Rash's Surname Index
Notes for Jenny Belle BECHTEL
Jenny Bell Bechtel Whyte, a fashion designer whose creations included dresses made from African printed textiles and clothing made from antique fabrics from three other continents, died on Sunday at Beth Israel Singer Division, a hospital in Manhattan. She was 75 and lived on the Upper East Side.
The cause was complications of cancer, her daughter, Alexandra, said.
She became a fashion model in the 1940's. In the 1960's, as a designer of junior wear, she went to Kenya and made dresses from African fabrics.
Mrs. Whyte began making old textiles into clothes in 1972, when the Brooklyn Museum culled its textile collection and she bought the lot for $2,000. She started her own label, Museum Pieces to Wear. She bought antique Asian, American and European fabrics at auction and from museums to make into garments.
In 1964 she married William H. Whyte, the author of "The Organization Man" (1956). He died in 1999.
Jenny Bell Bechtel was born on Nov. 24, 1926, in Philadelphia and graduated from Sweet Briar College.
She is survived by her daughter, Alexandra Whyte; and two granddaughters.
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