2023 Garment District Buying Trip In Review

Part research, part materials shopping, and part eating, because what is four days in NYC without some very good food

There is a weight to Brooklyn’s neighborhood townhouses that is heavier than the bricks they’re made of. They’re seeped in over a hundred years of sound, from the click-clacking of shoes to the sirens and car horns that carry life in the city onward. Four generations walking to work, with the same aging hands exchanging warm bagels and steaming cups of coffee, always black, over sticky counters. The bricks are sealed with those quintessential food smells along with a thin perfume coat of cigarette and pot smoke, car and factory exhaust, dog and human pee, and the remnants of millions of piles of trash waiting to be collected on summer's days.

They’ve retained every moment of their histories: firework ash, children’s chalk, blood, fresh and decaying layers of paint, climbing roses, pigeon droppings, and so on.

The weight of these sounds and the smell of heavy bricks is exaggerated by the massive storied branches of blooming trees that are almost dripping with floral notes. These trees send relentless channels of root systems much like the winding and screeching Subway tunnels that stretch below ground and bevel the sidewalk every so slightly.

I think it’s the weight of those brick buildings that draw you into loving Brooklyn.

Getting into Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, from the airport last Sunday took me right back to when I first fell in love with these slow-aged buildings when I came to look at a college in the city nine years ago.

I was fifteen and complete with braces and bad hair and there was a grittiness to Brooklyn that I instantly resonated with then and still feel stirring in my bones today. My stepdad’s family has been in Bay Ridge Brooklyn for several generations and his sister’s family lives only a few blocks from the R train. Susan and her husband Antonio graciously let me stay with them when I’m visiting the city and being there in their neighborhood with their family is often the highlight of my time there despite everything wonderful that Manhattan has to offer.

My business designing and altering bridal gowns in Oregon has picked up steadily over the past couple of years and it’s afforded me the demand for products that I can only get in person.

I do fairly well shopping online for materials and I can’t deny the convenience of it, but when it comes to special one-of-a-kind custom gowns, fabric shopping is the most important stage of my process. I need to run my hands over the bolts and compare the drape, weight, opacity, texture, and exact shades against each other. I prefer to look a business owner in the eye when gathering more information about the products instead of clicking through a website or typing questions into a chat box.

I’ve been browsing online shops and ordering swatches for various projects over the past few months, but all of that online shopping takes a lot of time both on the physical shopping/computer time and in the mailing samples back and forth with providers. To finish my shopping list for the year I knew the most efficient use of my time would be to hop on a plane and go handle the materials in person in New York City’s garment district.

This is the heart of my busy season with the majority of my business being for brides getting married in the summertime. It’s not an ideal time to go, but I had just enough time leading up to the trip to work enough extra hours to head out for a week.

My parents have a bakery called Hazella about two blocks from my shop that I frequent at least once a day. I’ve come to know and love their employees well. Their prodigy baker, Natalie, 18, signed up for a croissant-making class in Brooklyn and we decided to travel together. Natalie has never been to New York and despite her incredible food palette, hasn’t had the opportunity to try a wide variety of foods. I took it upon myself to see to it that she try at least a sample of some of the best foods NYC has to offer.

The week would go like this: We ride the train 40 minutes together from Bay Ridge to Dumbo, I deposit Natalie at class at 8:30 AM, I traverse the garment district and favorite old food haunts until 5 PM, then pick her up from class on my way back to Bay Ridge for the night.

Monday

Fabrique Bakery, Chelsea

The first day, Monday, was our only day in the city together that wasn’t a class day. so I made the most of it by taking Natalie along to see some of my favorite sights and pick out fabric for a custom evening gown she’s having me make.

One of my best friends, Delaney, lives in Boston and decided to sync up a quick weekend trip to the city with my visit, so Delaney was with us Monday as well! We met her at a little Swedish bakery in Chelsea where Natalie did “Research” for Hazella.

We partook of a cardamom bun brioche knot, a blueberry brioche knot with streusel, and a vanilla custard brioche bun with fresh strawberries on little marble bistro tables topped with cheery pink carnations. There also had to be coffee, of course. My latte came with a little bear face etched into the foam and a tiny dusting of ground cardamom.

We walked off our breakfast at the nearby Little Island, a creative multi-leveled park overlooking the water.

Next, we caught the subway up to Fashion Avenue and 38th Street to pick out Natalie’s fabric. I took them to Project Runway’s MOOD Fabrics and the very posh B&J’s where we scoured every row until both Natalie and Delaney had picked out fabrics, linings, and trimmings for their custom gowns. I made a note of everything I wanted to come back for myself and we made our way uptown to drop Natalie off at The Museum of Natural History.

While Natalie browsed the museum Delaney and I walked across Central Park to stop by The Met. Vintage Fashion and Art History is what brought Delaney and I together in the first place so we always love hitting up an art museum or vintage shop together when we can.

Delaney is one of those rare friendships where you don’t need a destination in mind for your adventures. You’ll probably get lost a lot because you’re too busy talking. You pick up where you left off, and in the specific case of Delaney, free champagne will probably just appear no matter where you go. I was honestly shocked that we made it across the park and back without a beautiful octogenarian stopping to share their life story or someone appearing out of nowhere with glasses of bubbly. This stuff just happened with her and it’s magical.

We ended our evening as a trio at a little Mediterranean restaurant on the Upper West Side over hummus and a heavenly pistachio ricotta dessert.

Natalie and I took the subway back to Bay Ridge for a second dinner at Antonio’s pizzeria at 18th Ave. On the way, we ducked out in SoHo for a quick cup of MarieBelle's famous spicy sipping chocolate. We were served by Johnny, who has been there every time I’ve stopped by over the past nine years and who remembers to ask how my grandmother (who he only met once) is doing every time no matter how long it’s been since I visited.

We arrived at Antonio’s a little after 8 PM and settled into a booth where we enjoyed Sicilian Squares with Antonio at the end of his work day before heading back to the house to turn in.

Tuesday

Day two was Natalie’s first day of class. We grabbed a cream cheese & lox everything bagel to share on the train ride to Dumbo. I dropped Natalie off at class and then headed to my old neighborhood in FiDi from when I first moved to the city in 2016.

The little French cafe below my old apartment building is still there, so I helped myself to a seat at the bar with my book, an almond croissant, and a latte. I read and munched until every crumb was gone. I decided to pop into Trinity Church, a favorite old hangout, to read a little longer before heading uptown to start my fabric shopping of the day.

For lunch, I stopped by the Google building that my friend Kelly worked on as an environmental engineer. Ironically, her boyfriend now works there as a software engineer and was willing to give me a full tour as well as treat us to lunch and snacks at his workplace’s upscale open cafeteria.

View from Google

It’s the sort of place where you can be typing away at your computer at 2 PM and think to yourself, “man, I could really go for a ginger shot right now,” and then walk up to the juice counter, ask for a ginger shot, hand the cup back to the juice lady, and then head back to work, no money exchange required.

I could get used to that!

After lunch I went back to work where I found several treasures, but one of the larger fabric orders had to be arranged to be shipped, making me late to pick up Natalie. We were both tired and eager to get to bed after a long day of thinking on both our parts, so we stopped at the nearest Ethiopian restaurant for a bite on our way home.

Wednesday

Day three was much the same, except that instead of starting the morning in FiDi, I lingered in Brooklyn at my favorite little Cuban cafe where I savored a slice of pistachio ricotta cheesecake and a book.

I headed to the garment district around 10 to pick up some custom buttons I dropped off the day before to have made at Remco Buttons for a couple of different wedding dresses with buttons cascading the full length of their trains.

The secret to New York City and especially the garment district, is that all the best places tend to be either above or below street level. The tourists come in hoards and pay exorbitant prices at shops that are easy to get to and well-advertised, but the good spots, like Remco, involve an elevator, some creepy hallways, and a very poorly marked door.

Remco has been run by the same family since 1918. The family came from Greece in the 1890s but they all still spoke Spanish from when the Jews fled Spain way back in the 1400s. I love talking to the owner about his family and heritage and being able to support his small business. I can have bridal buttons made online by mailing the fabric to a stranger to have made and shipped back to me relatively cheaper, but this approach is much more up my alley.

On the subject of buttons, I took some time here to shop at a few other beloved button shops to find the perfect button for a few personal styling projects. One of my clients has recently come into some great vintage pieces, but a few of them leave a lot to be desired in the button department. I took photos of the garments and brought a sample button from each one to guarantee a perfect size match and hopped about from shop to shop to find the perfect match.

I also treated myself to some fabric for a new wool suit on this trip. There was a high-end womenswear designer from California standing at the wool counter in one of the shops I was in talking about how much she loves working with wool. I knew I’d found a kindred spirit and asked her if he could help me decide on the perfect fabric that would complement my coloring. I am very decisive when shopping for fabric, but I knew when I heard her talking that having her help would be a blast. She decided I needed midnight blue and I was delighted. I do always feel great in navy!

She was buying a whole roll of one of the more luxurious midnight blues and she offered to let me take a few yards first.

“This one,” she said in her posh California accent, unrolling the bolt a few turns and holding it up to my body. “You can’t get more fabulous than this! But that’s just my two cents.”

After I had my wool, I took it and her two cents over to the trimming section to deliberate on embellishments for the pockets and collar. The fabric is very simple and timeless, making it the perfect canvas for a little personal razzle-dazzle.

I narrowed it down to two choices and Anna at the cutting table helped me decide on the final trim.

“This one,” She said in her Latin accent, holding the trim up to my face. “Perfect for you.”

I took the fabric and trimmings and all of their cents back to my button man, Gary, at LuLu’s Buttons a few streets down to pick out a good match. Within a few minutes and much consideration, Gary placed four silver buttons in my hand.

“These. These are it! Perfect.” His Italian accent barreled through the shop and out into the street.

The collaboration was complete.

I went back to a few other shops for some samples I was waiting on from the day before and stumbled upon an exquisite lace that was just perfect for a custom dress that I was having a hard time finding anything for online and in New York. I had officially mastered everything on my shopping list with the addition of some unique pieces that I was excited to have in stock for future projects. I had a few more button orders to pick up Thursday, but other than that I was done with business.

Wednesday night was the only day Susan and Antonio’s kids didn’t have sports/music/dance in the evening, so we took the opportunity to cook dinner together at their house when Natalie was done with class. I picked up groceries in Chinatown on my way back to Bay Ridge and my dear friend Kelly came down to teach everyone how to make dumplings. She chose a delicious but simple pork and shrimp wonton that we served with chicken soup and green beans.

If you need a giggle, just picture me and all of my might carrying enough fabric for two wedding gowns and a suit and groceries for dinner for 9 people in and out of the subway station. Let’s just say as romantic as I feel towards New York City, I will always appreciate having the use of a car AND a trunk back home in Oregon.

I survived the haul, however, and had thankfully worked up a pretty good appetite by the time we started cooking.

Susan and Antonio’s four kids range in age from 12-19 and they have felt like family from the very first time I met them. It was so fun standing around the table preparing a meal, listening to pop, and laughing together.

After dinner, we watched clips from Tony, their 16-year-old's, school plays. He goes to a music high school and the quality of their productions is off the hook. We enjoyed watching him transform from Spongebob to Prince Charming and a serious 1880s German student in three semesters from role to role in his plays.

Thursday

Thursday was our final day in the city and BOY did we squeeze the most out of it!

We started with breakfast at a French cafe in Dumbo before Natalie’s class. We tried a sampling of pastries for Natalie’s “research” for Hazella and decided the almond croissant was our favorite. I thought I was biased, but even Natalie and all of her pastry goddess knowledge agreed that it was perfection. Crispy and flaky on the outside, moist and soft on the inside. Not too sweet. Just enough egg in the filling. Perfection.

I only had a few more errands to run in the garment district so I decided to walk. I crossed the Manhattan Bridge, walked through Chinatown, and decided to save my errands for the afternoon.

Tennyson poems in hand, I caught the express line up to The Cloisters at about 200th street at the tippy top of Manhattan where The Met has built a little castle on a wooded hill to showcase their collection of Medieval Art. I am not a true Medieval Art fan per se, but I DO love the Pre-Raphaelites and they are constantly romanticizing the Medieval days AND Tennyson in their paintings so I couldn’t resist.

I climbed the cobblestone path up the hill and was transported back to my visit to Heidelberg Castle in Germany where the atmosphere and overall mood is much the same. The hillside is right on the river and the city is clouded from view, so if you didn’t know, you could be overlooking the River Rhine.

The famous gardens were closed due to smoke, but inside the castle was treat enough to make the journey more than worth it.

The Cloisters are known for their collection of Unicorn tapestries, which, I must say, are not very exciting on my glossy Art History textbook pages. I was mostly disturbed by all of the Medieval unicorn stories and beliefs so I wasn’t ever eager to see them, but let me tell you, my preconceived notions were only depriving myself of splendor!

Despite their age, the tapestries’ vibrant colors are jaw-dropping. The size and intricacy of each one are hardly believable. Each leaf and flower have as much detail as if they had been painstakingly painted rather than woven.

This attention to detail in the flora and fauna is something the Pre-Raphaelites believed to be an act of worship. They felt it a discredit to God to not capture his creation exactly as he created it with every vein in every leaf present. It’s a value that inspires me as an artist to hold that level of reverence for the details in my art.

All of the stained glass in The Cloisters is beautiful, but my favorite is a collection of dinner-plate-sized panels etched with silver and yellow glass that each depict scenes from The Bible as well as secular stories. I can imagine living in a time where I wouldn’t have had access to an education, let alone books, and being able to look at these stories and relate to them in my own time as opposed to the only interaction with stories being at the fleeting pace of spoken word.

Looking at Medieval art certainly reminds me of my humanness. With all of our technology and advances, it’s easy to believe that we as people have advanced, but looking through the mirror that is the surviving artwork from their time, it’s simple to see that humans are still humans. We haven’t changed much and I don’t believe we ever will. If anything, people in those days were even more in touch with their humor and aware of their humanness because it was so easily lost.

After finishing up my work in the garment district that evening I headed back to Dumbo to collect my ward. I was expecting Natalie to go for an easy evening in getting ready for our Friday morning flight. Her feet were sore from our touristy galavanting and her being on them all day in her baking class. Adventure triumphs all, however, and the kid let me drag her around a good eight more miles of sightseeing on foot that night.

We traversed the Brooklyn Bridge into Chinatown, Little Italy, and SoHo, munching our way towards Broadway on bites of Ube soft serve ice cream, lychee berries, cannolis, and anything else that smelled good. We dove into the underground at Canal Street and rode a few stops south to end our NYC adventure exploring the Financial District.

We walked underground though the whale-belly-like Oculous, through Brookfield Place with her towering indoor palm trees, and popped out by the river to wave goodnight to Lady Liberty. We walked by FiDi’s churches, including the burial site of Alexander Hamilton, and along the water until we reached the South Seaport where we caught the Ferry back to Bay Ridge.

While we had both reached our limit on sweets for the day and it was nearing 11 PM, we agreed that a healthy dinner would be beneficial. I had walked 18 miles that day already, and the only protein I’d taken in was from the milk in my latte at 8 AM.

We ended the night at a little Middle Eastern restaurant a few blocks from Susan & Antonio’s where we somehow found the room to consume the best meal either of us had ever eaten. We talked about the meaning of life, which was as spiritual as our love of hummus, and made eyes at the cute server who in turn made eyes back at the beautiful redheaded Natalie in front of me.

It had been the perfect trip.

Drunk on good food and great times, we waddles and giggled our way back to our base camp, where we regaled the family of our day’s adventures and presented them with the box of pasties Natalie had made in her class. Yes, that box of pastries was carried around with us ALL night.

~Fin~

In the morning, only a few short hours later, I decided my 24-year-old legs don’t recover from that kind of city walking like they used to, but thanks to Antonio giving us a ride to the airport, we made it to our gate on time with fabric and pastries in tow.

I’m back in Oregon now, where I just spent my last day of vacation in a forest surrounded by birds and a gushing river, but it brings me a lot of joy to know Bay Ridge and her heavy brick townhouses are waiting in rows, a little bit heavier now from the sound of Natalie’s and my early morning bagel eating, late night food waddling, and the thousands of sounds and smells seeping into their crevices until I return.

It’s back to business now, and tomorrow I will start preparing much of the fabric I purchased in the garment district for cutting. My new buttons will be joined to their gowns and the memory of all of my favorite haunts and the beautiful brick homes of Brooklyn filling my thoughts with memories with every stitch.