Fashion Out of Scranton

The One Hour Dress was considered a “sensation” when introduced in 1923 by sewing and fashion expert Mary Brooks Picken (1886–1968) of the Woman’s Institute of Domestic Arts and Sciences in Scranton, Pennsylvania. Through demonstrations held at American department stores between 1923 and 1925, Picken sought to stop a national decline in sales of sewing equipment and supplies. Endorsement by film actress Mae Marsh (1894–1968) linked the dress with Hollywood glamour at a time when celebrity and mass consumption were changing the fashion industry and advertising. Reconstructing the One Hour Dress led to a re-examination of the Michigan State University Museum’s historic dress collection, where was found a garment constructed along similar lines. The authors offer guidelines to identify One Hour-type dresses. The One Hour Dress, as a teaching tool, offers a case study for studying the past to merge pre-industrial dressmaking (local production, customization) and modern standards of quality and style.