Post on 07-Jan-2023
The Look of men and women’s sportswear changed
dramatically during the Twentieth Century from the
time of Coco Chanel onwards. Give an account of the
most influential fashion designers working with in
this period.
Sportswear changed dramatically from the 1900’s
onward. Industrialisation, and two World Wars saw a great
shift in the roles that women played. Women in the work
force had grown. Women’s clothing that had once been
appropriate was now deemed unfit and in 1929 Vogue
published “The bustling lifestyles, so hard on elegant
fragility”, predicted the end to the ‘lady’ (Arnold
2008,pg 30). Coco Chanel was amongst the last of the true
Parisian couturiers and Claire McCardell was an American
in the midst of a new fashion revolution, ready-to-wear.
Two very different women from two very different
backgrounds set out in what was to achieve the same
results; a new freedom for women of which they achieved
through practical, comfortable and elegant simplicity.
They both accomplished this in their own entirely new,
unseen and unique approach and in turn changed the way
the modern world perceives fashion.
Coco Chanel paved the way to the modern day
sportswear and changed what was accepted in modern day
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women’s attire. Chanel was born into a time of change.
In the same way that the cubists such as Picasso, no
longer believed that traditional techniques and methods
suited modern-day expression, Chanel no longer believed
that fashions popular in France were appropriate.
Fashions amongst the French elite of Chanel’s time were
ostentatious, over embellished with protruding busts and
tightly laced restraining corsets. Not at all appropriate
for the new emancipation of females that was emerging
through out the world. Women were rapidly gaining the
vote world wide and after the first world war women were
being placed more and more in the workforce in positions
other than nursing, such as municipals and factories.
This type of clothing was highly inappropriate for work
or other the leisure activities the modern day woman was
participating in, like driving the new automobiles or
riding the newly established ‘le Metropolitan’ (Cosgrave
2012,pg 9). Chanel recognised how tired women were of
being adorned, how they wanted to be themselves (Simon
2011, pg50).
One world was dying, another coming into existence.
I was there an opportunity beckoned and I took it. I was
the same age as the new century, so it turned to me for
its expression in clothing
-Coco Chanel (Leymarie 2010,pg 60)
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From a poor orphaned background, to a working as a
seamstress Chanel, by luck and good looks made her way
into elite circles as one Etienne Bolson’s (a French
fabric Heir and racehorse breeders) mistresses. He funded
and supported her career, as many men who were often
Chanel’s lovers did. She spent a significant amount of
time at Balson Country estate where she learnt to ride
and was first introduced to speciality clothing that was
required for participating in such sports that were
becoming more popular. The circle of Aristocrats and
courtesans that Chanel counted amongst her friends spent
most of their time dining, riding or vacationing at
luxurious beach towns. Chanel watched the ladies that
would attend the racecourse; she
hated the tight restricting
dresses that were in fashion and
hats that were wider than their
shoulders (Cosgrave 2012,pg 16).
Chanel began to wear little
straw hats with short brims,
modestly decorated. Her circle
of friends admired her look and
immediately commissioned her
work. In no time at all the
whole of Paris were after
Chanel’s creations.
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Chanel’s millinery business was extremely
successful and soon saw her opening a second store in
Deauville, with the financial help of her new lover
Arthur ‘Boy’ Capel. Deauville was a luxury, resort
seaside town with a famous racetrack. Aristocracy and
royalty flocked to Deauville for the summer. Beach
fashions were as silly and impractical as the corseted
dresses and soon Chanel began to design practical
beachwear and cover-ups that included loose turtleneck
sweaters, sailor style shirts and straight linen skirts.
Her designs were radical, but well timed and were well
received. With fabric shortages due to the war Chanel was
excited upon finding a substantial amount of beige jersey
at heavily discounted price, Chanel purchased the lot and
began her first creations with the fabric (Cosgrave
2012,pg 23). Jersey ‘s primary use was in men’s underwear
and hosiery and was considered unusable in fashion
because of its loose open weave. Chanel had noticed it’s
versatility when she was learning to ride and whilst
attending the races at Deauville and Long champ as it was
the fabric that jockeys uniforms were created from. Her
collection included long softly tailored coats were
unadorned with a simple draped elegance. The coats
included deep pockets, borrowed from workman’s wear, a
feature that had yet to be seen in women’s clothing.
Chanel believed deep practical pockets eliminated the
need to be burden by a handbag. Her dresses hung from the
shoulder with silhouettes that were lean and with out the
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necessity for constricting corsetry or the need for
assistance with dressing. Shockingly Chanel also
shortened the hemline much to the shock of other
couturiers (Leymarie 2010, pg60). Even during the war
with its economic hardships Chanel’s clothing remained
popular, it’s simple silhouette and lack of adornment
adhered to the sombre mood of the times.
Figure 2 Coco Chanel wearing sailing inspired pants and jersey top. Chanel was the first to introduce pants into the woman’s wardrobe. (Leymarie 2010.)
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Through out the 1920’s Chanel continued to modify
the traditional silhouette and create classic staples.
Chanel developed a close personal relationship with the
Duke of Westminster, known for his ‘dapper sportiness’.
(Cosgrave, 2012. Pg70) the pair spent time hunting and
yachting together. These activities inspired Chanel’s
next break through design, incorporating traditional
men’s clothing features into women’s wear, but always
with a feminine and elegant twist. Channels wide legged
navy pants were inspired by the crew’s uniform on-board
‘The Flying Cloud’, the Dukes yacht. Chanel was fond of men’s
trousers and out of practicality had worn them on the
yacht commenting, “it was impossible to climb the ladder
in a skirt” (Cosgrave 2012,pg109). The Dukes hunting
wardrobe inspired Chanel to approach the Cumbrian mills
and develop pastel, feminine tweeds, which she then used
in softly tailored, yet structured suits. For added
femininity she removed the collar and again added her
trademark deep pockets for practicality. These tweed
suits, were to become a ‘classic’ Chanel signature.
‘Classic pieces’ in the wardrobe became another Chanel
first. Chanel would repeat and reinvent popular styles,
something that had not been seen before. Previous to
Chanel making it acceptable, being seen in last seasons
clothing was considered horrific experience.
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Figure 3 Model wearing Chanel tweed suit. Thetweed suit, in soft feminine colours would become a stapleclassic in Chanel’s collection and continue to be tweaked and reinterpreted. (Leymarie, 2010.)
Chanel’s elegant sportswear designs had
revolutionised the way French women dressed. Her designs
had been rebellious. Her simple, corset-less silhouette,
profound use of comfortable jersey fabric and use of
men’s wear details were radical. The new modern woman,
who could now vote and drive, embraced the style as it
enriched her newly found freedom and it seemed there
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would be no going back. In 1926, Marjorie Howard, the
editor of American Harper’s Bazar, was surprised to see that
sportswear had not taken off in New York same way that it
had in Paris (Martin 1998,pg77). American fashion was
still heavily influenced by traditional Parisian haute
couture. This wouldn’t truly change until 1940 when Paris
was under Nazi occupation. Under the Nazi regime Paris
and its couture houses were completely cut off from the
rest of the world. World War II was a major factor in the
rise of American sportswear. Manufactures no longer had
access to copy couture designs and restrictions on fabric
for the war effort created new predicaments for
manufactures and designers. American department stores
had struggled to keep a float through the depression and
with the impeding war ahead began to look to home grown
designers for the first time and in so developed ‘the
American Look’ and the beginning of the American
sportswear phenomenon.
In the 1937 the legendary vice president Dorothy
Shaver, of the American department store Lord and Taylor,
launched a campaign in store that promoted talented
American fashion designers. (Kirkland 1975,pg 243) This
was a chance for the American public to know American
designer’s name in the same, familiar sense as the names
of Christian Dior and Cristobal Balenciaga. This was
unheard of. Prior to Dorothy Shaver’s campaign, American
designers remained anonymous, hidden behind the
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manufactures and department store labels. Dorothy Shaver
highlighted many American names promoting them in store
and in magazine advertisements. It was patriotic and in
timing with the struggling American economy that was said
to feel the effects of the depression right up to the
beginning of World War II. She called the campaign ‘the
American Look’ (Kirkland 1975,Pg 243). The campaign was so
successful the manufacturers could not keep up. Arguably
the most successful designers promoted, the pioneer of
American sportswear, was Claire McCardell.
Claire McCardell was American. She was attractive
with blonde hair and blue eyes. She was born in a lovely
part of Maryland to a well to do typical American family.
Her father was a hard working bank manager and her mother
is said to be a ‘Southern Belle’ (Kirkland 1975, pg215).
Her mother had admired the clothes from Paris and
McCardell studied from her mother’s style and fashion
magazines. Eventually Claire went off to New York to
study fashion at Parsons where she spent a semester far
away at their Paris campus. This gave McCardell the
opportunity to study the greats Parisian couture’s Madame
Vionnet and Madame Grès, from whom she learned, admired
and was influenced. McCardell loved Paris, but she was
always American. When McCardell was growing up she
recognised while playing with her brothers “that some
dresses, while pretty, are not good for climbing
trees“(Kirkland, 1975, pg216). McCardell saw couture in a
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similar sense. Parisian couture although extraordinarily
beautiful, was not necessarily practical for the American
way of life.
The American way of life in the 1930’s was difficult
due to the Depression. All the sectors were struggling to
stay afloat, including the fashion industry. Despite or
because of the depression, ready-to-wear had grown in
importance (Arnold 2008,pg77). After McCardell’s return
from Paris and graduating from Parsons McCardell found
her self in a rather difficult time finding work, but her
determination and spirit eventually found her working at
at Townley, a ready to wear clothing manufacturer who
specialised in dresses and a new emergence of ‘spectator
sport’ clothing.
Like all designers at the time, McCardell was
expected to copy Paris. She adapted it to suit the
processes of ready-to-wear. Ready-to-wear was the way of
the future; it provided affordable fashion to women, in
times when the economy was low. McCardell along with
other designers would be sent to Paris to watch and
sketch the latest couture designs. If time saw fit, she
would often travel with her friends around near by
countries. McCardell seemed more influenced by the travel
it’s self rather than the couture clothes themselves.
After lugging steamer trunks around, McCardell returned
to develop a collection of separates, including skirts,
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culottes and halter-tops made from wool jersey. The
pieces could be swapped around, easily packed, hand
washed and made more or less formal with the use of
accessories. In 1936 the buyers were still not quite
convinced. What would they do with the excess sizes?
Where is the hanger appeal? A problem McCardell often
faced in the first few years was getting the buyers and
customers on the same page, although they would
eventually catch up. McCardell’s career took off at
Townley. For a short while the business closed it’s doors,
but later, with a new enthusiastic partner Adolph Klein,
it reopened. McCardell returned and developed a
relationship envied by other designers on 7th Avenue
(Yohannan 1998, pg. 51). Klein gave McCardell free reign
over design. Klein had the label changed to read CLAIRE
MCARDELL CLOTHES, by Townley (Kirkland 1975, pg239), a first
amongst manufactures.
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McCardell dresses based on her original bias cut, monastic dress. The spaghetti strings meant the dress could be changed and modified to suit a variety of figures. (Yohannan 1998)
By 1939 McCardell had found success with the monastic
dress. A tent like, bias cut dress with no waistline that
was belted into shape something so simple but never seen
before (Yohannan 1998,pg 41). It was simple to make,
perfect for production and suited a range of women.
McCardell strongly believed that clothes should be useful
as well as nice-looking. Until then it had taken a
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sophisticated woman to understand McCardell’s designs,
most of the young fashion editors were already wearing
McCardell designs, mainstream had not yet picked up
(Kirkland 1975,pg 267). It was not until the Second World
War that the rest of America really began to embrace
McCardell’s innovative design. The war had completely cut
off Paris couture and McCardell’s simple no fuss designs
were harmonious with the wartime sensibilities. Wartime
fashion was restrained and respectful. It had become
stuck in a sombre utilitarian look, usually of a suit
made from sturdy wool fabric. McCardell began offering
alternatives, creating low cost dresses with no frills
styling from heavy durable fabrics that still managed to
look pleasing. The war had caused a shortage of domestic
manpower and begun to see women entering the work force
in unprecedented numbers. McCardell’s wartime outfits
appealed to students, office workers, factory workers and
housewives. When times became tough, McCardell embraced
the challenges of rationing fabric, trim and fastenings
for the war effort. She began to look to alternate
fabrics and was able to see past their accustomed use.
When the government declared a surplus on weather balloon
cotton, McCardell ordered as much as possible (Yohannan
1998, pg58). When there was an increasing lack of
closures, McCardell invented the spaghetti string and
wrap designs that eliminated the problem.
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McCardell looked everywhere for inspiration. She saw
that menswear had none of the problems of women’s
clothing she began to incorporate these in her designs.
Deep cut armholes and deep practical pockets. She used
‘American’ denim borrowed from typical workers clothing,
that was sturdy and tough and along with the fabric
borrowed the contrast double topstitching used to sew it.
Light weight cotton calico, another American fabric that
had been tainted with it’s association to the old and
poor, McCardell with her seemingly simple Vionnet
inspired bias cut drape and geometric designs made the
fabric fun, elegant and new again. McCardell embraced new
and improved technology in man-made fabrics and was
always the first stop for the sample salesmen to stop by.
McCardell could never understand the point of a back
zipper, especially now that women dressed themselves
(Morris 1994, C.18) She used practical fastenings such as
eye and hooks, press-studs from children’s wear, brass
lace hooks from men’s boots and leather buckles from
skiing equipment (a favourite past time of hers).
McCardell saw the innovation in these details and instead
of hiding them she highlighted them in her design and
they were
easy to use. These features were to become fondly known
as “McCardellisms”(Yohannan, 1998. Pg95).
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Figure 4 McCardell design with bias cut top and eye and hook closures and wrap design.(Yohannan, 1998)
McCardell’s success and popularity continued to grow
through out the 40’s and 50’s. In 1944 Harper’s Bazaar ran
an illustrated feature on her now separates collection,
it read “Be nifty… be new...be interchangeable” (Yohannan
1998,pg 80). They called it a ‘new system’ of dressing
even though it had originally designed by McCardell
nearly 10 years ago in 1936. The design was now perfect
for the post war economical state, where one could update
her look without purchasing an entire outfit. McCardell
continued with firsts as she experimented with wool
jersey. She used it in her signature unpadded, diaper
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style bathing suits, in simplified, elegant day and
evening wear, in leotards and in casual active wear.
McCardell, like Chanel understood that the ‘bread and
butter’ best sellers could be updated and modified rather
than an entirely new collection developed each season,
these pieces would become classics. McCardell always with
her finger on the pulse foresaw that as war was ending,
and fabric restrictions lifted, she predicted that women
would want a longer fuller silhouette and was well timed
when Dior released his ‘new look’ (Kirkland 1975,pg 271).
McCardell managed to achieve a similar silhouette with
out the unnecessary internal structuring by her signature
use of drape, bias cut and wrapping techniques that read
as simple but involved complicated design knowledge.
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Figure 5 McCardell wool jersey bathing suits; showcase her practical use of fabric with aesthetic design (Yohannan, 1998)
McCardell was once told that if she stoped designing
for herself and began designing for women she might have
a chance. (Kirkland 1975, pg219), McCardell chose to
ignore this piece of advice. She understood what women
needed and wanted, often before they did and it was often
radical and misunderstood. Why should she look to Paris
to dress the American lifestyle? Her predictions,
although sometimes before her time were eventually
embraced because her clothing was versatile, practical
and answerable to the women who wore it.
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Coco Chanel and Claire McCardell both achieved
remarkable feats in changing the way the world perceived
fashion. The great wars had changed the way the world
operated and both designers had watched and experienced
the major changes that were happening around them and
embraced them. Fashions that inhibited movement, was
unnecessarily adorned or restricting did not support the
new opportunities that were excitingly available.
Although McCardell and Chanel were designing at opposite
ends of the market, both knew what women wanted and what
women needed. Their ability to see things differently,
think out of the box led both women to create practical,
comfortable and elegant designs. McCardell and Chanel
managed to produce timeless classic clothing, that
continues to be referenced and has completely changed the
way we dress today.
Reference List
Arnold, R 2008. The American Look: Sportswear, Fashion and the Image of Women in 1930s and 1940s New York. I. B. Tauris.USA
Cosgrave, B 2012. Vogue on: Coco Chanel (Vogue on Designers). Edition. Quadrille Publishing Ltd, U.S.A
Leymarie, M 2010. Eternal Chanel: An Icon's Inspiration. THAMES & HUDSON Edition. Thames & Hudson.USA
Kirkland,S 1975. American Fashion: The Life and Lines of Adrian, Mainbocher, McCardell, Norell, and Trigere .Quadrangle/New York Times Book Co.USA
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Martin, R 1998. American Ingenuity: Sportswear 1930s-1970s. Edition. Metropolitan Museum of Art, USA
Morris,B 1994, ‘DESIGN REVIEW; Up-to-date Clothes, Ahead of Their Time’, The New York Times, 30 December. C18
Simon, L 2011. Coco Chanel. Reaktion Books.UK
Yohannan, K 1998. Claire Mccardell Redefining Modernism. Harry N. Abrams.
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