Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Manhattan Wardrobe Supply: A Nifty Store, Especially for Pressing Supplies

Manhattan Wardrobe Supply, 245 West 29th Street, 8th Floor, New York, NY

Ok, so it's not in the Garment District proper, but if you're heading to FIT or Chelsea you need to stop in this incredibly nifty store located at 245 W. 29th Street between Seventh and Eighth Avenues. Manhattan Wardrobe Supply is where stylists and costumers go to arm themselves for any type of wardrobe malfunction possible. For example, I spent a good twenty minutes alone looking at all the products they have for shoes that are too tight. (I am notorious for buying shoes that pinch. I convince myself they'll stretch but they never do, like the Chanel ballet flats that sit in my closet barely worn.) MWS carries fabric dyes, stain removers, all sorts of adhesives, millinery supplies, a bunch of things that fall under that category of "intimates," garment bags and much, much more.


Readers of Shop the Garment District will be most interested in MWS's extensive line of pressing supplies. They have clappers, hams, rolls, pressing mits and cloths and then some, all to give your garment a professional pressing. Seriously, MWS's pressing stock is even better than Greenberg & Hammer's was when it was still open.

Prices seem to be on the average side, but it's hard for me to really judge since so many of these items are things you just don't see in retail environments. I don't recommend you buy an iron here, unless you've done your pricing homework in advance. I wanted to buy a Reliable Digital Velocity V100 iron, but MWS's price was $30 more than the manufacturer's price and the store manager would not match the price.

Bottom line: Worth visiting for the "I never knew a product like that existed" factor, and for the extensive pressing supplies. Bridesmaids looking to create a wardrobe malfunction kit for wedding day should definitely stop here too.

MWS is the only place in the Garment District that I've ever seen a wooden seam roll. That's a velvet board next to it.

Look at all these shoe dyes.

Fake blood for stage and screen. Who needs that cheap fake blood from the Halloween store when you can get the good stuff at MWS?!

Added on Sept 29, 2012 - Visit this link for knitted garment repairs!

7 comments:

  1. I didn't realize that they had a real live store front to shop in. Thanks.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Meg, thank you very much for sharing it!!! I love your blog,just recently I went to a pizza place you recommended on 38th, and it was terrific!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thanks for posting this. It's one of those stores I knew about in the back of my head but didn't have on my map. I see several things I need on their site. Fake blood not being one of them! lol

    ReplyDelete
  4. It's always great when you discover that there is a real brick and mortar place to go.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Thanks for this post. I was aware of this store. I took a class with Kenneth King and he introduced the technique of "pouncing," a very precise method of transferring markings to fabric, often used for intricate embroidery designs, although it has other use. It requires a special kind of powder, although K. King did say that cornstarch used with a tennis sock would do in a pinch.

    Anyway, I did a search for New York stores and MWS came up. I wrote them, but the only powder they had was for simulating dirt on actors.

    I will definitely check them out. It's pathetic, but a nicely lit shot of a well-appointed velvet board is oddly stimulating.

    (I've since found pouncing tools elsewhere on the Internet.)

    New York Sewer

    ReplyDelete
  6. I've heard more than one knowledgeable person say that pressing is 50% percent of garment construction. That may be slightly overstated, but it is extremely important. Who knew? :-)

    New York Sewer

    ReplyDelete
  7. @New York Sewer

    How funny!!! I'm an art historian and pouncing was originally a technique used to transfer designs for fresco paintings (which were painted directly into wet plaster on the wall...this is the technique used for the Sistine Chapel). How funny that it is now a sewing technique.

    ReplyDelete

I welcome and encourage your comments. Please note that I do reserve the right to delete any comment I deem inappropriate for any reason whatsoever without consent.