Designs
Biography
Clare Potter, better known as Clare Meyer before marriage, was born in Jersey City, New Jersey in 1903. She grew up reasonable well off with her parents and older sister. She didn’t know how to sew, and after high school she took college course at the Pratt Institute of Brooklyn where she learned to perfect her draping and cutting skills. A director from Pratt had directed her to “build upon her highly individual feel for color and line and study costume design” (Buckland). Clare eventually left Pratt without graduating to accept employment with one of the leading wholesale dressmakers, Edward Mayer. She stayed for about 3 years to further perfecting her cutting, draping, and sportswear (Anne).
In 1930 Clare moved back to the U.S. visiting Mexico, and she brought with her new color palettes with “subtle and sophisticated” colors (Buckland). She received a job with one of the leading ready-to-wear firms, Charles W. Nudelman Inc. Around this time she married J. Sanford Potter. She then moved to a farm house where she sold garments, and that is where she met Dorothy Shaver, Vice President of Lord & Taylor department store. Eventually, she became the lead designer, and was regularly featured in Vogue magazine, Harpers Bazaar, and Town & Country. She then achieved an award for Distinguished Sportswear for women in 1938, as well as the Neiman Marcus Award in 1939 (Who’s Who in Fashion).
Critical Analysis
The zeitgeist of Clare Potter’s time was the creation of the “American Look”. She reflected her work with use of color, which some were bright, and some natural. She used inexpensive fabric, which helped with making her clothing affordable, as well as using innovative advertising promotions. Her use of ornamentation was very casual, and she always “shared how her understanding of how the modern American woman lived” (Anne). Clare Potter, Claire McCardell, and Tina Leser were part of a group that invented American Sportswear.
Clare’s sense of color was so good that she had fabrics developed for her designs. She was inspired by everything from the color of the houses in Bermuda to a color on a scrap of notepaper (Buckland). Clare Potter made clothes that were simple, and easy to wear, and often combined color in novel ways. Clare Potter loved sports so much she designed for an active woman like herself who preferred casual clothes that were also sophisticated and discreet (Who’s Who in Fashion).
Influence
Clare Potter and Claire McCardell influence many women in the late 1930s. It was an opportunity for women to further develop their own fashion industry, and she gave hope to American women. New York merchants, manufacturers and even the mayor saw an opportunity to develop their own fashion Industry, which they did. “Large numbers of American women want clothes that are refined,'' Ms. Potter said in a 1948 interview with The New York Times. ''I aim to give them in a medium-priced, ready-to-wear costume what they would find in custom-made styles.'' (Anne.)
“Among the styles she was known for were the two-piece swimsuit
consisting of a bra and bloomers, the evening sweater and the sidesaddle
draped skirt. Even for evening, her designs tended to be as casual as a shirt
and skirt or pants and a tunic. One outfit of the 1940's combined a rose
colored blouse, a pale blue floor-length skirt and a green belt “ (Anne.)
'”She did forward-looking active sports clothes, sundresses, trousers, bathing suits and evening sweaters,'' said Valerie Steele, the chief curator of the Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology. ''She wasn't influenced by Paris, but by the modern American leisure life style” (Anne).
Clare Potter, better known as Clare Meyer before marriage, was born in Jersey City, New Jersey in 1903. She grew up reasonable well off with her parents and older sister. She didn’t know how to sew, and after high school she took college course at the Pratt Institute of Brooklyn where she learned to perfect her draping and cutting skills. A director from Pratt had directed her to “build upon her highly individual feel for color and line and study costume design” (Buckland). Clare eventually left Pratt without graduating to accept employment with one of the leading wholesale dressmakers, Edward Mayer. She stayed for about 3 years to further perfecting her cutting, draping, and sportswear (Anne).
In 1930 Clare moved back to the U.S. visiting Mexico, and she brought with her new color palettes with “subtle and sophisticated” colors (Buckland). She received a job with one of the leading ready-to-wear firms, Charles W. Nudelman Inc. Around this time she married J. Sanford Potter. She then moved to a farm house where she sold garments, and that is where she met Dorothy Shaver, Vice President of Lord & Taylor department store. Eventually, she became the lead designer, and was regularly featured in Vogue magazine, Harpers Bazaar, and Town & Country. She then achieved an award for Distinguished Sportswear for women in 1938, as well as the Neiman Marcus Award in 1939 (Who’s Who in Fashion).
Critical Analysis
The zeitgeist of Clare Potter’s time was the creation of the “American Look”. She reflected her work with use of color, which some were bright, and some natural. She used inexpensive fabric, which helped with making her clothing affordable, as well as using innovative advertising promotions. Her use of ornamentation was very casual, and she always “shared how her understanding of how the modern American woman lived” (Anne). Clare Potter, Claire McCardell, and Tina Leser were part of a group that invented American Sportswear.
Clare’s sense of color was so good that she had fabrics developed for her designs. She was inspired by everything from the color of the houses in Bermuda to a color on a scrap of notepaper (Buckland). Clare Potter made clothes that were simple, and easy to wear, and often combined color in novel ways. Clare Potter loved sports so much she designed for an active woman like herself who preferred casual clothes that were also sophisticated and discreet (Who’s Who in Fashion).
Influence
Clare Potter and Claire McCardell influence many women in the late 1930s. It was an opportunity for women to further develop their own fashion industry, and she gave hope to American women. New York merchants, manufacturers and even the mayor saw an opportunity to develop their own fashion Industry, which they did. “Large numbers of American women want clothes that are refined,'' Ms. Potter said in a 1948 interview with The New York Times. ''I aim to give them in a medium-priced, ready-to-wear costume what they would find in custom-made styles.'' (Anne.)
“Among the styles she was known for were the two-piece swimsuit
consisting of a bra and bloomers, the evening sweater and the sidesaddle
draped skirt. Even for evening, her designs tended to be as casual as a shirt
and skirt or pants and a tunic. One outfit of the 1940's combined a rose
colored blouse, a pale blue floor-length skirt and a green belt “ (Anne.)
'”She did forward-looking active sports clothes, sundresses, trousers, bathing suits and evening sweaters,'' said Valerie Steele, the chief curator of the Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology. ''She wasn't influenced by Paris, but by the modern American leisure life style” (Anne).