New York Part 6

Might have drunk a bottle of wine last night in effort to sleep through the night, not feeling too crash hot this morning! Not even a

breakfast of eggs, 'sausage' and toast could pick me up - and where was the sauce?!! Class at FIT was with Camille Black, but I was a bit snoozy, and greatly envied the student asleep on the couch in the hallway! At lunchtime we visited the nearby art shop, where I picked up some of my favourite Jacquard Pearlex paint powders at great prices.

Back at FIT we were shown the amazing library resources, and greatly enjoyed the exhibition of fashion sketches decorating the wall on the way up! The afternoon picked up as we headed down in the FIT museum, and got to manhandle some fabulous garments. I really got quite excited at some of the beautiful details.

Camille Block in the FIT musuem

Lady Gaga ballet shoes

We finished off the day visiting the current FIT exhibitions - Dance and Fashion, and Faking It. Such a shame we couldn't take photos! I have managed to find a photo of these babies online, which I got to see in the flesh!
As we left FIT to find the nearby Dick Blick's (art supply shop) it was snowing!!So magical!! We looked like complete idiots walking along with our tongues out to catch snowflakes, but it had to be done!

Snow sprinkles!!

Marg celebrates the snow build up!

I picked up a nice pack of markers for fashion illustration, and we headed home - somehow it seemed even colder now, and cold wet snowflakes in the eye weren't quite so charming! It was a slice of cheese pizza for dinner as I added extra layers for our trip to Times Square. We walked up Broadway, excitement rising as the lights got closer.

It was quite a spectacle, and the falling snow added a magical touch to what is essentially a monument to consumerism. Jo and I did a little shopping on the way home, and I picked up my fabulous Times Square leggings, and then found these magnificent rainbow shoes to match! What a trial it is, trying on shoes when you are wearing so many layers, you can hardly bend in half to reach your foot!

New York Part 5

The weather report promised rain, and we got it - time for the leather hat! As we walked down to FIT, we passed African men selling "UMbrellaUMbrellaUMbrella" - quite the chant! I didn't have one, but felt it was not worth the hassle - it was hard enough avoiding getting poked in the eye by everyone elses, and over the course of the day I witnessed many hilarious struggles with inside out umbrellas! The streets were littered with them in the evening....

We started off at FIT with Kathlin, before a fire alarm sent us out onto the streets - guess it was time to go shopping! 

Kale was a very popular decorative plant at many residences, in window boxes and at the base of street trees.

Today's focus was high-end retail. First stop was Story,  a shop that entirely changes theme every few months. We were heading for the Meatpacking District to visit Jeffrey  - one of the first shops to move into the area post meatpacking days. It was a very luxurious shop - one I normally would not have felt comfortable going into - ahhh, the security of the group tour!! Diane Von Furstenberg was next, then All Saints. This was a great shop - visually stunning with sewing machines and equipment as decoration and display furniture, the fashions were quirky enough to interest me. I really enjoyed wandering through and discovering the interesting little details on pieces.

 Lunch was at The Diner, with a goats cheese and chicken quesadilla and a Sangria - yum!

   



















From here we headed to Bleeker very high-end shops. Lulu Guinness - amazing lip and lipstick shaped handbags. Ralph Lauren - beautifully presented, it felt like stepping into the 1880's. I loved the fake ice on their windows!! Again though, many of the shops were of little interest to me, so I enjoyed playing outside in the street!
Street to visit some, 

We trotted through Greenwich Village and Soho

before ending up at Opening Ceremony, a supposedly fabulous shop - meh! It exemplified something I noticed in many of the shops - a strange, disparate set up that really made no visual sense to me. It had been a very big day, so it was home on the subway and a dinner of Lime-a-rita before bed!

Interesting shop sculpture!

Time flies when you're having rum!!

New York Part 4

It was now Monday, and time to start school! After another rubbish night of sleep, I somehow awoke in fine spirits. After breakfasting and meeting at the nearby cafe, we walked the few blocks down to the Fashion Institute of Technology.

Our teacher for the day was Bob Schultz, discussing merchandising and trend forecasting. It was a most interesting morning, as I have had no experience with these subjects, and he was very entertaining.

After lunch we met our next guide, Kathlin, who was taking us around the Garment District. First stop was Schmalberg's, makers of artificial flowers for nearly 100 years. The foyer of the small studio was filled with all types of flowers, and the next room was full of boxes of them with samples on the front - a strange garden! 

The back room was the most fascinating, as this was where all the dies and cutters were - what an absolutely amazing collection! The final stop was the assembly tables, where several ladies were gluing the moulded petals and leaves onto wires before hanging them to dry.

I selected a beautiful purple metallic leather flower as my memento of this amazing establishment. 

In a tiny room next door is an embellishment studio, where all sorts of pieces are attached individually. One lady was using a machine to apply studs one by one, and another was arranging sparklies with tweezers on material, then heat pressing them in place.

Next was B&J Fabrics, http://bandjfabrics.com/ which had the most extensive collection of sparkly and wonderful fabrics, and gorgeous windows at the entry with mini mannequins dressed in them. 

We toured Kathlins workshop, and walked through a custom zip manufacturer, and enjoyed a quick demonstration on the way through of the process of assembling a zipper. Then it was off to Mood Fabrics, where I got very excited in the leather section downstairs - so many colours, and some were laser cut - but managed to contain myself. 

This was our last stop for the day, but I surprised myself by feeling as though I had a bit left in me, and said goodbye to the group to head back towards the many, many fabric shops we had walked past on our tour. I even made my way back to Spandex World!!

After a couple of stops, I needed refuelling, and had a lovely Samuel Adams beer at a nice little bar. It was great to sit down, but it was not time to stop shopping yet, so onwards I went.

After a few more stops I ended up at Mode Fabrics, and it was here that I went a little mad.... no regrets though!

  By now I had way too many bags to manage, and ended up dragging them the long way home around Madison Square Garden. I was so directionally challenged in this city! No matter, it meant I got this great view of it.

Desperate for noms now, I made a quick stop to dump the loot before picking up the now standard dinner of pizza slice and 'rita.