The Design Genius Who Gave American Women Pockets
Several years ago, I began to worry that my clothes were making me depressed. I'd gained weight during the pandemic, and shopping online for my new shape was time-consuming and expensive. When I'd luck into a garment that felt good but looked off, or had those useless shallow pockets — two knuckles deep, one house key wide — I'd tell myself it didn't matter. Aren't middle-aged women invisible anyhow?
Besides, functional pockets are scarce in women's clothing because they 'ruin the silhouette,' or so I'd heard. (Hence the more-than-century-long crusade for pocket parity.)
When I read Elizabeth Evitts Dickinson's exceptional biography, 'Claire McCardell,' my angst turned into … indignation. The problem isn't my body. Or the false promises of online commerce. It's a bazillion-dollar global fashion industry that ignores the midcentury mastermind of American sportswear, among our most significant cultural exports.
Many of McCardell's contributions to women's ready-to-wear clothing remain in circulation — including ballet flats, leggings, hoodies and spaghetti straps. But vanishingly few of the designers who've come after embody her driving ethos: Women's clothes can be practical, comfortable, stylish and affordable. And have pockets.
As Dickinson writes, 'Stitching Claire McCardell's name back onto the apparel she pioneered is not merely a history lesson in provenance; it is a vital and timely reminder of a designer, and a movement, that was always about far more than clothes.'
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