Dress
From the full skirt through the clinging wrap of the bodice, McCardell has here demonstrated her acute understanding of Madame Grès and Madeleine Vionnet. In fact, the wrapping in this dress, while variable according to the needs of the individual body of the wearer, gives the effect of being as precisely calculated and measured as any product of the couture. McCardell understood differing bodies, but she was not arriving at a mean point. Instead, she was looking for the dress that seemed perfect and as consummately fitted as any couture garment even though it was mass-produced.
Artwork Details
- Title: Dress
- Designer: Claire McCardell (American, 1905–1958)
- Manufacturer: Townley Frocks (American, 1929–1938; 1940–ca. 1968)
- Date: 1943
- Culture: American
- Medium: Cotton
- Credit Line: Gift of Claire McCardell, 1949
- Object Number: C.I.49.37.41
- Curatorial Department: The Costume Institute
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Claire McCardell
1948
Claire McCardell
ca. 1955
Claire McCardell
ca. 1956
Claire McCardell
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Claire McCardell
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