A Tribute to Haute Couture Expert and Educator Claire B. Shaeffer
Claire B. Shaeffer, a couture expert and educator, passed away at her home in Palm Springs, California, on January 11, 2025. A contributor to Threads magazine, Claire also hosted Threads videos and her own on YouTube, authored many books on couture sewing techniques, and designed at least 45 couture patterns for Vogue Patterns since 2001. She was well-known for having an extensive collection of couture garments and an enduring desire to learn everything she could about couture garment construction.
“I can’t believe she’s gone,” says Judith Neukam, contributing editor emerita at Threads. Neukam worked with Shaeffer on numerous how-to videos over the years. She also accompanied Shaeffer on many trips to designer studios and workshops, witnessing Shaeffer’s skill at gathering information.
“She would go right to the person who made (the garment)—it might not be the designer—and she would ask, ‘How was this done?’ ” Neukam recalls. “She would go through the ranks of all the people who were sewing and find out how she could do it.”
Shaeffer held a keen interest in uncovering garment construction secrets and was generous about sharing them with others.
Shaeffer Imparted her Knowledge
An educator of haute couture techniques on the college level at many schools over the years, Shaeffer also lectured extensively. In October 2024, she gave two presentations at the annual conference of the Association for Sewing and Design Professionals. After one of them, Mary Funt, a couture expert and teacher herself, spoke one-on-one with Claire. Funt asked about a tailoring technique not found in home sewing patterns that she wished to share in her tailoring course for the Haute Couture Club of Chicago. The unusual technique was for a widened shoulder created with a wedge of fabric. Shaeffer knew right away.
“She almost had an encyclopedic knowledge of her photos and pulled out the picture” showing the inside front canvas of the Yves Saint Laurent design that featured three fabric wedges, Funt recalls. “I was able to have an extended conversation with her about that technique. She was always willing to share—and she had an extensive knowledge tucked into the back rooms of her mind.”
Her Collection Has a Home
Shaeffer’s expertise came from constantly studying garments, many of which were part of her ever-expanding couture collection. She had amassed about 2,500 pieces, including 600 Chanel suits, which she had been arranging to leave to Syracuse University, says a grateful Jeffrey Mayer, professor and coordinator of the university’s fashion design program. She wanted it to go to a teaching institution, where students could learn from the garments, he explains.
Former Threads Editorial Director Sarah McFarland was struck by some garments from the collection. “I’ll never forget the thrill I felt, as a fresh assistant editor, to see these couture masterpieces arrive at the Threads offices: a lace Christian Dior dress, or Chanel jackets with intriguing trims. These garments—and the articles, books, and videos they inspired—opened a door for me into the artistry of couture sewing, and Claire’s keen analysis helped me step through it. Her thoughtful writing made intricate construction details understandable and, therefore, achievable.”
Vogue Pattern Line
While Shaeffer referenced her collection to show couture techniques while teaching, lecturing, and writing, she also used it another way.
The ideas for her many designs for Vogue Patterns under the Claire Shaeffer’s Custom Couture Collection line came primarily from her personal collection, says Carlos Correa, fashion design team leader at IG Design Group Americas in Manhattan. He worked with Shaeffer on all her patterns. Correa says it wasn’t always easy producing the instructions for a Claire Shaeffer’s Custom Couture Collection pattern.
“An average Vogue jacket pattern would take four pages of guides and instructions. If it was a Claire jacket, it would take eight pages,” he says. The instructions were so detailed that each “was a lesson in tailoring and hand sewing.” Jacket linings were hand-sewn to the outer garment, for example.
His favorites are her “phenomenal” jacket patterns, especially the Chanel-style cardigan jacket. “I actually made one myself. It was amazing how thorough the instructions were” and how Shaeffer included authentic couture techniques.
“The things that I learned from her patterns over the years, I will never forget,” he says.
Curiosity Propelled Shaeffer
The petite, broad-shouldered Shaeffer told Threads in 2010, “I really went to Florida State to be in the circus. Later, I went to Laney College in Oakland, California, to study fashion design, because I thought patternmaking would solve all of my fitting problems. There, I learned couture and apparel industry sewing techniques.”
She was hooked, and she coupled that with her curiosity and sought out resources for learning more about couture construction.
Shaffer requested access to garments through research visits to museums and then would return again and again to continue her investigating. These visits led to longtime connections with the museums and collaborations with curators.
Museum Work in New York
Phyllis Magidson, curator emerita, Costume Collection at the Museum of the City of New York, offered this comparison: Shaeffer was like the star of the PBS series Lucy Worsley Investigates. Worsley, an historian and joint chief curator at the Historic Royal Palaces in London, takes viewers along as she searches for new or missed clues about events from Britain’s past.
“Claire was totally obsessive about what she did—in a good way,” Magidson says. “There were times where I was due for a meeting, and we had a piece that would be laid out on the worktable. She’d say, ‘You just have to come over here and have a look at this! You see how this seam goes?’ ”
When Magidson pursued her vision of using the museum website for a detailed online exhibition of some Charles Frederick Worth dresses from the museum’s collection, Shaeffer got involved. She photographed all the detail shots for the online exhibition and wrote descriptions accompanying them. “The photos were such high-resolution detail that you could count the number of stitches in a seam, every detail that would answer definitively any question a researcher would have,” Magidson explains. The successful exhibition made accessible key details about the valuable haute couture garments, with less handling, thereby lengthening their lifespan.
Museum Work in Chicago and Beyond
In a similar way, in 2004, Shaeffer reached out to the Chicago History Museum requesting a research visit, says Timothy Long, who was then curator of costumes. When he discovered she was looking into construction of historical clothing and she was as passionate as he was about the topic, he took notice. Then he realized she knew more than he did about construction details and replicating them.
It eventually led to their 20-year working relationship. She received the privilege of studying some of the couture garments in the world-renowned collection. He, in turn, had a knowledgeable fellow expert to pore over and decipher fine construction details, informing some work for exhibitions. “The great joy of discovery that we had together” remains with him, he says.
During their detective work, Shaeffer carefully photographed garment interiors, as well. These photographs were helpful, for instance, as Long prepared the 2008 exhibition and book, Chicago: Couture Treasures from the Chicago History Museum. Many of the images also went into Shaeffer’s book Couture Sewing Techniques, Revised and Updated (The Taunton Press, 2011).
When Long became curator, Fashion & Decorative Arts at the Museum of London, he and Shaeffer continued their sleuthing. Older garments that were not well-represented in U.S. collections, drew their attention. “Again, we relished our time together down in the storage room reviewing” centuries-old clothing, including those from archaeological digs, he says. He was thrilled to show her examples of the earliest use of tailoring techniques for another exhibition, a find he knew Shaeffer would truly appreciate.
Long says all their work—even after he moved on to Freeman’s | Hindman auction house and now is director of museum business development and corporate client services—was to improve their understanding and writing, and then pass it on, to inspire others.
American Sewing Guild
Claire’s involvement in the American Sewing Guild reflects that thinking. “She was like a godmother to ASG,” says Executive Director Margo Martin. Shaeffer was involved with the national group for more than 40 years and inducted into their Hall of Fame in 2012 for her many contributions. She put on events at ASG chapters around the country, taught at annual conferences with the help of garments from her collection, often donated her books, and always offered to help out, Martin says.
“She was an earnest person and serious about the right ways to do things,” but she always had a sparkle in her eye.
Martin fondly remembers Shaeffer’s tour to London in 1997. “She had connections with some of the most renowned tailors and designers.” That gave the group behind-the-scenes experiences.
“One of the highlights of my life with Claire was seeing Queen Elizabeth’s dress form,” Martin says. “I have a picture in my memory that I will never forget of a date in 1953” that was part of a note written directly on the dress form.
Sewfari Workshops
Claire Shaeffer’s Sewfari Workshops began in 2000. From 2005 to 2018, these workshops were taught in Palm Springs twice a year, in January and May. During that time, Linda Homan of LH Designs began assisting Claire, and eventually custom dressmaker Barbie McCormick began helping with fitting in workshops focused on couture pants-making. Claire “retired” in 2018 , but she would do trunk shows from her collection.
“Claire’s favorite part was the show-and-tell with all her high-end garments,” McCormick says. “She had a number of anecdotes and knew the history of many of the garments. She sometimes knew who had worn them and for what occasion.”
Shaeffer’s career was punctuated by many accolades and her awards for her commitment to studying, documenting, and then educating others about couture sewing and construction. She leaves behind a treasure-trove of information that helps us appreciate fine fashion and sewing. More importantly, she gave us the tools to practice these techniques ourselves. Below are links to some of Shaeffer’s key writings.
Books by Claire B. ShaefferThe Complete Book of Sewing Short Cuts (Sterling Publishing, 1981)
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Articles by Claire B. Shaeffer
The following is a sampling of articles that offer inspiration and step-by-step instructions from Shaeffer.
“Couture Skirt Refinements,” Threads #203, June/July 2019
“The Musée Yves Saint Laurent Paris” Threads #209, June/July 2020
“Chanel Jacket Comparison,” Threads #187, Oct./Nov. 2016
“Couture Zipper Fly,” Threads #186, Aug./Sept. 2016
“Make Use of Thread Bars and Chains,” Threads #177, Feb./March 2015
“Mainbocher at the Chicago History Museum”
“A Look At the Exhibition, Masterworks: Unpacking Fashion”
A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Exhibit: “Georgia O’Keeffe: Living Modern”
For more of her articles, click here.
Threads Editor Carol J. Fresia contributed to this article.
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I'm so sorry to hear of Claire's passing. I have a few of her books and have taken an online class. I treasure what I have learned from her. The knowledge she has shared will keep her memory alive.