Avery Trufelman

She herself lived alone until she was 37, which is like shockingly late in her time.

She married very late.

Marriage wasn't important to her.

And when Claire did eventually marry, it wasn't a traditional marriage by any measure.

Really?

Yeah.

His first marriage had been to an heiress, so he had long since stopped working, even when he did not get a payout from his first wife's estate.

This was where Claire needed help.

She was secretly, painfully shy.

Claire was living a completely modern life in the 1940s.

She had these really strong convictions, and she macheted this new uncharted path with her comfortable, practical clothes that allowed women to be free.

Cue the villainous music.

Here comes Dior.

because they were getting cinched back in.

Christian Dior made extraordinary clothes.

I don't want to turn him into a cartoonish villain, but that guy really loved tiny, structured waists.

Claire McArdle was about fitting a woman's body, not making a woman fit her designs.

But of course, Christian Dior became much more famous than Claire McArdle.

And there are a few reasons why.

And they're not all sexism.