My Garment District Guide

Here's a long overdue post! I often get e-mails asking what my favorite shops are for fabric, notions, and trims here in New York. Since I do the majority of my supply shopping in the Garment District, I've definitely developed my list of favorites.

I'll start by saying that there are a TON of places you can go, and if you have a lot of time, just head to 42nd street and 7th Avenue and start exploring. There are dozens of little hole-in-the-wall places between 7th and 8th Avenues, from about 37th Street to 42nd Street. (Also check out the blog Shop the Garment District from our very own Lindsay T Sews.)

I rarely have much time, as I'm often shopping on my lunch break. So these are my tried and true places, the ones I gravitate to over and over again. Be sure to call or check the websites for hours, since many of these places are only open weekdays during business hours. Also, many close for Jewish holidays.

Note: each category is in order of my personal preference, taking into account lots of factors like convenience and selection.

Fabric

B&J Fabrics, 525 7th Avenue at 38th Street, 2nd floor. This is my absolute favorite fabric stop. It's well-organized, well-lit, and filled with gorgeous fabrics. Come here for unusual finds, best-quality staples, and the biggest collection of Liberty cotton lawn in the city. If I'm looking for something specific, like lime-green wool doubleknit or raspberry Alencon lace, I come here since they really seem to have everything. If you're on a tight budget, this won't be the best shop for you. But if you want beautiful, high-quality fabrics that will make your knees go weak and you have some extra pennies to spend, don't miss B&J. Some of my favorite garments are made from their fabrics, like my emerald green circle skirt, my stripey dress, blue bow-tied blouse, and my Ceil Chapman sheath dress.

Paron's, 206 West 40th Street near 7th Avenue. This place is small and welcoming and the staff is very friendly. I tend to come here more to browse than look for something particular, and I've always found lovely stuff. The annex next door is all 50% off, and while it tends to be filled with polyester, you can often find stuff from the main room that's marked down. I love their collection of wools, and I bought the fabrics for my Lady Grey and red frock coat at Paron's. Also: they're open til 7:00 pm on weekdays!

A.K. Fabrics, 257 West 39th Street near 8th Avenue. This is my bargain stop. This is a stuffed-to-the-gills little shop that's pretty representative of the Mom and Pop stores of the Garment District. I love their cotton prints, and they're all about $7 a yard or less. They have a ton of cotton solids, like piques and stretch sateens. Basic wools are very affordable. I bought fabric for my navy pique trench and Rooibos dress here.

Mood Fabrics, 225 West 37th Street, 3rd floor. No garment district guide is complete without a mention of Mood. They're huge, often crowded, and a bit overwhelming. I don't shop here as much as I used to, as I've come to prefer my other haunts. Their basic silks are mostly $14 a yard, so I'll come here for charmeuse and crepe. They have a big section of silk and cotton blend prints in the cotton department. Their lace selection doesn't get enough love. It's small, but filled with gems and reasonably priced. I also highly recommend their trim section, especially the laces. Another plus is that Mood is one-stop shopping, selling thread, zippers, and other notions. Another plus: they have a dog! I bought fabric for my red lace dress and Lemon Tree dress here, among many others.


Notions

Steinlauf and Stoller, 239 West 39th Street between 7th and 8th Avenues. This is THE place for notions. Muslin, interfacing, belting, hair canvas, the best horsehair braid, zippers, drafting supplies, bra cups, shoulder pads, you name it!

SIL Thread, 2757 West 38th Street between 7th and 8th Avenues. This place is a little frustrating as it's really hard to find someone to help you and only some of the prices are marked. Still, I come here for a few of my standard supplies, like huge sheets of dressmakers tracing paper, Mettler thread, and rolls of Hug Snug seam binding in every available color. I buy my favorite bra cups here, which are thin with none of that crazy push-up padding. They're in bins toward the back. SIL also carries every Clover product you could possibly want, like my beloved chalk pens and refills.


Trims

Daytona Trimming, 251 West 39th Street between 7th and 8th Avenues. This is your bargain stop for trims. Elastic, lace, ric rac, piping, etc. It's kind of dingy but you can't beat the prices. There are two really sweet (but rather dirty, it must be said) cats named Ric and Rac who will be your best friends if you give them some chin scratches. Their house-brand thread is really weird and low-quality, so be warned.

The ric rac wall at Daytona Trimming

Pacific Trimming, 281 West 38th Street near 7th Avenue. A step up from Daytona Trims, but I usually try to avoid this place since it always puts me in a bad mood. It's packed and hard to navigate. Still, for well-priced buttons, ribbon, Riri zippers, beads, and pre-packaged piping, this is a good place to know about.

M&J Trims, 1008 Avenue of the Americas (aka 6th Avenue) near 37th Street. Not exactly in the Garment District but still the city's trim mecca. This is my button place when I want something special (read: pricey). Also good for anything crystal or rhinestone and braid trim for Chanel-style jackets.

Well, I think that's it. I hope you find this helpful and that you'll come visit my city's wonderful garment district soon!

A Day in the Garment District

On my birthday trip to the Garment District, Jeff followed me around with the camera like my own personal photographer! Now I know what it's like to be famous. Here are a few highlights of the day.

We started at Mood, where I looked at summer cottons and was recognized by a lovely reader! Talk about a brush with fame! (Jocelyn, it was nice to meet you.)

Next up was Pacific Trim, where I checked out laces.

No trip is complete without a jaunt to Spandex House!

Did you know they have a shrine set up on the upper floor? One of the employees explained to Jeff that if you leave money on the shrine, it will bring you luck. So he did. (What do you think becomes of that money?)

There's also a really weird poster. (Click to enlarge.) What does it mean? Mystifying indeed.

I had a frozen yogurt craving, so we went to my favorite candy shop. But get this: they don't sell frozen yogurt on the weekends! Only Monday through Friday. Have you ever heard of anything so ridiculous? Can you see the anger behind my smile here?

I made do with a milkshake. Mmmm.


Next up: B&J! I'm kind of digging this huge teal and white polka dot.

We headed down to the Museum at FIT in Chelsea. There were two awesome exhibits. Some highlights? A Claire McCardell gingham romper and several Dior New Look day suits. Heaven!

We finished up at an Italian joint for dinner. Oh hey! Here's the celebrated photographer and author Jeff Hirsch!
In the end, I only came away with a couple yards of milliskin Spandex and some stretch lace. (I'm going to attempt my own DIY Spanx; we'll see how that goes.) And of course some lovely memories!

Weird and Wonderful Sights of the Garment District, Part Two

Welcome back to Weird and Wonderful Sights of the Garment District! My next five picks have some beautiful art, some wildly expensive fabrics, something for your sweet tooth - and more!

1. First up is not fabric related, but still a place I make a point to stop nearly every time I'm in the neighborhood: Candy Castle! (7th Ave, between 39th and 40th) This place is like a Willy Wonka-invented old-fashioned sweet shop. The candy is lined up in glass jars along the entire wall, and the effect is mesmerizing to me.

And look at these gum balls! They're the size of grapefruits. I think they should probably be in the Guinness Book of World Records.
I could imagine a big-name designer stopping in this sweet shop and being inspired to create an entire collection around it, can't you? Candy couture!

(Also, the peanut butter frozen yogurt is excellent.)

2. B&J's Most Extravagant Fabrics. B&J is the ritziest shop in the district (7th Avenue, between 38th and 39th), and it has some must-see wares. How about some hand beaded illusion, made in France?

$510 a yard!

A fun game is to see if you can find the most expensive fabric in the shop. The best I've done is $810 a yard, but I've heard tell of some that are upwards of $1,000!

3. While you're at B&J, take a look at the old-fashioned register at checkout. This was the shop's first register, when they opened in the 40's! It's no longer functional, but still a great reminder of the rich history of this area.


4. On the lowbrow side (but still glitzy!) is this Obama rhinestone decal.

What I find funny is this doesn't really look anything like our president (at least to me). But hey, what better way to show your patriotism than a rhinestone decal? Look for this and other over-the-top sparkly decals in the many trim shops that populate 38th street, between 7th and 8th Avenues.

5. And last but not least, are the sculptures that I think of as the heart and soul of the Garment District.

At the corner of 7th Avenue and 39th street, you'll see this oversized needle and button.

And then, a beautiful and haunting depiction of a garment worker, toiling over his work. The history of garment production was not always a happy and glamorous one in New York - far from it. I think this sculpture captures that beautifully.

My one gripe is that I wish they could have portrayed both a man and a woman garment worker. Sewing has always been women's work, and female immigrants bore the brunt of the oppressive garment labor in New York. Shouldn't a woman be part of the capturing of this history?

Okay, end feminist rant.

Check back next week for more weird and wonderful sights of New York's Garment District!

Weird and Wonderful Sights of the Garment District, Part One

This is a new series of posts that I'm very excited about.

I live in Queens, in a neighborhood that's about a 25 minute subway ride away from Manhattan's Garment District. Besides the obvious appeal (tons of top-notch fabric, trim, and notions stores within a three block radius), there is definite magic to this place. There are hidden gems everywhere. Here are the first five of my favorite sites: the outrageous, the beautiful, and the offbeat.

1. The Mood elevator. Mood, the fabric store made famous by Project Runway, is one of my favorite places to shop. They have three floors of fabrics, and they sell a full array of notions, making this the perfect one-stop shopping trip for a lunch hour.

To get to Mood, you need to take an old-fashioned elevator up to the third floor. I love everything about these elevators. The gentlemen who run them are very chivalrous. Here is one of the friendly operators.


2. Fur and Furrier (aka Northern Furs, Ltd.). This is an odd little store on 37th street, which you'll pass on your way to Mood. The windows are filled with vintage furs in every color, as well as fabulous old hats. I'm an animal lover and not a fan of fur, but there is something eye-catching about a vintage lavender stole.

But my favorite part of this shop is not the wares, but an odd little sign in the window, which begins, "Dear Smokers, the Second Hand Smoke that comes thru our door is killing us . . . "


Now, isn't this ironic when placed next to a bunch of animal skins? And furthermore, what exactly do they mean by "killing us"? Slowly killing them through second hand smoke inhalation? Or killing their business by stinking up the furs with cigarette smells?

3. The ric rac wall at Daytona Trims (see above) really speaks for itself. But the best thing is this jumbo size ric rac!

4. B&J's tiny dresses. These little dress models appear in the hallway outside B&J, which is the swankiest fabric store in the district. They're draped in fabrics that are for sale inside. Aren't they magical?

5. Fashion Walk of Fame. Taking a cue from the Hollywood Walk of Fame, a stretch of 7th Avenue (also called "Fashion Avenue" in the Garment District) is studded with these wonderful plates dedicated to the most legendary designers. Here is the plaque for Claire McCardell, who Casey recently introduced me to as "the patron saint of design/sewing."

That's it for this installment! Check back soon for more.