Mary Brooks Picken was an influential American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 author of numerous books on needlework

Needlework

Needlework is a broad term for the handicrafts of decorative sewing and textile arts. Anything that uses a needle for construction can be called needlework...

, sewing

Sewing

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

, and textile arts

Textile arts

Textile arts are those arts and crafts that use plant, animal, or synthetic fibers to construct practical or decorative objects.Textiles have been a fundamental part of human life since the beginning of civilization, and the methods and materials used to make them have expanded enormously, while...

. Born in Aug. 6 1886, she founded the Women's Institute of Domestic Arts and Sciences in Scranton, PA. A fashion

Fashion

Fashion, a general term for a currently popular style or practice, especially in clothing, foot wear, or accessories. Fashion references to anything that is the current trend in look and dress up of a person...

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

Columbia University

Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...

 and was one of the five founding directors of the Costume Institute. She was the first woman to be named a trustee of the Fashion Institute of Technology

Fashion Institute of Technology

The Fashion Institute of Technology, generally known as FIT, is a State University of New York college of art, business, design, and technology connected to the fashion industry, with an urban campus located on West 27th Street between Seventh and Eighth Avenues in the Chelsea neighborhood of...

.

She was a member of the National Academy of Sciences

United States National Academy of Sciences

The National Academy of Sciences is a corporation in the United States whose members serve pro bono as "advisers to the nation on science, engineering, and medicine." As a national academy, new members of the organization are elected annually by current members, based on their distinguished and...

 National Research Council

United States National Research Council

The National Research Council of the USA is the working arm of the United States National Academies, carrying out most of the studies done in their names.The National Academies include:* National Academy of Sciences...

 Advisory Committee on Women's Clothing that selected Hattie Carnegie

Hattie Carnegie

Hattie Carnegie was a fashion entrepreneur based in New York City from the 1920s to the 1960s. She was born in Vienna, Austria-Hungary as Henrietta Kanengeiser....

 as the designer of the United States Army

United States Army

The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...

's women's uniform and provided advice and assistance on all elements of the women's uniform beginning in 1949.

Picken was a founder of the Fashion Group

Fashion Group

The Fashion Group International is a global, non-profit, professionalorganization for the fashion industry founded in 1930.Founding and charter members included Elizabeth Arden, Julia Coburn, Eleanor Roosevelt, Helena Rubinstein, Lilly Dache, Edith Head, Mary Brooks Picken, Claire McCardell and...

 and served as its Chairman of the Board.

She was married to G. Lynn Sumner, president of the advertising firm of G. Lynn Sumner Co. of New York.

Among her ninety-six books on sewing and fashion, Picken is notable for being the first female author of a dictionary

Dictionary

A dictionary is a collection of words in one or more specific languages, often listed alphabetically, with usage information, definitions, etymologies, phonetics, pronunciations, and other information; or a book of words in one language with their equivalents in another, also known as a lexicon...

in the English language (The Fashion Dictionary, 1957.)

Picken died March 8, 1981, in Williamsport, PA.

Publications

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
• 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

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

1921

• 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

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)

1939

• The language of fashion: Dictionary and digest of fabric, sewing and dress, Mary Brooks Picken school, Incorporated

1957

• The Fashion Dictionary, Funk and Wagnalls, 1957. (1973 edition ISBN 0-308-10052-2, 1999 Dover republication ISBN 0-486-40294-0)

1993

• Old-Fashioned Ribbon Trimmings and Flowers

ISBN 0-486-27521-3 EAN:978-0486-27521-5 UPC:800759275212

1999

• A Dictionary of Costume and Fashion: Historic and Modern (unabridged Dover Books republication of The Fashion Dictionary, 1957). ISBN 0-486-40294-0 EAN:978-0486-40294-9 UPC:800759402946