The Kimball Art Center and Meeting Miss America 1953

I have never been to the Kimball Art Center in Park City, well until 2 days ago.  My mom had read this article in the news paper about an exhibition of the official wardrobe of Miss America 1953, Neva Langley Fickling.  As usual, she showed me the article and we instantly made a plan to go see it.  Luckily, I only had to work a 1/2 day on Friday so Les and mom came and picked me up from the gallery and we headed up the canyon to Main Street.  

The show was under a little construction for a big event the next day with chairs everywhere.  The gallery was fairly empty, but near the end of our visit, in came Neva Langley Fickling herself!!! She is a southern belle and I had no idea she would even come to Utah to see the show.  I went up and talked with her and Lesley asked her to sign our gallery guide.  She is still very beautiful and very polite.  

I have always loved pagents since I was a little girl; in Jr. High, my best friend Irene would come over and we'd make Velveta Shells and Cheese and Jell-o Chocolate pudding and watch the Miss America or Miss USA or Miss Teen USA.  We would practice the crying and the waving and alway, ALWAYS re-inact the calling of the runner-ups and the winner.  We cheesed it up and got extremely hyper.  It was what we lived for :)  

Seeing those gorgeous gowns up close was thrilling.  The pink dress was one of her favorites and looks very contemporary even by today's standards.  Interesting fact, one of the pagent sponsers was  Everglaze Cotton so most, if not all of her official wardrobe was made out of polished sheen cotton- can you imagine fancy gowns made out of cotton?  It was incredible to see the craftsmanship that went into those designs.  Neva told us it was great because with all of her traveling, she never had to have the dresses pressed.  

 Neva wore this white gown when she was crowned Miss America 1953.  The skirt is made out of layers of tule and the top is elegantly beaded.  She wore sleeves to keep to her demure southern roots and to stand out to the judges.  

This was my second favorite gown. It was a simple sweetheart neckline, strapless, white gown that her mother made.  She won her first pagent in this gown.  It was one of her favorites and wore it often; you can see wear in the torn tule.  

So we basically got to fulfill some childhood fantasies and support local art all at the same time. I loved it. I loved the Kimball Art Center. The show only runs until September 13, 2009.  If you are interested in historical fashion and clothing construction, I highly recommend you attend- plus it's free!  Also at the Kimball Art Center is a small multi-media show by Meredith Prevot.  She is married to Lesley's favorite French teacher at BYU and so there was a nice connection there.  Her art is a little cotton-candy (sweet but not a lot of substance) but I really liked her aesthetic.  She had little prints for sale so we bought one and I'm going to frame it at work some time.

All in All- it was a great way to spend a Friday afternoon!! 

Thanks to my mom and her love of clothes :)