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      PEM Reads

      Claire McCardell: The Designer Who Set Women Free

      Sunday, December 7, 2025 from 2—4 pm

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      Claire Mc Cardell Book Cover

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      In person
      Morse Auditorium
      Included with admission

      Critically acclaimed author Elizabeth Evitts Dickinson brings to life the riveting hidden history of Claire McCardell, America's most influential fashion designer. Join us for a book talk with Dickinson and Chief Curator Petra Slinkard to learn how McCardell shattered gendered cultural norms around clothes and invented much of what we still wear today.

      This program is a one-hour talk, including an opportunity for questions from the audience, followed by a book signing and reception.

      PEM Reads celebrates the art of literature and the creative act of writing through a year-round series of collaborative book club readings and author events, both in person and online. By gathering to read and discuss world-class literature and meet authors, PEM Reads seeks to deepen our sense of community and celebrate great storytelling. We hope you’ll join us!

      About the presenter

      Petra Slinkard
      Petra Slinkard

      Petra Slinkard joined PEM in 2018 as the inaugural Nancy B. Putnam Curator of Fashion and Textiles. She fosters the growth and inclusive spirit of the museum’s significant and diverse collection by developing a vibrant array of exhibitions, installations and programs that celebrate the global reach and impact of fashion and textiles. Slinkard oversees the museum’s Fashion and Design gallery and served as the coordinating curator for Andrew Gn: Fashioning the World and Made It: The Women Who Revolutionized Fashion. Previously, Slinkard worked at the Chicago History Museum and the Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields. She is an active member of the Costume Society of America (CSA), the Textile Society of America (TSA) and the American Association of Museum Curators (AAMC). Slinkard is a graduate of Indiana University, Bloomington, where she earned a B.S. in Fashion Merchandising, a B.A. in Art History with a concentration in Modern and Contemporary Art and an M.S. in Fashion/Textile History. Follow @pslinks on Instagram.

      About the author

      Elizabeth Evitts Dickinson
      Elizabeth Evitts Dickinson

      Elizabeth Evitts Dickinson is an award-winning journalist and the author of the Claire McCardell: The Designer Who Set Women Free, which came out in June 2025. The book has been named a New York Times Editors’ Choice and has been featured in Oprah Daily, The Atlantic, Elle, Forbes, Harper’s Bazaar, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, and on NPR’s All Things Considered, among many others. In July, the New York Times Book Review hailed the book as an exceptional biography and an essential read that “puts the American fashion icon Claire McCardell back in the pantheon.” Dickinson lives in Baltimore, where she also teaches writing in the graphic design MFA program at the Maryland Institute College of Art.

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