Mary Brooks Picken

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

She founded the Woman's Institute of Domestic Arts and Sciences in Scranton, Pennsylvania.

An expert on fashion, Picken was an authority on dress, fabric, design, and sewing.

She taught "Economics of Fashion" at Columbia University and was one of the five founding directors of the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute.

[1] When vice-president of the G. Lynn Sumner advertising agency she designed the course material for the Richard Hudnut Du Barry Success Course.

Mary Brooks Picken c. 1918, photo published in her book Secrets of Distinctive Dress
Cover of one of Picken's books.