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J&SHION DESICNJER CLAtRE Wf^DeX JL X J[ V JL J—J IMf WlfKLY NE WJMAC.AJIN t PUBLISHER'S LETTER KitlTim-iN-C«i*r..- Ifrtuy K. I.mr PaKMMCNT Roy IC. l.mwit pear TIME-Reader: I MANAGING EDITOR Koy Alriandrr EXPERIENCE [Mid off last week fighting.his dispatches through already ASSISTANT MANAGING ErXTOR *— for TIME. CORRESI'ONDENT JOHN overtaxed cable offices—all. the while ffrtto Kurrl.rtiiKcr DEAL of the Washington Bureau is an sustaining himself on such peppery old hand at covcrinp th" Department Indonesian fare as meat with chili. -SENIOR fCMTORS T-ouf* Hanks. Kolurt W. Boy.I Jr.. Krfwwnl (>. Off, of State. As a result, ften DOS an-" potatoes with, chili and ferns jwith 1 nomas (.tilluh, Ilrnry Anutol* (.irunwald. ROIM-M noUnccd thai AS chili, washed down with a cl'Vylngly Muniiiiitf, ilillis Mills, John l W»>fiir. Commit I't-vkham, Josrpft Purn-ll, John Walker, Max Ways. SISTANT SECRETARY sweet cider. , ; i . I. j ASSOCIATE EDITORS •WALTER S. Ron- pougUs Auohirtcloss, A. T. Hakri. Hmoc Burton }t„ ! ti.lUrt Cam. Kdw-iti Coppa Ilrnry Bradfonl Durruch. Jr.. ERTS'QN and AD ASSOCIATE EDITOR OSBORS EL- Alt-xarulri blkHj Onhorn Elliott, William 1'"orbin. Mux MIRAL ARTHUR W. • "Men, Barker T. Hartshorn. Kofer H. Hewlett, jatnc* C. ** JLIOTT'S most notable previous excur Kronh. Louis Kronrnlx-rir^r, Jonathan Norton Leonard. RADFORD were hur sion into the world of fetninine fashion jKichufil OtiUhan, Jr.. Margaret Quimhy. C'..nrll ' Sollx'rg. Walter Stockly. rying to Formosa can hardly be said to have helped him I for routine consul as lie wrote this week's cover story (his CONTRIBUTING EDUOR5 tation';. Heal raised 14th 1 on (he U.S..'s famed Fashion Harriet Bachmau, Godfrey KIIIIHICII. William Itowrn, IVtrr Bramtrun, • Kodney Camplx*!!, Jame« Can mm. skeptical eyebrows Designer CLAIRE MCCARDELL. Champ (lark. Alton U (lingm. Kirrmru M. Clurman, Grorgr Daniel*, (irortr q> farvalho. NigH Omnia, and went to work. One tall day Bernard Kriaell. Mmon fJauNn. tftctun (.ninth*, Alan He phoned Rob three years ago. Hall, Sum IIUI[MT. Carter Harman, Charles I'. Jaekaoit, Cranston J one*, Atvin M, Joacphy. Jr.. Thecxiorr K. ertson, who refused Editor Elliott im k'alem. Ii»ir l-ee, (iirattf I-ove, Ilrnry LucC III, IVler Mathews, Rotwrt McLaughlin. Richard Murphy, Ihm *o let him accompany him to the air pulsively stepped Murray, Manm O'Neill. ROIKTI Parker. K tenant Sea- tnon, Kafarl Stf»ntx-rg, Murk Vlattniak. George Voigt. port. Rushing to the airport alone, into a Marjison ART DIRECTOR Meal questioned DOS men waiting to Avenue shop and Michael!J. Phiiiipa see the party off. They were noncom bought his wife EDITORIAI RESEARCHERS , mittal. But Beal. circulating and ask-' Deirdre a size 10 Virginia Adams. Mary Ann Ann. Bemadine lierrheidr, in« circumspect questions, picked up dress l.for $40. It Harriet Ben Kira, Helen Scott Bennett. Virgin** LimUley Bennett. Dorothea Bouritr. Amelia Kiddirk tlrrnt. Klsie the clue that sent him tacinp hack into was. he recalls, a Ann Brown, Barbara Brunrlage, Murjone Burns. Nancy McD. Chase, Lilian Davidson, Ka telle Derabeck, Cecilia the maze of Washington officialdom. black I taffeta with I. Dempster. Joan Dye. Lenora Kmiier, Shirley Eata*. hrook Marcrlle Harrington, Dorothy rerenbattgh, .-1/ week's end, he was the only puffy short sleeves, Blanche Kinn. Rosemary L. Frank. Mary Klizahrth Fremd. Judith Krietlberg, 'Marie Ka'hryn Gibbons, newsman in Washington ii'lm IHHI a full skirt and Brrta Golil. Dor thru L. Grine. Jean Gutheim. Joyce Habe-r. Dorothy Stavin Haystead. Harriet Hrck, Lor- uncovered the strinelike belt. raine Hill. Jean Horn beck. Bonnie Claire llowells, Helen urgent Newlin Kaleni. Quinera Santa King, Anne Dirkcs Kobor, reason lor the sttdden Rob At a party last Ilelga Kohl. Vera Kovaraky, K. Eleanor* Luriten, Mar'iit rrtsoii- Gauge? l.e«lig, Mary'Ellen Lukas, J_anr Meyerhoff, Sylvu Radlo'd trip, reported in NA week, Deirdie El Crane Myers, /can Niesiey, Amelia North, Dena I'aviu. Amir < i, Peyton, Mary Baylor Reinhurt. DajtUta Re**ke- TIONAL AFFAIRS' Grim Deeds, liott happened to DEIRDRE ELLIOTT Birk. I >nnlie Mr-ad ft van, Marion Hollander Samfera, Ruth Nl\-a. M. Ava Smith, l-'raiirra Stevrnwon, Jean wear .the same Sul/U rgrr. Vt Ying Sung, Kleanor latum, Mary Vana- maii, 'aula von Haimberger. Marilyn Weliemeyer, Joan Y ACROSS the Avorid. another TIME black taffeta, still as dashing and smart Wharton, lilsbelli Jean Wright. ** veteran. D WIGHT MARTIN, who has as ever. After_ weeks' of looking at ranged the Far Fast since 1948, thread Claire McCardell "creations, interview U.S. AND CANADIAN NEWS SERVICE ed through a maze of a different kind ing Claire McCardell about her dress Lawrence I.aytmume (Chid of Correapotulenta), Ben Williamson, GraCe Brynolaon. Arthur VV. VVnite. to report the Bandung conference sto es, dreaming about them and finally Jt«rrauf~- W.*ftHiNCT(JK: James Shepley. Jamrn Atwater. John Beat, Walter E6ennett. Marshall 'Bcrger Clay Blair ry. Upset at Bandung (see FOREICN writing about them. Elliott stared at. Jr., George B. BooknJan. Martha Bucknell, Kawin l)arby, Jerry Hannilin, Tort Laml>rrt. James L. McConaughy XEWS). "'The principal feature of any his wife and suddenly exclaimed :"Hey jr., Alyce Moran, Philip Payne. John L. Ste«-!e. James Trultt. CHICAGO: Sam Welles. T* Ccorg* Harris. Jr»»e L. international conference is confusion." —that's a Claire McCardell dress I" Minihaum. Kirharri W. Boeth. L
FOREIGN NEWS SERVICE M. ^-tXve-v^, Manfred
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• ' COOL' AND COMFORTABLE, six young models surround styles: two bathing suits, a beach dress, two cocktail dresse.-, Designer, McCaidell, showing a collection of,her, 1955 summer an evening gown. All have the casual, functional American Look.
Atlanta's J. P. Allen knew exactly what in common: a style that has'come to be FASHION she wanted: "Casual clothes with a gay known the world over as the American The American Look feeling." Look. . , • (See Cover) Comfortable & Colorful. In 1955. more The Meaning of Elegance. The Ameri It was the end of.April, and as the soft than ever before, U.S. summer clothes are can Look has developed almost unnoticed air turned the land.;green. American worn- gay and casual. There are Orion sweaters, by the women who wear it. "Elegant dress." •en were suddenlytaware of a truth that dresses in Dacron. nylon and other wonder wrote Economist Thorstein Veblen in if>9Q bursts upon them every spring: Summer fabrics in every color. There are dresses of in The Theory of the Leisure Class, "serves was at hand, and they did'not have a thing ' wispy silk and tough denims, terry-cloth its purpose of elegance not^bnly in that it to wear. Therefore* they were out in force ' shirts, and shorts in everything from calf is expensive but also because it is the in S ! in stores last week in search of the cool— skin to velvet. Toreador pants, once worn signia of leisure." But in the U.S., "'.he and new—clothes to make the hot weather' only by the brave (and beautiful I. are as meaning of elegance has changed as much bearable. Tall girls looked for dresses that common as |*>da!-pushers and Levi's. One as the meaning of leisure. It is a leisure of would make them seem shorter; short girls big 1955 craze: sweater-like cotton knits action—barbecue parties in the backyard, wanted to look taller. The plump wanted in everything from beach robes to low- motor trips along country roads and across eye-foolers that would seem to take off priced cocktail dresses. the country, weekend golf and water ski-, , inches, the thin all wanted to look round, There are checks and stripes and flowery inc. From America's lively leisure has firm and fully packed. The young wanted prints, and even polka-dot underwear. And evolved a new, home-grown fashioV as dif-_ to look sophisticated and the sophisticated 1955s summer clothes are flexible, as the ferent from Paris fashion as,apple pie from wanted to look young. All wanted to look result of a continuing boom in "separate's." crepes suzette. Paris can still claim its title' different than they had ever looked before. There are a thousand different kinds of as the custom-fashion capital of the wbriu.. And to a woman, they knew exactly what blouses that look as well with a skirt at a But the French still design for Veblenesqute kind of clothes would turn the trick—or dinner party as with Bermuda shorts at a leisure. Their clothes compliment the le- so they thought. I picnic. In California, bathing-suit makers signer, w hereas America's are made "to com At Manhattan's 'Lord & Taylor, a young Cole and Rose Marie Reid have gone so pliment the wearer. A young -Manhatir.;; housewife twisted In front 0/ a three-way far as to put out "evening convertibles'"— mother put it simply: ''Whejn I-get dressed mirror, inspecting" a cotton dress. "Just swimsuits that can be made into evening up, I have little time to'rrlake up to the : what I want," she said. "Smart, you know, dresses by adding fluffy tulle skirts. Price: dress; I want the dress to make up to me.' but casual." Said a shopper in Los Ange $250. Genuflect to Pari$. Trie person who un les' May Co.: "This year I'm going to con- The choice is broad and the fashions va<- derstands best how Americah women, want • centrate on shirts, cashmere sweaters and ried. But whatever they buy. most Ameri to look is a shy Manhattan designer r»amed ./knit dresses." A determined huntress in can women this summer will have one thing . Claire McCardell. Says she i "Clothes may
TIME, MAY 7, 1935 85
HHWIHWUMM where designers were once willing to try , anything ("crazy pants" in wild harlequin •-., designs and (>-ft.-round straw hats) just to get talked about, fashion has come of age. Now 1,200 women's-apparel manu facturers, including such leaders as Pat . Premo. Rudi Gernreich and Georgia Kay," are grossing $350 million a year, and sell ing 6o';!> to 75',; of their wares east of , the Rockies.0 Hut Manhattan is still the biggest fash ion center of all. and Seventh Avenue (from (Jth Street to 40th Street) is its hub. There 8.500 women's-apparel manu facturers do •••",.},'.< of the business—-a;,ci thev arc a ha ed lot. Piracy is a stock in trade, and fashion rumors (both true and false) are the currency. Are tunics in? Will Dacron fast? Is the Iwo-piece bath ing suit coming back? Gulping pastrami sandwiches and dodging careering hand carts packed with theirj'rivals' dresses. Seventh Avenue's denizehs must decide. Their decisions are based Ion nothing more than the gossamer whin of the female mind, and if they decide wrong, they go broke. '. j . Cold Ears. N'o one on Seventh Avenue is more aware of the tremendous risks in fashion than Claire McCardell. who with her company has had more ups and downs DESIGNER JVICCARDEH. ft PARSONS SCHOOL BTVDEN'IS than the hemline. But no one seems h*ss Every season, the moment of truth. concerned about the rumors, or less wor make the woman, hut the woman c:in also other top designers lead the way. the-U.S. ried about where whim will carry fashion make the clothes. When a dress runs away fashion industry is now busy turning out next. Says >he: "I've always designed with the woman, it's a liorror." Designer garments to keep up with the fast modern tilings 1 needed myself. It just turnsjout MtCardell speaks with authority, for she' •pace—dressejs that are as a! home'in the that other people need them, too." At 50. started the casual .American Look. Even front seat of a station wagon as in the Designer McCardell is still her own bes* among fashion editors, who genuflect to back seal of .1 Rolls, as comfortable 111 model. Slie :- 5 ft. 7 in. tall, has a trirn Paris before every deadline, she is consid the vestibule of a motel as in the lobby figure f t ;o lbs..1. honey-blonde hair and ered unique. "Claire started (he feeling for of the Waldorf, as lilting for work in the sparkling blue eyes. Americana.'' says Vfigne's Bah* Simpson. office as lor cocktails and dinner with the , To Designer McCardell. garments'must ,Agrees Diana V'reeland of Harper's, Bazaar: boss. • Most of all. they musl be J prac have a reasor.. .After shivering on ship 'She gave the American woman a look of tical. Sports clothes must swing as easily board during ai transatlantic trip in a her own. and she did it without outside on the laundry line as on the golf course. flimsy. French-designed evening wrap she and evening clothes must tie designed turned, out a wrap in tweed. She went nc-^ures. as much for tossing a salad as treading creations are dcdi skiing, got cold ears, did a wdol-jersev Craire McCardell a mambo. 'cated to the propositions |that i) clothe hood. After lugging a trunk and" five suit should be made to be w^irn in comfort, The American Look has had its' influ cases around Europe, she decided to save and ^ i only comfort can create sehse-mak- ence abroad, particularly in Italy, j where space by making dresses .in parts, switch ing style. Her clothes are functional, sim it has profoundly influenced the designers ing the pieces around for varietvy-a hare- ple and clean of line. She likes Hnuttons of sportswear. Paris has also tried its hand top and covered-up top. for exarfiplc. to (hat button and bows that tie.]' She is. at the style, believing, as Christian Dior be worn alternately with shorts, slacks or says Dallas Retailer Stanley Marcus, "the said., that In mode sport in America is short or long skirts. That was one of the 'master of the line, never the slave [of the "beyond doubt excellent." fashion world's first important experi ments with "separates." now a mainstay sequin. She Is one of the few creative de The demand for casual clothes has also of American sportswear design. * signers this Country has e.vcr produced." become a mainstay of the cast and com She borrows styles from no one. ;i|t home plex fashion business. It is a risky busi Rivets & Diapers." The list of McCardell or abroad; when she is in Paris on vaca ness, yet all over the nation upwards of firsts stretches back :o years. She was the tion, jche visits no collections lest !she be 1.1.500 women's-apparel manufacturers are first to modernize the dirndl skirt (1038) influenced by what she seesj Almost!every taking the risk. They employ .150.000 and the firs! to use trouser pockets [and one can buy her clothes, which range from people and turn out $(> billion worth of, pleats in women's clothes (10,38). She was bathing suits and play (lollies (Csio to goods a year. Of this total, Claire Mc-j the first with the widely copied "Monas . $5°' to dresses ($:'0 to fioo) and suits Cardell (through I'ownley Frocks, Inc.), tic" dress, a full and shapeless forerunner and coats ($Ko to $150). Anyone can wear accounts for only iibout $r.800.000 fplus of the pleated Grecian sheath and all the ,'them, but they look best on what count $100,000 in royalties from such sidelines other unwa'isted dresses. It seemed to have less ads have presented as the ideal Amer as sunglasses, gloves and jewelry). I>ul no form.!But when it was belied on, ;' ican beauty—tall, slim, long-legged, she is one of the biggest names in the' (lid great things for the female figure. If Salads & Mambos. Making clothes with business. was I McCardell who first started using the American Look is no simple trick. St. Louis Chicago and Philadelphia art- blue-jean stitching for design. in rough U.S. women, says President Hector Esco- all important garment-making centers. »': I.asi m*rfc itu' Federal Ti.ute Commission . bosa of San Francisco's I. Magnin, "don't Around Dallas, some 70 iirms arc turning brnuxht suit, charyins' st t.n< AnRcles mnnu- . want their sports clothes to look like out $40 million worth of women's clothes (at turns. ,u contractor* and two labor unions overalls, but they want them to act like a year and selling ,15'/; of their output with trying to control ;o'J of the sportswear overalls." While" Claire McCardell and outside the Southwest. In California, market l>y illi'Kal trade agreement*. j; 86 'A TIME, MAY 2, 1*55
- W^liapaiW>^«wi!WMw'H^*----^-.'i>:f'"»*y.w^»"--r-^ -•- „i«!l"J.i*^CT»W»— denims (194.}), and she was the first with got a fan letter from a customer who the "riveted; look," using work-clothes bought a red wool McCardell dress, size grippcrs for fasteners and ornamentation. 16, for $40 in 1948. It was altered to a She introduced the- "diaper" bathing suit size s: in 1949, re-altered to a size 18 to '—and in 1942 she started the craze for take care of added weight in 1951, re- ballet slippers. Necessity mothered that altered to a size 12 and then to-a 16 invention: unable because of wartime again in 1952, and back to a 12 in 1953. shortages to get the proper shoes for her It landed,in the wash by mistaxc, suffered showroom models. McCardell put them "considerable shrinkage." was cleaned sev all in fabric Capezio ballet slippers. The eral times, taken apart, stretched, pulled fad caught on. and she still suggests de and realigned into a size 10. Last year a signs for many Capezio shoes. bottle of hair-tinti.ng shampoo-was spilled While McCardell styles are simple, they all over the dress. The owner's report for can be identified by such things as spa spring 1955: "Dress is navy blue with ghetti-like ties, bigjbrass hooks and eyes, silver buttons, tits perfectly: fabric is as and a daring use of color. In her 1955 handsome as ever, the styling as rhic as summer line, brick-red shorts ($IJI are ever—and [ it. ] draws comments from peo GEORGIA KAY. riding along with the made to be worn with a long-sleeved ple all the time!" rest of California's booming play-clothes orange blouse ($23); a boxy, pullover Stick Men Gone Wrong. Claire Mc beach shirt ($18) is clone in orange and Cardell works in a tiny cubbyhole above hot pink. There is a Persian crushed- Seventh Avenue, surrounded by button hands and crumple it. If she likes it. she cotton dress of turquoise, moss green, red boxes, swatches of material, scrapbooks will buy a few yards and put it on a shelf. and chartreuse ($40 1. and a straight-from- and half-finished dresses. She has an ar When inspiration strikes, she dashes off a the-shoulder swim dress of brass-colored tist's sense of color and a sculptor's feel simple little sketch that looks, to the lay cotton with an orange tie at the neck ing fi)ir. form; wherever she goes, she keeps man, something like a child's matchstick ($39.95 ). both eyes peeled for new ideas. "With drawing of a- njian. Hut to the seven sam Above all. Claire McCardell designs are these dames." says her partner. Adolph ple hands who work in the room next door so functional that they stay in fashion; Klein, "you don't know where they get to her cubbyhole office, the stark lines* her basic designs, in fact, change but their inspiration. It may be from the crack are enough directions for them to start slightly from year to.year. Two years ago in the wall." With Claire, most of the draping. Los Angeles Art Dealer Frank! Perls de inspiration comes from the fabrics that As they do,! Claire McCardell pops in cided that her clothes were so unique salesmen are forever trying to get her to and out of the sample room, making that he collected :o years of McCardell use. changes as her coats and dresses take fashions and put' them on exhibition in She will feel a fabric, hold it tc the shape on the dress forms. If a sample is his gallery. Recently Designer McCardell light, pull it on the bias, pleat it in her not working out as she planned, she or-
Forusogrives
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PAT PREMO of California achieves youthful look with a white dottcd-swiss afternoon dress, which is embroidered with geraniums.
McCARDELL classic is shirtwaist dress in bright cotton plaid with full skirt> pockets and bodice that is cut on the bias. Cardell. the big moment comes when a buyer says excitedly; "That's wonderful Claire. Mow soon can you deliver it?" Paper Dolls. Designer McCardell come.-, by her deep feeling for an American way of design not only by birth but by the,. surroundings of her early environment. She was born (May .-a. 1005 I in historic Frederick, Md.. where Francis Scott Key practiced law and where the Barbara Frietchie legend sprouted. Claires father. Adrian Leroy McCardell. was an Evan gelical and Reformed Church elder and Sunday-school superintendent, a 3»rd-de- gree Mason, a Maryland stale .Senator, a member of the state tax commission, and president (like his father before him) of industry, has a lounging outfit of blue and' the Frederick County National Bank. Her white striped pants and a drawstring top. mother. Eleanor, was a Southern belle who still lives in Frederick and keeps a ders it junked: if it satisfies her. she picture of Robert E. Lee on the wall of nends it across the hall where patterns her living room. ; nd dresses are made. (Outside contrac At school. Claire's grades were low, but tors account tor 70',' of Townley's out at home, her flair for clothes showed put.) early. She cut paper dolls out of her $ince Claire McCardell. like all design mother's discarded fashion magazines. ers, works months ahead, she gets a hint traipsed around after the family seam of how well her collection will sell long stress. She started making her own clothes before the pul lie ever gets a chance to in her teens, sometimes using sketches' buy. The pre lirrtinary verdict is pro she made of theatrical costumes on occa nounced by buyers from all over the U.S.. sional family trips to Washington's Na who crowd into the showroom of Town- tional Theater. ley Frocks and. order blanks in hand. Rosebuds & Tragedy. Claire spent two watch models parade past in the newest years at Frederick's Hood College, then McCardell creitions. To Designer Mc- quit, over her father's objections, to switch to 'Manhattan's Parsons School of Fc Design (where she now is a part-time consultant). She. studied lor a year in Fan's, working par! time as a tracer of fashion sketches.. and learned "the way CATALINA'S "Cleopatra" bathing suit is' clothes worked, the way they felt, where in terra cot.ta, black and yellow cotton". they fastened." Back in New York, she got a job painting rosebuds on lamp shades for a store, did some modeling at B. Altman. became a designer in a knit- m goods company at $45 a week—and-was fired.after eight months. She got another $45 -job as a model and sketcr|er for Townley 'Frocks. Inc.. then owned by Henry H. Geiss. a harassed vet eran ;bf Seventh Avenue's fashion cam paigns. A tragedy provided a break. Less . i- than a month before the spring showing in 1 o.i i. Townley's designer drowned while swimming: it was up to Claire t« turn out a collection. Says she: "I. did m1 i \?. what everybody else did in those days— "copied*Paris. The collection wasn't great, but it sold." Flushed with confidence. De signer McCardell began to experiment. Rut often her designs wejre too advanced for the market. She did a dirndl skirt, for example, and no one wanted it. Geiss. now retired, sadly recalls: "Two years 5.. >, later they were all over the place." Onithe Bias. In 1938. Claire had her first big success—and speeded up the trend (o casual clothes—with her Monas tic d^ess. Until then, American women had little choice of styles between a cottoti house dress and an afternoon '•'!•' *• 1 ; 1 'it' , ' ' •' TIXA LESER'S exotic styles are typified by handkerchief- CLARE POTTER swimsuit is in Persian i'l- • linen sheath with an overskirt. Paisley print, has surplice wrap to match. ,J.'l .' j dresr,. The Monastic dress pave American dinner dress of tie silk, with apron to fashion a new flexibility that it has never match, for women who were forced to be lost. Loose-hanging and cut on the bias,* their own maids. When Harper's Bazaar ' it did not sell at first. Then a buyer from asked her to make something in which Manhattan's Best & Co. casually asked women could do their housework and for a New York exclusive1, and ordered still look smart, Claire obliged with the 50 Monastics in wool and 50 in faille. "Popover," a wraparound, coverall sort Best's ran a full-page ad on the dress, 24 of dress in denim that sold for $6.95. hours later ordered 100 more in each fab Townley sold 75.000 of the first Popover ric; within days, cheap copies were flood model, and McCardell has had a variation ing the market. Says Geiss: "That r'res;": of tjje Popover in every collection since. revolutionized the whole dress industry." She designed a uniform for- the Red It also toppled Townley Frock?. Cross Motor Corps, brought back the When it came time to work up her knit bathing suit, and after the' war winter cruise collection, Claire McCardell brought out a full, long-skirted style started using the same loose lines. Geiss (when Paris later did the same, it was tried to steer her off, arguing that the dubbed the New Look). model had been copied to death. Hut In 1943 she took time out for a step Claire would hot listen. Result: Geiss that she had overlooked in her busy, lost .all that he had made on the Monastic professional life. She married Texas-born dress and, on the verge of a nervous col Architect Irving Drought Harris, arid lapse, closed up shop. started making a home for him and his "Go Shoot Craps." Ci.iire went to work two children by his earlier marriage (to for Hat tie Carnegie, but her dresses were the late Jean Ferris granddaughter of too simple for the rich tastes of the Car California's Sugar King Claus Spreckcls). negie carriage trade, and in 1940, alter a Designer McCardell did not try to change MONASTIC STYLE of 1938 'inspired a year and a half, Designer McCardell quit the tastes of her new husband. Their rash of* copies, spurred the dasual trend. by mutual agreement. Then, after turn eleven-room Manhattan apartment is ing out some potboiler designs for a small decorated with masculine hunt prints .arid, manufacturer, she heard from Geiss again. heavy mahogany furniture. He had recovered his health and his Fleeting Joy. While Claire McCardell nerve, and found a new partner in Adolph goes her independent way, she has plenty I. Klein, a suave, confident ex-salesman of competition in the casual-c'othing who never seems perturbed by the risks field, since the American Look has of the business. Geiss and Klein needed a spawned a whole school of native de designer, and asked Claire's most recent signers. boss how she had done. Said he: "If I Among the top are Clare Potter, whose were you, I'd go shoot craps with the sleek, ladylike clothes,are done in dra money. It's not as much of a gamble as matic colors, priced a notch above Mc Claire McCardell." Nevertheless, Claire Cardell's; Tom Brigance, an exponent of was hired back to Townley. Says Klein: fit and form, who "constructs" clothes "In this business, you have to be exciting with a feminine look for the small, or basic. I figured we were too small to be rounded figure; Vera Maxwell, whose basic, so we had to be exciting.". simple clothes have an English flavor; Designer. McCardell saw to it that they Tina Leser, who designs exotic play got excitement. Breaking away from the clothes, using foreign and art themes; Paris trend, she started designing dresses Sydney Wragge, who uses color-coordi without shoulder pads. Geiss and Klein nated silks, linens and tweeds, attains a had to dash around to buyers assuring classic, custom-made look in his sports them that shoulder pads were available wear; and Carolyn Schnurer, who does for those who wanted them fmost did, gay, colorful collections sometimes in since McCardell was at least five years spired by foreign travels. ahead of the field). But Townley, with All these designers are merely the van Klein handling the business side, made guard of a fashion army that is still HQODED BEACH COAT df 194ft had money, and has continued to do so ever large pockets' and "blue-jean;" stitching. growing, and is only beginning to fill the since. American woman's' demand for clothes Its success was due not only to Claire for her casual way of life. McCardell's talent but to her sharp eye As U.S. women swarmed thrbugh the for opportunity. When World War II shops sampling all .the wares last week, closed down the Paris fashion market, one there came to each .a moment of joy, retailer said: "The American garment in when she knew that what she had found dustry is now in a position to show was just the thing. "It's cute—and it whether it can make a silk dress or docs something for me," burbled a wist) whether it will be a sow's ear." Designer of a girl in Manhattan's Bonwit Teller McCardell made a silk dress with a as she twirled in a filmy summer cbek- 1 special wartime twist—a long kitchen- tail dress. But such joy would be fleeting. For * Still ;i Favorite McCardell nick. Instead of in their designing rooms and factories cutting material straight up and down, or straight across, with the threads, McCardclI all over the U.S. last week-. Claire .'Mc often cuts it diagonally. The bias cut wastes Cardell and all the other makers of the material, but it gives a dress more flexibility, American Lopk were hard at work. They makes it adapt to the shape of the body. were doing their best to make sure that in a few months American women j will furrow their brows and again be stuck .T-SQUARE JACKET of 1954 can with a great truth: "Here it is fall, and be washed and worn without ironing. not a thing to wear." 90 TIME, MAY 2, 1955
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