I often think information eludes me…

 When in fact, we can research, explore, and ask questions, making connections everywhere we go.  Last year, after years spent dreaming of a curatorial master’s degree and a future working in or with museums in New York City…

I applied to Parsons School of Design

I was accepted to begin the design history and curatorial master’s program this fall (2026).

I was awarded a generous partial scholarship.

I did a deep ROI study on my plan, because my own financial contribution still would have been significant, and would cause me to forgo any earnings I might have sought while in school (2 years, full time).  

I interviewed two former graduates of the program, and learned about their career options since completing the program.

I researched the institutions I hoped would employ me after obtaining the degree, to assess how realistic my goals were/are.

I applied to all of the scholarships I could find (*about 80 of them!) and kept a running tally.

I researched what positions REQUIRED my degree…

Concluded.

Well, folks, the degree doesn’t make sense for me, so I won’t be pursuing it. Fabulous school, fabulous program,,, just not right for me.

Guess what: … I’m gonna study the information I’ve been seeking anyway.  None of the information I seek is off limits to me. 

Guess what else? I’ve already begun.

Ahem… I have a few new things to say…

 I don’t know how many people are still listening/interested, but I have some new things to share and say.  If you are interested, just visit, read, comment if you like, and I’ll monitor the stats to see whether Blogger is still a thing.

NYC Garment District Maps

The Speakeasy map is constantly updated to show the best the garment district has to offer! If you have more places or thoughts, feel free to share them in the comments.

Because it is still full of secrets, and non-street-level establishments, a plan, a map, and information are truly vital to an enjoyable, efficient trip.

The "Speakeasy map" is a carefully curated, ever-evolving map of garment district stores and services that I have found over many years of creating/designing, selling, buying, learning, and interacting with the many businesses here in NYC. The list is ever-changing, because the district is ever-changing as well!

The payment tab below is for a curated shopping map with descriptions of the best stores (and why I love them). It is $18, and can be purchased online via Paypal.  The map lists many of the places we have visited on various speakeasies, and is ever-evolving. The map will be sent to you as a link, generally within 24 hours of your order. 

You may purchase a map by using the payment button directly below.  Note: almost every order generates an edit these days, since I make sure the stores are still there, offering quality inventory, and still open before sending to to you. 

Garment District "Speakeasy" source Map:

Comment on this page to contact me if you want a custom map for your specific quest!

It's time for another Speakeasy tour!

 

 

Tuesday, October 20, 2026

Speakeasy tour (in person)

10AM-4PM

Psst... Walking tour of quality garment district stores and related services, appealing to both hobby and professional makers, seeking fabrics, notions, etc. The garment district is still changing, and there are new businesses, new challenges, and new opportunities.  I live it every day, and will guide you safely and efficiently as a group. If you wish to come, send me an email, or comment on this post, and I will send you an invoice.

The itinerary is below. This fee is $135, and includes a sit-down lunch (dietary restrictions will be considered/accommodated), and is a definite "go", no matter how few or many attend, with no change in price. All conditions regarding cancellation or inability to attend below apply, and full refund or future tour if anything beyond my control prevents me from leading this tour (weather, illness, etc.) of course.

Payment accepted in advance via PayPal or Zelle only. To register for this event, email me directly - dressmakermimi@gmail.com.

Doesn’t work for your schedule? If you would like an individual, custom, or group tour, and have a date in mind, reach out to me to establish a date and price.

Itinerary:

10AM - 1PM - 

Shopping (Will include a specifically selected set of stores with a wide variety of offerings suitable for many different purposes/types of garments, appropriate for the theme of the day's tour. Relevant additional information, suggested additional resources and appropriate on-site expertise will be available.)

1PM-2PM

Lunch (local restaurant reservation for our group, already included in your fee.)

2PM - until end of business day

Armed with your "Secret Map" and your own interest in or desire to visit the many other stores you see or have learned about, you may visit more garment district stores if you wish, and give unique codes (that you'll get from me) to vendors who will give special assistance/discounts.

The cost of this guided, efficient tour is $90 per person. If you use this trip to shop and participate in what the NYC garment district has to offer, you will save at least as much as you are paying in supplies and education, and probably far more.

Wanna come? Click above, send payment, and the details on meeting time/place will be provided.

From outta town? If you need hotel and/or travel help, I will advise some of the BEST NYC secrets I know! Payment is only accepted via PayPal (you do not need a Paypal account), credit or debit card. No cash, personal checks, or additional payments will be accepted on the day of the tour. The trip will involve a good amount of walking, so come prepared in weather-appropriate gear, and healthy.

Regarding cancellations:

 If you have paid and wish to cancel 7 days or more before date - 100% refund

 Fewer than 7 days - 50% refund

 If you don't come on the scheduled date or cancel within 24 hours or less - you will forfeit your refund, but can switch reservation to a future tour date.

 If I cancel a tour for reasons not related to weather, newsworthy acts of God or other emergencies, you are entitled to your choice of a full refund, or a future tour.

As yet untitled... (and "Death By Pastrami")

Originally published 6/22/15

*Make sure you read the comments on this post, too.  The comments really expand this post, and really give great additional food for thought! (Originally posted in 2013, I have realized that posts have their moments of popularity, and my stats tell me that this is a post that is igniting a spark right now.) Visit this blog post for more recent thoughts on the same topic!

"I find it interesting that you call your blog 'Shop the Garment District', considering..." he said, tapping the glass table deliberately, "that the Garment District no longer exists."

Leonard Bernstein, author of a collection of short stories featured in an earlier post, was ready to school me on the garment district.  And I was an eager student. I initially wanted to meet him because of his fiction writing, and his unique garment district stories. What I didn't know, was that I actually needed to meet him.  His knowledge of the Garment District is vast, valuable, and needs to be shared.

I met him in the office of his family business, Candlesticks Inc., where he has been at the helm since 1953.  Candlesticks is a well-established company, in business since 1928, selling to the biggest retail chain stores whose names we all know. In a glossy, formal, garment center building, his company produces childrens' pajamas and swimwear.  Leonard, a smartly dressed, happy man, ushered me over to the big glass table in the showroom, and promptly offered me a perfect cup of coffee. "This is a real Garment Center business." he announced.  He was right. There was no sign of the dingy, rough places I have seen and imagined.  This place was corporate and clean.  Efficient and quiet.

With a garment district family history that stretches back as far as his great-grandfather who owned a pushcart on Hester Street at the turn of the 20th century, and a grandfather who owned an apparel company with a factory in New York City, Leonard's unique perspective allows him to understand both where the district has been AND where it is going.  Better yet, his warm, open personality allows him to share this information with us.

And now?  His company produces lots and lots and LOTS of garments, overseas of course, and selling in the biggest retail chains we know.  Macy's, just across the street from his office, is among them.  Quickly, the conversation turned to the topic of apparel manufacturing. We're not talking about the hobbyist, or the little guy/gal who just wants to make a few items here.  We're talking about the businesses that help people buy houses , cars, build savings, and put their children through college.


Myth #1: Greedy capitalists won't produce in America, making it impossible for others to compete.

Here's the thing: Can you still buy supplies, manufacture, and sell goods you make in NYC's garment district?  "Yes, you can - if you do boutique-type stuff.  You can find a small shop to make 27 dresses, or some artistic handmade ties, and yes, you can sell them.  But... you wanna sell to Macy's Target, WalMart, Sears? Then, you've gotta go overseas." Leonard tells me.  "Why not produce it here?"  I ask. "Why not, you ask?  Where are the factories?" He elaborated on this point, explaining  that it's fine when you're just starting out, since at most, maybe some loft in Chinatown will produce the small lot you need, but, eventually you have to be competitive.  If you want to sell to the big stores, the factories in China, Bangladesh, and Cambodia can produce the quantities you need quickly, using workers who are paid $1/hr.  And guess what?  That's a living wage in those places!

Mythe #2: The foreign garment factory workers are being abused and exploited.

Bangladesh factory fire - locked exits - read here...

"We love to believe the story of the poor, abused foreign worker.  The children, the enslaved, the hungry and lame. Making pennies an hour."  The fact is, he goes on to explain, if you tell a factory manager near Shanghai that you hear many of these factories hire or enslave children, he will tell you that he has a MILE LONG line of able-bodied, capable ADULTS who would be happy to work for $1 and hour, compared to the $.50/hr the hard physical labor alternatives offer.  Working in state-of-the-art, efficient factories for a good wage. He has a WAITING LIST of eager adult workers. "Why would I hire a child?"

My brain is spinning now.  This is not what I expected to hear. What I'd been led to believe. "So, can't you use a 2nd class factory somewhere, and pay workers far less?" I asked.  "Well, you can..." Leonard explains, "But when you sell to a store like Macy's, they will only buy garments produced at approved factories, and you (the manufacturer) must have a certificate that states they are manufacturing your goods.  Without that certificate, the big stores won't talk to you."  The big stores send inspectors to those factories, both announced, and undercover, to see how things are being produced, and to check that procedures are being followed.  Without the kind of sales a store like Macy's, Target, or Sears can do, how would you sell the goods?

"But, I've been to stores like Conway," I protest, "and their prices are sometimes lower than I can even buy the fabric to make it myself.  Where is that stuff from?"  (I've always been SURE it was some sort of near-slavery work in a third-world country.) "The stuff you see in those stores are closeouts." Leonard tells me. "These things need to be sold for anything they can get.  Those are just goods they need to move."

We want to believe that the Asian factories have "grabbed" the apparel manufacturing, but we (USA) are a privileged, advanced, over-comsuming country. We open our drawers and closets to find dozens and dozen of garments - more than we need or even want.

So, it comes to this.  What should we have done differently/ What is our future?

"Well, " he confides, "You know those huge campaigns... Look for the Union Label, Buy America, etc...?  Well, they all failed.  Every one of them."

A decade ago, Leonard ran a factory in Pennsylvania, with 350 workers.  "You know what? Far more foreign cars in the parking lot than American ones.  The employees wore affordable clothes made in other countries - and these were American factory workers! The salesmen had to hide the fact that the clothes were made in America just to get appointments, and avoid getting laughed at!  Our wholesale prices weren't competitive."

He goes on to explain that he can make a sample garment, photograph and email it to the Shanghai factory at 10AM, and by 11AM, the factory can give him delivery and price. AND the fabric is already available there, where the factories are!

So... the future?

This was a much longer conversation, not easily summarized in a blog post... but a rising tide lifts all boats, you know.  In time, workers who make $1/hr now will be wanting to earn $1.25 at the new factory down the road.  Wages will rise, and labor will become more expensive for the manufacturers.  It will be at least 30 years before their wages are competitive with our own, though.  So, we move on to other countries.  Bangladesh, Cambodia... all they need are more factories to be competitive.  After that?  Africa can't be far behind.  There are workers in Africa who will gladly earn $.50/hr - and yes, still a living wage.

Rising labor costs in factories force manufacturers to look elsewhere... follow link

We can impose tariffs, for sure... but don't we want other countries to buy our goods? Due to advances in technology, we are more connected than ever.  This has made the other side of the planet as accessible as the office next door.  No one is to blame for this. We can grow exponentially, or we can change, OR can simply stop consuming.

The fact is, the world is constantly changing.

"Okay, so what should we have done differently?" I ask.

"Nothing." Leonard replies.  I believe him when he says that. This guy is no slouch, I tell ya.  Early in  our conversation, I asked him why he wrote fiction, before I had any idea what other pearls of wisdom he had to offer.  "I love to write, so I wrote." Simple as that.  And, by the way, "Death By Pastrami" is his 6th book!

(note: added 1/3/15) And he has since written a new one!

And so it begins…

 Hello to all of you who are still checking in!

NY Fashion Week begins September 6, 2024, and the city is abuzz. The streets are busier, phones, texts, and emails pinging, buzzing, ringing and dinging everywhere.  And this time….

This fashion week…

I’m in the heart of it! I will share details when the current exciting events are done, and I can share details, pictures and links with you.  If you’ve been wondering where I’ve been, the answer is…

EVERYWHERE (in the garment district, that is).

In the meantime, just know that I still update the maps, lead private or group Speakeasies when they can be arranged, and have a fundraising page for a Custom Collaborative fundraising campaign here.

Until SOON!

Garment District Speakeasy Tour - Summer 2024

 

Wednesday, August 21

Speakeasy tour (in person)

10AM-4PM

Psst... Walking tour of quality garment district stores and related services, appealing to both hobby and professional makers, seeking fabrics, notions, etc.  

The itinerary is below. This one's $115, and includes a sit-down lunch, and is a definite "go", no matter how few or many attend, with no change in price. All conditions regarding cancellation or inability to attend below apply, and full refund or future tour if anything beyond my control prevents me from leading this tour (weather, illness, etc.), of course.

Itinerary:

10AM - 1PM - 

Shopping (Will include a specifically selected set of stores with a wide variety of offerings suitable for many different purposes/types of garments, appropriate for the theme of the day's tour. Relevant additional information, suggested additional resources and appropriate on-site expertise will be available.)

1PM-2PM

Lunch (local restaurant reservation for our group, already included in your fee.)

2PM - until end of business day

Armed with your "Secret Map" and your own interest in or desire to visit the many other stores you see or have learned about, you may visit more garment district stores if you wish, and give unique codes (that you'll get from me) to vendors who will give special assistance/discounts.

The cost of this guided, efficient tour is $90 per person. If you use this trip to shop and participate in what the NYC garment district has to offer, you will save at least as much as you are paying in supplies and education, and probably far more.

Wanna come? Click above, send payment, and the details on meeting time/place will be provided.

From outta town? If you need hotel and/or travel help, I will advise some of the BEST NYC secrets I know! Payment is only accepted via PayPal (you do not need a Paypal account), credit or debit card. No cash, personal checks, or additional payments will be accepted on the day of the tour. The trip will involve a good amount of walking, so come prepared in weather-appropriate gear, and healthy.

Regarding cancellations:

 If you have paid and wish to cancel 7 days or more before date - 100% refund

 Fewer than 7 days - 50% refund

 If you don't come on the scheduled date or cancel within 24 hours or less - you will forfeit your refund, but can switch reservation to a future tour date.

 If I cancel a tour for reasons not related to weather, newsworthy acts of God or other emergencies, you are entitled to your choice of a full refund, or a future tour.