In the Mood for Trim

When my best friend Courtney said that she wanted to make her own sash to go with her wedding gown, I thought she was nuts. But I also thought she had a solid plan for buying supplies. She wanted to spend part of our weekend in NYC together scouring the fabric and trim stores of the Garment District, which made sense; after all, few other cities were likely to have the number of options we'd find here. And I was interested to see what these shops were like. I did a bit of research and turned up a few options, and we set out almost the second she arrived.

The first place we tried was called Mood Fabrics. We took an operator-run elevator to the third floor, not quite sure what to expect. I'd read that it was large, reasonably priced, and had tons of things to choose from. Having a lot of choice is normally a great thing. But we were so overwhelmed by what we saw when the elevator doors opened that we stood, speechless, in the doorway for a good 30 seconds. The place was huge, a veritable jungle of rolls of every kind of fabric imaginable--and some I never could have imagined--lace, sequins, beads, ribbons, buttons, thread... That was just one floor. Mood has three.

Buttons. There were two other displays as large as this one. 

Eventually, I snapped out of it and led Courtney to what looked like lace. A friendly salesgirl saw our panic and offered to help, and we got some good ideas from her. While she and Courtney were conspiring, I looked around a bit more. I heard at least two women explaining to different employees that they were from out of town. One had come from Kentucky. A ten-year-old girl was being helped by her mother and a man in a Mood apron to choose fabric so she could make her own reversible skirt. Other customers were clearly in the fashion industry, based on their outlandish attire.

Lying on the floor, right in front of the silk charmeuse, lay a jaded-looking dog. He was completely unphazed by the busy maelstrom around him. Later, we saw his picture on several Mood products (tape measures, comment cards, etc.) and learned he is the store mascot. His name is Swatch.

Swatch rests.

We were sent away with several samples of lace and ribbon, and went to M&L Trim, where we found the selection much tidier but much narrower and more expensive. We checked out some pre-made flowers and looked in their Bridal Salon, but it was clear that Mood was going to be our supplier. We also stopped into a jewelry supply shop, where we saw a uniformed, armed cop heading out the front door with a paper bag of beads in hand, assuring a salesgirl over his shoulder that he would let her know how the dress had come out once it was finished. Certainly not something you see every day in most places, but in New York this seemed sort of fitting.


On Monday, having had time to plan, we went back to Mood and Courtney purchased several types of lace, some embellished with beads and gold thread, as well as some ribbon and invisible thread. Feeling more confident now, we decided to branch out and explore the other floors. One had knit fabrics, fake fur of every description, and a section of beautiful bolts of cloth for making suits.

The lowest level was dedicated to upholstery supplies. I've never seen so many tassels in one place, and some of the fabrics were so lovely that I was inspired to look into upholstery classes, just so I would have a chance to buy and use some.

When Courtney got back to work on Tuesday, she was describing our adventure to one of her co-workers. The woman asked her if she was talking about Mood, then proceeded to inform Courtney in shocked tones that this is a major tourist destination in New York. Apparently the contestants in the TV show Project Runway always go there for supplies, and Mood is often shown on the show. Swatch is famous. Visitors from around the country drop by just to check it out.

We had no idea we were visiting such an iconic New York establishment, but I don't think we could have enjoyed ourselves any more if we'd known about it. Meanwhile, it's nice to know that everything I need to make literally any type of clothing imaginable is just a little over a mile away.