Mary Brooks Picken (August 6, 1886, Arcadia, KS – March 8, 1981, Williamsport, PA) was an American author of 96 books on

needlework Needlework is decorative sewing and textile arts handicrafts. Anything that uses a needle for construction can be called needlework. Needlework may include related textile crafts such as crochet, worked with a hook, or tatting, worked wi ...

sewing Sewing is the craft of fastening or attaching objects using stitches made with a sewing needle and thread. Sewing is one of the oldest of the textile arts, arising in the Paleolithic era. Before the invention of spinning yarn or weaving ...

, and textile arts. Her ''Fashion Dictionary'', published by Funk and Wagnalls in 1957, is the first

dictionary A dictionary is a listing of lexemes from the lexicon of one or more specific languages, often arranged alphabetically (or by radical and stroke for ideographic languages), which may include information on definitions, usage, etymologie ...

in the English language to be published by a woman.

Career

She founded the Woman's Institute of Domestic Arts and Sciences in

Scranton Scranton is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Lackawanna County. With a population of 76,328 as of the 2020 U.S. census, Scranton is the largest city in Northeastern Pennsylvania, the Wyoming V ...

, Pennsylvania. An expert on

fashion Fashion is a form of self-expression and autonomy at a particular period and place and in a specific context, of clothing, footwear, lifestyle, accessories, makeup, hairstyle, and body posture. The term implies a look defined by the fash ...

, Picken was an authority on dress, fabric, design, and sewing. She taught "Economics of Fashion" at

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

and was one of the five founding directors of the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...

's Costume Institute. She was the first woman to be named a trustee of the

State University of New York The State University of New York (SUNY, , ) is a system of public colleges and universities in the State of New York. It is one of the largest comprehensive system of universities, colleges, and community colleges in the United States. Led by ...

Fashion Institute of Technology The Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) is a public college in New York City. It is part of the State University of New York (SUNY) and focuses on art, business, design, mass communication, and technology connected to the fashion industry. ...

, by

Thomas E. Dewey Thomas Edmund Dewey (March 24, 1902 – March 16, 1971) was an American lawyer, prosecutor, and politician who served as the 47th governor of New York from 1943 to 1954. He was the Republican candidate for president in 1944 and 1948: although ...

, the

Governor of New York The governor of New York is the head of government of the U.S. state of New York. The governor is the head of the executive branch of New York's state government and the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The governor h ...

, in 1951. When vice-president of the G. Lynn Sumner advertising agency she designed the course material for the Richard Hudnut Du Barry Success Course. She was a member of the

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the Nat ...

National Research Council's Advisory Committee on Women's Clothing, which selected Hattie Carnegie as the designer of the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, ...

's women's uniform and provided advice and assistance on all elements of the U.S. Army's women's uniform beginning in 1949. Picken was one of the founders of the Fashion Group, now the Fashion Group International, a nonprofit professional association. She also served as chairman of its board.

Personal life

She was married to G. Lynn Sumner, president of the advertising firm of G. Lynn Sumner Co. of New York. Picken died on March 8, 1981, at a

nursing home A nursing home is a facility for the residential care of elderly or disabled people. Nursing homes may also be referred to as skilled nursing facility (SNF) or long-term care facilities. Often, these terms have slightly different meanings to i ...

Williamsport, Pennsylvania Williamsport is a city in, and the county seat of, Lycoming County, Pennsylvania, United States. It recorded a population of 27,754 at the 2020 Census. It is the principal city of the Williamsport Metropolitan Statistical Area, which has a popul ...

Published works

;1915 * Corsets And Close-fitting Patterns - No. 4 * Drafting and plain dressmaking - 3 A-2 * Fancy aprons and sunbonnets * Millinery Stitches, Department of Millinery, Instruction Paper with Examination Questions * Skeleton Foundations, Parts 1 & 2, No. 102 A & B, Department of Millinery, Instruction Paper with Examination Questions * Solid Foundations, Parts 1 & 2, No. 103 A & B, Department of Millinery, Instruction Paper with Examination Questions * Braid Hats, No. 104, Department of Millinery, Instruction Paper with Examination Questions * Piece-Goods Hats, No. 105, Department of Millinery, Instruction Paper with Examination Questions * Essential Stitches and Seams, Part 1, No. 1 A-3, Department of Sewing, Instruction Paper with Examination Questions * Pattern Drafting, No. 2-3, Department of Sewing, Instruction Paper with Examination Questions * Tight Linings and Boning, No. 5-2 * Essential Stitches and Seams, Part 2, No. 1 B ;1916 * Millinery Facings * A Glossary of Millinery Terms, Department of Millinery * Developing Hats of Braid, Department of Millinery * Fancy and Draped Crowns, Department of Millinery, Instruction Paper with Examination Questions * Tailored Buttonholes and Buttons, Instruction Paper with Examination Questions * Woolen Materials and Tailored Plackets No. 12, Department of Sewing (First Ed); Department of Tailoring, (1922 Ed), Instruction Paper with Examination Questions * Harmony of Dress, 11-2, Department of Sewing, Instruction Paper with Examination Questions * Fancy aprons and sunbonnets * Underwear and lingerie 10 B; Department of Sewing, later published as Plain Undergarments, No. 202 * Tailored Skirts, Woman's Institute of Domestic Arts & Sciences, Instruction Paper with Examination Questions * Embroidery Stitches Parts 1 and 2, No. 7-A & 7-B, Department of Sewing, Woman’s Institute of Domestic Arts & Sciences Inc., Instruction Paper with Examination Questions * Remodeling and Renovating, No. 17, Department of Dressmaking, Instruction Paper with Examination Questions ;1917 * Maternity and Infants' Garments - No. 19-2 * Miscellaneous garments 22 ;1918 *
The Secrets of Distinctive Dress
' ;1919 * Millinery Made Easy, 70WI, Department of Millinery, advertising pamphlet for course in millinery, reprinted in 1921, 1922, 1923, & 1924 ;1920 * Drafting And Plain Dressmaking - Part 2 - No. 3 B-2 * Patterns For Children And Misses' Garments - No. 18 * Pattern Drafting - No. 2-3 * Tight Linings And Bonings - No. 5-2 * Laces, Silks, And Linen - No. 6 * The Dressmaker And Tailor Shop - No. 25-2 ;1920 * Underwear And Lingerie * Harmony of Dress - No. 11-2 * Corsets and Close Fitting Patterns * Tailored Skirts - No. 13 * Woman's Institute Fashion Service; Instruction Quarterly included "Smart Designs ... With Detailed Instructions for Making"; Woman's Institute Magazine published monthly at least through Spring of 1930 ;1922 *Tailored Pockets, Woman's Institute of Domestic Arts & Sciences *Tight Linings and Boning, Woman's Institute of Domestic Arts & Sciences *House Aprons and Caps, No. 405, Woman's Institute of Domestic Arts & Sciences, Instruction Paper with Examination Questions ;1923 *Woolen Materials and Tailored Plackets, Woman's Institute of Domestic Arts & Sciences, Instruction Paper with Examination Questions * Individualizing Tissue-Paper Patterns, No. 403, Instruction Paper with Examination Questions * Tailored Seams and Plackets, No. 414, Instruction Paper with Examination Questions
Textiles and Sewing Materials
Women's Institute of Domestic Arts & Sciences ;1925 * ''The Mary Brooks Picken Method Of Modern Dressmaking'' * Underwear and Lingerie, Part 1, No 407-A, Instruction Paper with Examination Questions * Designing and Planning Clothes, No. 415, Instruction Paper with Examination Questions ;1927 * ''How to Make Dresses the Modern Singer Way'' (Singer Sewing Library No. 2) (reissued 1928, 1929, 1930) ;1929 * ''How to make draperies, slip covers, cushions and other home furnishings the modern Singer way'' (Singer Sewing Library) ;1930 *Sewing Secrets, Modern Methods of Stitching, Decorating and Finishing, The Spool Cotton Company (reissued 1934) ;1931 * Laundering and Dry Cleaning, Woman's Institute of Domestic Arts & Sciences ;1933
Principles of Tailoring, Woman's Institute of Domestic Arts & Sciences

/ref> ;1939 * ''The language of fashion: Dictionary and digest of fabric, sewing and dress'', Mary Brooks Picken school, Incorporated ;1941 *''Sewing For the Home'', New York and London, Harper & Brothers ;1943 *''Mending Made Easy, The ABC and XYZ of Fabric Conservation, Harper & Brothers ;1949 *''Singer Sewing Book, New York, Singer Sewing Machine Co. ;1955 *''Sewing Magic'' *''Needlepoint Made Easy'' ;1956 * ''Dressmakers of France: The who, how, and why of the French couture'', Harper, 1956. ;1957 * ''The Fashion Dictionary'', Funk and Wagnalls, 1957. (1973 edition , 1999 Dover republication ) ;1993 * ''Old-Fashioned Ribbon Trimmings and Flowers.'' ;1999 * ''A Dictionary of Costume and Fashion: Historic and Modern'' (unabridged Dover Books republication of ''The Fashion Dictionary'', 1957).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Picken, Mary Brooks 1886 births 1981 deaths Fashion Institute of Technology people 20th-century American non-fiction writers