New York's Garment Center - Old Days

A friend sent me a link today to a wonderful 2 1/2 minute video about New York's Fashion Center, what it's like today and what it used to be like.

Click here to see video on the New Yorker's website.

I moved to New York in 1975 to study music, but went straight away to work in the theatrical costume shops there to support myself.  Having moved from California I couldn't help but be amazed by the bustle in New York in general, but especially in the Garment Center.  At all times of the day the sidewalks were filled with people pushing carts of uncut rolls of fabric, bins with piles of scrap fabrics and garment racks filled with finished clothing all covered in plastic.

This is a map of the area the Garment Center used to cover. At the northern end is 42nd St. (I think) and the southern end is 34th St. The slanting road is Broadway. FIT (Fashion Institute of Technology) is a couple blocks farther south.

This was great for costume makers because you could find ANYTHING.  There were so many stores with everything from glitzy fabric, to buttons, to dress forms, zippers, you name it. 

This is a store I remember well.

I go to New York now and there are still some great stores, but not like there used to be.

OH, that makes me sound old, but what can I say.  I remember what it used to be like!

But, as I said in a blog about shopping for fabric.  We all have to adapt to the new normal.  And there are great places to find fabric now, many on line.

Here is a link to an FIT page that will help you find the current stores in New York's Garment Center.

This is a store I've purchased from in the last couple years. They have everything you could wish for in stretchy fabric.

If you visit New York, you can see this neat statue honoring the "good old days."