Virginia Festival of the Book Presents: Claire McCardell: Author Talk and Historic Fashion Demo

From pockets in skirts to mix-and-match separates; from wrap dresses to rompers, 20th century fashion designer Claire McCardell emphasized comfort and functionality in women’s attire during a time when constraining styles were the mode. McCardell’s ideas, sometimes called her “crazies,” were innovative, shocking, free-spirited, and revolutionary. Her label is given a new life in Claire McCardell: The Designer Who Set Women Free. In this New York Times Notable Book of 2025 and Best Book of 2025 for NPR, Time, Kirkus, and The Washington Post, author Elizabeth Evitts Dickinson discusses this woman you may have never heard of, but whose legacy might live in your closet. The author will be in conversation with Kalela Williams, Director of the Virginia Center for the Book. A demonstration of historical clothing by professor Marcy Linton of the Historic Clothing Collection at UVA’s Department of Drama will lend texture to this fascinating talk!