What happened to Woolworth's, Greenberg & Hammer, La Button Boutique, A&G, K Trimming, Art Max, So-Good Ribbons... and.... and

Once upon a time, in the garment district, there was:

Greenberg & Hammer: 

This place can't be duplicated.  An old Shop the Garment District post acknowledges the loss. Old fashioned business, knowledgeable staff, wonderful, and peerless products.  Winning product, sadly now unfindable - is great tailoring-weight interfacing.  Best current substitute vendor?  Try Steinlauf & Stoller

La Button Boutique: 

Wonderful button store, FULL of an amazing array of wonderful buttons.  Floor to ceiling, beautifully curated selection.  Best current substitutes?  Buttonology (for beautiful and eclectic), Pacific Trimming (great prices and variety), M&J (quality and uniqueness, if you don't mind the prices), and Daytona Trimming (if you simply enjoy the ride, and are open to whatever you find)

A&G Trimming and K Trimming:  

The jam-packed aisles of K Trimming won't be forgotten...

These places were unique in their offerings, much like Daytona Trimming is now. I assume it eventually just becomes a story of "when it's gone, it's gone"...

Woolworth's: 

The huge, multi-level Woolworth store location (on 34th Street) was once a great place to buy sewing notions.  Of course I was a child then, but I still have tools my mother bought there waaaay back when... A seam ripper, a tomato pin-cushion.... From a time when things were absolutely made to last!  Best modern alternative for similar products? Fashion Design Books near Fashion Institute of Technology.

Art Max Fabrics: 

One of my favorite early places to shop as a teen, I found the fabrics for my early Issey Miyake pattern experiments there! Loved every bit of shopping there...  Thinking back, I probably should have just had my allowance and early paychecks wired to them directly. Best modern alternative?  Rosen & Chadick

US Liberty Fabric: 

No pics, no links... just... nothin'. Poof! Washed silks and soft cottons with such beautiful prints, I just couldn't bear the beauty.  They moved upstairs to a less retail-friendly location, and seem to have faded away in the years since.  Best modern alternative?  Fabrics & Fabrics has some really awesome stuff...

So-Good Ribbons:  

Looks like this store has bid us adieu as well.  Best modern alternatives?  Mokuba (if you can ignore the price LEAP!) and Daytona Trimming.

Do you miss the district stores of yesteryear?  Come along on the Stroll Down Memory Lane Speakeasy!  Click the link for details!

The idea of spats just thrills me.

My permanently out-of-sych fashion preferences lead me to believe that you will embrace this trend in about three years.  I'll just say it now, and you can store it for future use, okay?

For leather or alternative materials:

Leather, Suede, Skins (among others) or Mood or a host of other stores in the district...

For leather needles and appropriate thread: Manhattan Wardrobe supply among many others...

For leather cement: Manhattan Wardrobe Supply, Mood

For pattern paper or oaktag: Steinlauf & Stoller

Chalk for marking: Steinlauf & Stoller

Buttons: Buttonology, M&J or Pacific Trim

For covered buttons: (*clears throat and whispers... inaudibly)

For alternative closures, if you wanna get fancy: Star Snaps

For decorative flowers (leather and other kinds): Schmalberg Custom Fabric Flowers

Fashion Trims for edging, decorating, or lacing: Daytona

I'll be doing some for myself... Go ahead and hate them if you want... or love them like I do!!!  They're just for me, anyway!

Buttonology Inc.

Happy 2013, Readers!  My quiet over the past bit has not been due to rest or holiday fever as much as it has been about trying to find the time to write well about the exciting connections and people I've met over the past weeks.  I have lots to share, so stay tuned or follow me for a new string of posts!

The NYC garment district is truly a magical place. The streets are full of hustle-bustle, secrets, mysteries, and quiet experts who are simply engaged in their work, making connections, and reaching for the phone when/if it rings. If you've been here before, you might not know that tucked into so many buildings in the neighborhood, there is a sprawling collection of diverse workshops, tools, notions, and  materials, that you will never find on your own, unless you truly start to research and inquire.

Or, you can just let me do that for you, and continue to introduce you to the gems I find.  And yes, I have found another one.  The business I am about to introduce, while new to me, is not new to the industry.

Every once in a while, it feels like an illuminated garment district path suddenly just stretches out before me, I feel compelled to follow it, and find myself truly just amazed and energized by what I discover.

Last week, I held a firm, little business card in my pocket, that simply read "Buttonology Inc.", with all of the relevant contact details for the business it represented.  Why was I holding on to it? Why did I feel inspired to explore this business? Mind you, I did not procure the card from one of the "Buttonologists" employed there, but randomly picked it up from a quiet shelf while visiting another business in the garment district.

Buttonology Inc.
264 West 40th Street
Suite 404
New York, NY 10018
www.buttonologyinc.com

Tel: (212) 768-3342
Email: info@buttonologyinc.com

On Wednesday, I called the company after visiting the website, and spoke to Teddy Haft, (an overwhelmingly warm and open personality) who, after explaining what makes their business special, welcomed me to come in and visit.

On Friday, I did. After entering the serious, professional building on 40th Street, and stepping into the sterile hallway of the 4th floor, I opened the door to Buttonology Inc., revealing a quiet conference/meeting table and adjoining office space, and shelves and shelves and shelves of neatly organized, beautiful buttons.  Then, in a sudden tidal wave of kindness and enthusiasm, I was greeted by three wonderful men, (Teddy, Richard Levy, Marc Glassberg) with whom I easily fell into a long, delightful, fascinating and passionate conversation about their business, the industry, buttons, and life in general.  These three are obviously close and comfortable working partners, with a quick, theatrical banter between them worthy of their own TV show.  It felt like I had made three new old friends in just a click of an instant.

As with so many of the conversations I've had with industry veterans in the recent past, so many stories include a story of an uncle, a grandfather, a grandmother finding work or starting a business in the garment district.  Stories of family love and pride abound, and sprinkle everything with a dose of resilience, tenacity, creativity, and deep meaning.

Early in our conversation, Teddy shared an interaction he had with his young grandson, that went something like this...

Teddy (to his grandson): "Why do I love you so much?"
Grandson: "Because you're a part of me."

For those who can "feel" this, I need not offer any additional explanation for why it touched me so, but, for those who don't, think of the level of understanding a child must have to express that he is not just offspring.  He holds actual PIECES of the people who came before him.  That is what the garment district represents for so many people.  And for so many families.  Isn't that what it's all about... in a nutshell?

Okay, so what makes this business special?  We all know buttons.  Not these buttons, and not this company. You may feel that buttons are "a dime a dozen".  Or quite close, literally.  And that is all some folks want to pay.  There are big name designers outsourcing production to extremely low-wage workers in factories elsewhere, who put the least expensive, plastic buttons they can negotiate wholesale on their garments... And we have all learned that you generally get what you pay for, don't you?

These are interesting economic times in clothing production. What if we started to look at the buttons available for sale and think... Where were these made?  What are they made of? Can I get them locally? Consistently?  quickly? Can I get wholesale pricing on just a gross of buttons?   Can I buy samples? Who can help me? Who can help the small designer?  The costumer? The dressmaker?  The fanatical home sewist? Are they approachable, affordable, and will they work with me?

All of those questions have an answer.  Buttonology.  They do covered buttons, custom buttons, monogrammed or logo buttons, too! They use wonderful materials like coconut, wood and shell.  The buttons they offer are mostly European made, and I did also see that they can also customize already made buttons to a client's specifications right there in the office.  Just check out their website, and go visit in person.  You won't regret it.

P.S.  -  Designers, make sure you visit them at DG Expo in February, and we would love to see them at the FIT City Source show (note: When you click the link, you have to click the "City Source" tab to see that it is happening on January 15, 2013... yes, next week!), wouldn't you?

P.P.S - And if you need ideas for how to use and quality buttons, I DARE you to Google image search button shoes, button accessories, button lampshades, button home dec, button hats, button hair jewelry... need I continue?  The options are endless.