New York, New York

I am just back from New York. It was my traditional after Market trip for wrap-up and planning meeting for the next Market. While I am there I work with the art department on my next two fabric lines which are in various stages of planning, printing and marketing.

The normal schedule has me getting up at 4:30am to catch a 6:00am flight out of Pittsburgh. I fly into Newark and get a ride into the city and am in the office around 9:00am. We pack as much work as possible into 2 very full days and I go directly back to the airport and get home very late at night.

When I tried to schedule this trip the cost of a direct flight was ridiculous - over $800! - for airfare from Pittsburgh to New York! I could have gone to Paris for less! Someone mentioned that it had something to do with the Stanley Cup games in town and that one of the NY teams was playing the Pirates here in town. (I am happy to report that our Hockey team not only won both games but the Pirates swept the NY

games too - a minor miracle) I opted to fly through Washington DC and was able to book the flight AND 2 nights in a very nice hotel for less than $600. As an additional bonus I had another 18 hours in the city - all to myself!

The weather in NY was beautiful when I arrived and there is something about that city that makes me want to walk - and walk I did! Although Timeless is in SoHo, I stayed in Mid-Town right on the edge of the Fashion District. SoHo is wonderful, but I have done quite a bit of exploring there and it was time to check out someplace new. You have to love an area of a city that has street corner sculptures of a giant needle piercing a button! I'm not quite sure why the button is defective. What is with the 5 holes and why is one of them too small? It is an odd symbol for one of the premiere fashion centers of the world. Nice idea, poor execution. There was no time to ponder the number of holes in buttons, I had SHOPPING to do!

To be honest, I was LOOKING, not buying. What better place to track trends, color combinations, display ideas and check out things you could never afford. You can't imagine how much fun it is to stand in front of racks and racks of unbelievable yard goods and just ponder the possibilities! At $320 per yard, trust me, I was just pondering! The fashion district houses the shops that supply the costume departments of NY theater, dance troupes all around the world as well as wedding and special occasion fabrics for every nationality imaginable. Not to mention, notions, trims, beads, etc.

The bottom photo is just half of a very long thin shop that carries nothing but spandex! Although the store isn't even wide enough to lay the fabric tubes down and still have room to walk, they have FIVE floors of nothing but stretchy goods for swimwear and dance costumes. ... at least I hope that is what people are using that fabric for....

More about the NY trip later. Right Now I have tons of work to catch up on!

Karen