1905-1958
Fashion Designer

Queen of the Casual Separates.

With her first collection in 1941, Claire McCardell became a significant figure in the fashion world. Unlike many of the designs of her contemporaries, which she considered "strident," her dresses were soft in style. She was the first designer to take sportswear and make it for every possible need. Golf skirts and bathing suits were as important to her as evening dresses. Her designs shared a set of characteristic features. Bathing suits were made with the same halter necklines and out of the same fabrics as her dresses. Wrapped or peasant-inspired tops appeared in bathing suits and dresses alike. Jersey, denim, chambray, and taffeta were equally topstitched, spaghetti ties were wrapped around the waists of leisure and dress clothes, and wool was used for leotards as well as wedding dresses.

The "Popover."

McCardell was born in Frederick, Maryland, in...