Tag allentown Art Museum

Festivities of Fashion: a trip to the 60’s fashion exhibit at Allentown Art Museum and the Threads of Fashion Exhibit at the Banana Factory

Angel Ackerman Leave a comment

Even before the month went off the rails, Gayle and I made plans to visit the fashion exhibits at two of our local Lehigh Valley art centers: the Allentown Art Museum and the Banana Factory. The teenager’s work schedule allowed her to join us, and she had been to neither spot in probably a dozen or more years.

Her father and I once held memberships at both the Lehigh Valley Zoo and the art museum– as both are great places to entertain a preschooler.

Gayle wanted to see the art museum exhibit because she had some of those clothes from the Sixties, and I wanted to see it because I love post-World War II history and I have a minor obsession of fashion in the artistic sense. If you’ve read my Fashion and Fiends novels, this makes sense.

I took sooooooo many photos and honestly– hey, Joan, take note: I’d like to go back and bring a sketch book and some implements. And if I had a camera…

Our first stop had to be the Frank Lloyd Wright library. The Teenager has always loved it, and today proved no exception. She had a magnificent time pointing out how all the details fit together and complemented each other in clean, minimal design.

I am always drawn to certain items: the Tiffany glass, the writing set, the painting of the tall man with many eyes that hangs in the stairs, the man with the pipe that makes me think of Pablo Picasso, and the woman with cigar.

But then came the fashion…

I think I might wear these.
Sixties profiles, note the white leather
classic black pleats and burgundy boots that really accent
A dress with see-through pants and bold gold jewelry
men’s paisley pants that I adore
hosiery from Hess’s (What color!)
So simple.
I love boots.
How far we’ve come.
colors, patterns galore
I gasped in delight when I saw these
what delightful patterns
I can’t even. Clown shoes.
First glance: Kangaroo? Then, notice the lines, the overlapping necklines, how the zipper aligns with the ties

So much to explore. Colors and patterns vibrating through the room.

And since the museum no longer charges admission, I bought a very bold umbrella at the gift shop.

Next, we headed to South Bethlehem’s Banana Factory. At their exhibit, featuring the work of local designer Barbara Kavchok. The work blew my mind, and the paintings and fashion illustrations that accompanied the dresses… well, if I wasn’t losing my job I would have inquired how to obtain one or two. The flowers. The ruffles. The lines. All just flabbergasting.

I had to stop in the bathroom, where I paused to take photos of the paint stains in the sink.

I had been trying to eat healthy all day, and all day my blood pressure was low and my body wobbly (to use the teen’s words) and hands shaky. So I got a chicken sandwich at Wendy’s.

Every day I find myself more ashamed of my weight and my food choices– and every day I make more excuses. It has to stop. It just has to change. My body can’t take the extra pounds.

Celebrating Hess’s and Hollywood at the Allentown Art Museum

Angel Ackerman Leave a comment

I love beautiful custom dresses. So I knew I wanted to see the costumes from the Golden Age of Cinema currently winding down at the Allentown Art Museum.

It includes a costume worn by Marilyn Monroe in Bus Stop.

And a Judy Garland dress if I recall…

I initially didn’t want to go because I really didn’t understand how ornate these costumes were. And some of them were almost 100 years old!

But what finally made me go was an odd pairing with the costume exhibit, a special day of programming celebrating now defunct local department store Hess’s.

My Hess’s Memory

My family never visited Allentown. We lived in the Slate Belt and my parents were born in New Jersey so I don’t think they considered Allentown part of our territory.

And Hess’s was fancy. The Patio Restaurant. Chandeliers. Imported French Fashions.

The flagship downtown department store was as swanky as Sak’s but right here in the Lehigh Valley. The opened in 1897 and closed in 1996.

They were purchased by the Bon Ton, which just closed this year. Bon Ton didn’t need the fancy downtown store.

My high school journalism teacher, and a mentor to me in everything writing and in many other ways, took me and maybe a couple others to a workshop at the Morning Call office in Allentown.

Afterwords, we visited the Patio. I remember being shocked and I think I had a piece of the famous strawberry pie.

They say those pies weighed 10 pounds a piece.

Hess’s reminiscing at the museum

The connection to me is obvious: Golden Age of Cinema; Golden Age of Retail.

The museum even displayed some hats and dresses from Hess’s.

My friend Gayle and I were first in line for the museum on Hess’s day and eventually the line snaked down the block.

We watched a documentary, listened to some stories and toured the costumes. Then we had strawberry tarts. I was disappointed because they had said they were serving Hess’s Strawberry Pie.

But in all seriousness, the Art Museum did an amazing job.

If you’re interested in the PBS 39 Documentary about Hess’s, it’s on YouTube.

Hess’s Documentary (1 hour)