Wholesale fashion @ NY Garment District: Happening Fashions et al


This is one of the many rambling wholesale outlets in the Garment District with their questionable garish offerings in the window and racks of samples out on the pavement for $25.

But this one has great leather coats, jackets, dresses. And surprise, surprise, if the clearly non-commercial shopper walks in, the laid back dude patrolling the racks of fur leather etc will sell you the odd one-off wholesale. I suspect that if you've made the effort to come all the way to NYC he might as well.

Anti-fur people stop reading here...
I'm not really a fur person - I tend to wear the fake fluff. But I picked up an amazing Jean Harlow like rabbit fur stole for $40. It was made from the offcuts of fur I suspect, it has a kind of 'bobbly' texture.
Rabid vegans stop reading here...
I have to say, nothing warms like fur. I bought it for a friend's grandmother to sit around in her armchair while the snow rages outside, reading a book without having to don a giant sweater or a burdensome blanket (which never seems to say closed in FRONT of you let's face it). It works toasty-fantastic. She roundly rejected it because of the chocolate brown color, said it made her feel old. And that a rabbit died making it. But proceeded to happily eat turkey, ham, beef and whatever at the Christmas buffet. Go figure. So I'm wearing it.

They also gave these amazing, floor length leather coats, fully lined with fur, for about $250.

About rabbits. They are a renewable resource, inexpensive and low impact to produce (you can't stop them reproducing if you tried), and every part of the animal can be used. I use to breed them as pets. I believe if you're going to reject rabbit fur then you should immediately stop wearing or using anything made of leather, including your watchband, iPhone holder, belt etc. Since I admit I have leather sandals, and a leather jacket, I'm not going to have anyone accuse me of being a hypocrite. If they can invent lightweight, non-animal textiles that don't pollute the planet in production and don't sweat then stink to high heaven under serious use, I'll switch.

Fur and leather aren't the only things on offer here. I also bought a killer turtleneck dress for $20 ("retails for $69") - see picture - as for the bag, why you can read about that here.

I really like poking around the Garment District! It's just the threads, without the marketing hype. You can even hear the store attendant's boss yelling at him and down the phone and not caring who knows it like some Joe Pesci movie. Hey, this is New York!

Happening Fashions
209 W 37th St # A
New York, NY 10018
(212) 221-7977
Email: happeninginc@aol.com
Website: http://www.happeningfashions.com - but it doesn't seem to go anywhere useful

Comments

Kelli said…
Thanks for stopping by my blog and following. I am now following you and can't wait to see what your blog is all about! I love frugal blogs too! Have a great weekend! : )
June 5, 2010 at 11:31 AM
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