Day 2 - What can I do in NYC for FREE??

So here I am in the center of one of the most exciting cities in the world wondering where to start.  Last night after I posted my first…post…I started compiling a list of some of the fun things to see and do.  Around 3am I just had to stop and get some sleep.  It’s endless!  Some things require a whole day to really do justice to the experience and some are just minutes away and really just need a peek.  Some things have a price tag attached and others are free.  So…I’m starting with some free stuff.  For the next 10 days I’ll find something interesting to do in New York City…that’s right…for FREE.

And just as I decided to seek out the cheap, a friend I’ve met here in NY told me about a great exhibit going on at the Fashion Institute of Technology which is, as luck would have it, just a few blocks from here and FREE.  Yay!  And since NYC is among the fashion capitals of the world it’s got to be a great place to start.  So off I go.

The Museum at FIT houses a constantly changing exhibit.  This time it was “Day & Night” which “explores the evolution of the RULES that have governed fashion over the past 250 years”.  RULES???  Ah.  That’s my problem.  Didn’t know about these rules…just kidding.

They had some pretty cool stuff like a dress from the 1980’s that was made entirely of metal rings and small leather strips and put together with plyers.  There were dresses, shoes, purses, fabrics and sketches on display from as far back as the late 1700’s.  Somethings were exactly what I would have expected and others were definitely a surprise…like Puma sneakers from this decade.  It made me giggle to think they made a big enough impact on the fashion world to warrant a mention.  Goes to to show you what I know!  So I spent about an hour reading all of the plaques and taking a good look at all of the layers of stuff from time gone by that I’m glad no one expects ME to wear and then headed out for a walk down Fashion Avenue.

Fashion Ave is actually another name for 7th Ave which is a main road running N/S through Manhattan.  It got it’s name because of the many fashion designers and industry leaders that have established their business there.  Another cool thing to see when you leave FIT is the Fashion Ave Walk Of Fame.  Just like the Hollywood Walk of Fame for movie stars, NYC has it’s own Walk of Fame of fashion industry stars like Geoffrey Beane, Calvin Klein, Ralph Lauren and many others.  The walk starts around 34th Street and ends around 40th Street.  Each granite plaque tells a brief story about each person.  There was a big grand openning for H&R Block going on with baloons, a stage and the works when I was walking by.  A big sign covered Bill Blass and promised “Free Stuff”.  Sadly it was for something H&R Block was giving away (??? what could that be???) and not Bill Blass.  I’d have been all over that!

“New York has been the undisputed center of American fashion since the mid 19th Century when the development of mass production led to the growth of the apparel trades. The birth of the Fashion District, also known as the Garment Center, occurred in the 1920s, when a large group of garment manufacturers relocated to Seventh Ave. New loft space was developed especially to accommodate “modern” manufacturing and to satisfy labor’s demands for safer working conditions. By 1931, this District had the largest concentration of apparel manufacturers in American design. A project of the Fashion Center”

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And there’s plenty more to explore on Fashion Ave like shopping!  So if your in the mood for a nice walk down a busy street with fashion sense head out to 7thh Ave and 34th!