a huge role in making it this way.

Work by Claire McCardell, a Frederick-born fashion designer who lived from 1905 to 1958, is featured in exhibitions at both the Washington County Museum of Fine Arts in Hagerstown and the Maryland Center for History and Culture in Baltimore. Both exhibits will run through the fall. Writer Elizabeth Evitts Dickinson will lead a talk on McCardell at 5:30 p.m. Sept. 14 at WCMFA.

“The Fashion of Claire McCardell” at WCMFA features 12 of her dresses from the museum collection. “Claire / McCardell” in Baltimore aims to give viewers a more intimate look at the woman behind the iconic label by exhibiting family letters, interviews and archival documents, along with examples of McCardell’s work.

Vivian Barnett, who worked as an independent contractor for the Baltimore exhibition, said designing the display was a labor of love, as much work goes into dressing a mannequin. The clothes will initially hang lifelessly and need to be padded to match the silhouettes of their time, and there’s also factors like gravity and light. The effect of light on the materials is one reason why the dates of these exhibits are limited.

Barnett loved learning about how McCardell enjoyed creating and dressing her own paper dolls from magazine photos. She was interested in clothes and design from a young age but was not a fan of school or being a student. “She said she only ever learned that chemicals burn,” Barnett said of one of her favorite McCardell quotes.

McCardell attended Hood College in Frederick for about a year to study home economics, but she ultimately decided to move to New York to pursue her design dreams. She stood apart early in her career for understanding women’s bodies in relation to fabric, style and structure. She was one of the first designers to use pockets on women’s clothing, since they were not only useful but gave models something to do with their hands.

McCardell also understood dressing the middle class and the idea of standardized sizing, as women were no longer spending the whole day in custom dresses.

Sarah Hall, executive director of WCMFA, considers McCardell’s style practical, fun and innovative.

“Not all-day dresses and dressing for dinner,” Hall said. “Though she had fabulous evening wear, for sure.”

Hall referenced McCardell’s book

If You Go

“What Shall I Wear?” as being a combination of both quirkiness and discipline. Advice from the book includes everything from having a wardrobe full of coats to wearing a red shoelace around your neck, Hall said.

McCardell also liked the idea of having clasps in the front of dresses, which were easier for women living alone while also being decorative.

Other features McCardell enjoyed using included belts, sashes and oversized collars, which could also be tied as a scarf, Hall said. She also was a big proponent of bringing flexible separates on vacation and not having to plan a different outfit for every day.

“You should be able to have fun with fashion. It lets you be yourself,” Hall said of McCardell’s mindset.

Not everything had to be form-fitting either, Hall said. McCardell had some dresses that fit like a monk’s robe but could be styled with a belt or sash. Other favorites included empire waists and popover dresses that go over another piece of clothing.

“It was like an apron but stylish,” Hall said. “You could garden or cook and then meet your guests afterwards.”

Barnett said she was especially struck by McCardell’s attention to detail and how well constructed her clothes are.

“Her insistence on pockets is something I think women today can really appreciate,” Barnett said.

One of her favorite findings when putting together the Baltimore exhibit was an old cassette tape of an interview with McCardell. She said it was equally useful in that McCardell’s handwriting was “very messy.”

“Hearing her voice was really special,” Barnett said. “I had a sense of getting to know her as a person.”

For someone with very snappy one-liners, McCardell was also known for being incredibly thoughtful with her family members, a few of whom still live in the Washington area.

She designed up until her death from colon cancer, during which Hall said McCardell left the hospital with the help of a friend to see her final collection. She is buried at Mount Olivet Cemetery in Frederick.

Laura Dukes has written for The Frederick News-Post since 2013 as both a freelancer and staff writer. She lives in the Ballenger Creek area with her husband, son and twin daughters.