Elizabeth Evitts Dickinson is the author of the new biography Claire McCardell: The Designer Who Set Women Free. She is the editorial director at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.
Q: What inspired you to write a biography of designer Claire McCardell (1905-1958)?
A: In the 1950s, Claire McCardell was one of the most influential women in America. I’ve long wondered why we don't know her name today. She’s considered an inventor of American sportswear, and she remains an inspiration to designers in fashion today, including Calvin Klein and Tory Burch.
In the 1930s-1950s, McCardell invented many of the things we all still wear today, including ballet flats and mix and match separates. She modernized wrap dresses and swimsuits, designed leggings and leotards, and she fought to include pockets in all her womenswear.
I wanted to write a book about the woman who revolutionized fashion—and highlight her incredible life—and I very much wanted to look at why she did it.
This is the biography of a fashion designer, but it's also the story of dress codes, gender rules, women's ambition, housework and careers, and the forgotten feminist roots of the clothing we all still wear today.
Clothes are political, and this book showcases how McCardell understood that. McCardell believed in equality, autonomy, and the right for women to live their lives as they saw fit. Many of the hurdles she faced in her lifetime echo what many women are still dealing with today.
Q: The New York Times said of the book, “In the hands of Dickinson, this is more than just the biography of a fashion revolutionary: It is a story of the fight for women’s identity and, incidentally, the birth of an American industry.” What do you think of that description?
A: Any writer will tell you that getting reviewed by the editors at The New York Times is a dream, and then to have them understand what you were aiming to do with your book is truly thrilling. This quote got it exactly right. This is a book about an inventor we should all know, but it is about why and how she did what she did.
McCardell and the women she collaborated with all banded together to build an entire industry at a time when they couldn’t even open their own bank accounts without a male signatory. It’s inspiring.
Q: How did you research McCardell’s life, and what did you learn that especially surprised you?
A: I spent a lot of time in archives in Maryland, New York, and Washington, D.C., researching her life and work, and the lives of key people she knew and worked with. I read too many books to count, and I scoured thousands of pages of magazine and newspaper articles about her.
I spent weeks transcribing McCardell’s letters written to her family and friends, and this helped me to know her voice and her sentiments at key moments in her life. I also conducted interviews with fashion scholars and designers, as well as the McCardell family.
Something that surprised me, and that I can’t stop thinking about when it comes to McCardell, is that she was a world-famous fashion designer in her lifetime—she made the cover to Time and Life magazines and was a household name in the 1950s—but she never told women to buy clothes that they didn’t need. She encouraged thrifting, sewing, repair, and she empowered women to be themselves.
She believed that her job was to give women clothes that would last a lifetime, and then McCardell pushed herself to invent new clothes that women would need. That’s so counter to how most fashion brands work today.
Q: What do you see as McCardell’s legacy today?
A: McCardell’s designs—such as the wrap dress, the separates, the shirtdress, a pair of leggings paired with ballet flats—remain timeless. They have become so prevalent today as to be invisible. To quote Calvin Klein, she “invented sportswear, which is this country’s major contribution to fashion.”
I think her true legacy is in her philosophy of clothes. I hope that my book serves as a reminder that “fashion” isn’t a frivolous thing; it’s a bellwether of cultural intention. As I write in the book, McCardell understood that the most powerful aspect of clothes is in how they inform our lived experience.
Q: What are you working on now?
A: I am so excited to be working on my second book, which is coming out with Dutton in 2027. It’s about the famous Ruby Slippers from the 1939 movie The Wizard of Oz. Not everyone realizes that there are multiple surviving pairs of Ruby Slippers from the movie, or that one of those pairs was stolen from the Judy Garland Museum in 2005.
I wrote a cover story for The Washington Post Magazine in 2019 that broke news about how that stolen pair was recovered. It’s a wild tale that involves a 13-year hunt by the police, and a sophisticated sting operation led by the FBI. My book is a true crime historical deep dive that explores what the shoes have come to symbolize in our national imagination.
Q: Anything else we should know?
A: There are so many amazing book clubs around the country reading Claire McCardell right now, and many have reached out to me. Book clubs are such a meaningful part of my own life and reading journey, and I have a huge affinity for them.
In February, I will have some special extras for my book club readers, which I’ll be posting to my website: eedickinson.com
And I’ll be announcing a few fun giveaways as well. So, if you’re already reading Claire McCardell for your book club, or you’re planning to, please keep an eye on my site for coming announcements next month. And don’t hesitate to be in touch!
--Interview with Deborah Kalb
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