Business as Usual, in the Garment District

Photo by myself in the Garment District, around 39th Street and Seventh Avenue.

The Garment District has been reduced to a few streets around 37th to 40th Streets, between Seventh and Eighth Avenues. Stores sell fabric, thread, ribbon, elastic and the like on the ground floor. Above, are showrooms.

Often you will see guys pushing racks full of clothing samples. Some of the buildings are older, and if you go up in the elevators, the doors will open and you'll see rows of garment workers and sewing machines. It is less expensive to have garments mass-produced overseas, but designers need workrooms nearby to have one-off samples made.

Steinlauf and Stoller, straight ahead, is an older establishment known for its sewing notions. There you can get all sorts of tailoring supplies.

For an earlier photo of a supercool sweatshop space, click here.

Related posts: Moving and Shaking, in Midtown, A Snapshot from Midtown, and Peeking into Paron's Fabrics, in the Garment District.