A Tailor, Called Upon by Designers and Politicians

By ANN FARMER            NYTimes
When the trend-setting fashion designers Marcus Wainwright and David Neville of Rag & Bone wanted a top-of-the-line men’s wear maker for their hip brand, whose door did they knock on? Martin Greenfield’s.  http://www.greenfieldclothiers.com/home.html  When the costume designers for the HBO series “Boardwalk Empire” sought period garments that could have been lifted straight out of the 1920s, whom did they turn to? Martin Greenfield. And when Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly and other local notables known for their sartorial flair need a new addition to their wardrobe, whom do they call? You guessed it.

Working behind the scenes for more than 60 years, Martin Greenfield has been an influential face of men’s fashion in New York City — from the era when men wore suits to baseball games to today, when only the fussiest of restaurants demand jackets and ties.

Men’s fashion may be much less formal, but Mr. Greenfield, 82, is still old-school in his devotion to the labor-intensive, exacting and vanishing art of making tailored garments by hand.

“See, I wore out the floor,” Mr. Greenfield said the other day, standing on a weathered sheet of plywood that long ago replaced the worn planking on the second floor of the factory in East Williamsburg, Brooklyn, where he and his two sons oversee 117 workers.

Hunched over tables spread across the vast loft-style space, workers methodically stitched sleeves, pockets, buttonholes and collars into jacket bodices. Dressed in a natty three-piece suit embellished with a pair of striking cufflinks — a tiny measuring tape and shears presented by a satisfied customer — Mr. Greenfield paused to sort through a rack of finished jackets destined for Brooks Brothers and two fashion-forward labels: Freemans Sporting Club and Band of Outsiders. “Look at the beauty of these garments,” he said, pointing out the even stitching and luxurious feel. “Everything is soft.” Every suit, Mr. Greenfield explained, takes about six weeks and the handiwork of 80 to 85 tailors to make.

“He does simply outstanding work,” said Mr. Bloomberg, who credits Mr. Greenfield with making all his suits. Mr. Greenfield first grasped the importance of appearances while trying to survive the Holocaust. When he was 14, he and his father, mother, two sisters and a brother were taken from their home in Pavlova, in what was then Czechoslovakia, and later delivered to Auschwitz. He was assigned to wash clothes in the camp’s alteration shop, and one day he accidentally ripped an SS officer’s shirt, an affront for which he was beaten. The officer threw the shirt at Mr. Greenfield, who mended it and started wearing it instead of the uniforms the other prisoners wore. From then on, he said, the guards and prisoners began treating him with respect. “He looked like a somebody,” said Jay Greenfield, 52, Mr. Greenfield’s oldest son and the executive vice president of the company, Martin Greenfield Clothiers, explaining that his father attributes his survival to that shirt. The rest of Mr. Greenfield’s family perished in the camp, though he did not find that out immediately and spent two years after the war looking for them. After discovering that some of his mother’s siblings had immigrated to America before the war, Mr. Greenfield traveled to New York, where he was met by an aunt, who relied on a photograph to recognize him. In 1947, he was hired by a clothing manufacturer, GGG Clothing, in East Williamsburg. His first assignment was to move batches of unfinished garments from one sewer to another. He advanced to blind stitcher, fitter, supervisor and so on, until he was able to buy the business in the 1970s, starting from scratch with six employees. He did not have it easy after he took over. “Eleven times they’ve broken in,” said Mr. Greenfield, who founded a business development corporation and served on a local preservation board to help revitalize the now-gentrifying neighborhood.

As his reputation grew, well-known figures like Paul Newman, Cardinal Edward M. Egan, Colin Powell and Patrick Ewing sought him out for custom-made suits, which cost as much as $2,600. After President Bill Clinton was elected in 1992, the White House requested a tailcoat for the president’s first state dinner. Painstakingly measuring Mr. Clinton, Mr. Greenfield told him: “Anyone would give their right arm to be in my position. But if I don’t do it right, you could ruin my reputation.” Mr. Clinton, he recalled, simply laughed. Later, Mr. Greenfield got a photo of Mr. Clinton wearing the tailcoat. “They sent me the picture because he looked so good in it,” he said.

As comfortable as he is dressing the president, Mr. Greenfield is also versatile enough to work with Mr. Wainwright and Mr. Neville, the designers behind Rag & Bone, who are known for their modern yet classic approach to men’s fashion. Mr. Greenfield celebrated when Rag & Bone was named the 2010 Menswear Designer of the Year by the Council of Fashion Designers of America.  http://www.cfda.com/   “We don’t get to win awards, but we get to enjoy the success,” said Tod, his other son.

They also delighted in watching episodes of “Boardwalk Empire,” for which they hand-tailored 250 period garments with fabric that was used in the 1920s. “It’s hard to follow the plot,” Tod Greenfield said, “because we’re looking at the clothes.” One day, when Mr. Greenfield visited the set of the show in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, Steve Buscemi, the actor who plays one of the leading roles, walked up to him and gave him a hug. “He said he never looked so good,” Mr. Greenfield said.

Welcome to Fall 2010 !!!!

I have a fun packed semester planned for everyone! You will be learning a lot of interesting things. I add as much as I can to the links on the right side of the blog, but find I do not write to the blog regularly. I just don’t have the time. Yet, I will be in touch with all of you on a weekly basis. I will keep you informed as to what is happening in the classroom. The following are just some of the links I have collected this summer. Start there. See where you can go on the net to learn interesting and fun sewing techniques. Save them all !!!! You don’t know when you will need to use one.

Also, become familiar with the Class Etiquette Guildlines written below the blog.

From Threads Magazine: Advanced Techniques
http://www.threadsmagazine.com/item/15686/create-an-illusion-mesh-edge

http://www.threadsmagazine.com/item/15270/the-fortuny-shirt

http://www.threadsmagazine.com/item/15505/how-to-make-stripe-insertions

http://www.threadsmagazine.com/item/15177/carlas-opera-coat

http://www.threadsmagazine.com/item/14850/organza-beaded-feather-edge

http://www.threadsmagazine.com/item/13182/circular-ribbon-flower-redux

For New Sewers:
http://campaign.r20.constantcontact.com/render?llr=wxbygbcab&v=001lHVgzoeiv3yMtRM2zY2jvBVmOYPYX6tunPjYln-G9-I2hqpA1LQPYkezzmbf7KkDO_fMqU-z6U-k4b1HsQ9hyX5Br-UDvZN8uN1hRndevXQ%3D SEW-lutions.

http://www.craftstylish.com/item/69245/craft-hope-sock-monkey-download

http://www.craftstylish.com/item/68783/how-to-make-a-shift-dress-patterns-included

http://www.craftstylish.com/item/68847/how-to-make-an-embroidered-pillow

http://www.nancysnotions.com/category/id/101962/102984.do?extid=100807T

http://www.craftstylish.com/item/653/how-to-make-fabric-bound-beads

Free Machine Embroidery From Urban Threads:
http://www.urbanthreads.com/pages?id=634

News from Farthingales:
http://farthingalescorsetblog.blogspot.com/
Farthingales is producing a corset fashion show and you can follow the behind the scene and seams progress.

This is part of our fandango field trip on October 9. Pay for a round trip bus ride at any Sew Pros.
http://www.mlfabrics.net/newsletter/PDF/september.pdf

Marketing your Business:
http://www.marketmeit.com/ryan-kristopher/marketing-like-lady-gaga/

Just Great Sites:
http://www.joggles.com/

http://www.organizedoption.com/

Health:
http://www.realage.com/tips/best-way-to-a-killer-middle

http://www.realage.com/tips/more-amazing-olive-oil-news

http://www.realage.com/tips/peanut-butter-benefits-blood-sugar My Favorite !!!!!!

http://embracethis.co.uk/ Wear your Seat Belt

Is anyone up for a Fandango Field Trip to the Julian Museum? I fell in love with the place this summer. Wonderful trip down the history of fashion.

Remember to watch Project Runway. It’s on Thursday nights on the Lifetime Channel. On Cox this is Channel 38. You get to see how to work together….right or wrong……

Make Money with your Skills.

The Final Week of Summer School

Dear A-Team:

It seams like yesterday, the semester was starting. And now it is drawing to a close. This coming week will be our final week, till September 7th, 2010 when the fall semester begins. I will be emailing you, the syllabi when I write them. Other than that, I will be home writing curricula and various handouts. If you need some help on a project, call or email. I would be honored to help.

I want to personally thank everyone who gave me the name of their favorite lip balm. I FINALLY figured out what was killing my lips. It was Arm and Hammer Toothpaste. I went back to Crest and my lips became normal again. Don’t buy Blistex medicated lip ointment. The stuff goes on white !!!!! My favorite from everyone I bought was Bert’s Bees. Incredible stuff AND it comes in staining colors. Best stuff and easy to find !!!! Some of the others, I had to hunt down. Benefit from Sophia worked well. BUT….I went to UTC to find it. Thank you all !!!! for telling me about your favorites !!!

The Courses:

Computer Patternmaking: Last week, we learned how to add seam allowances the easy way with “Off Set.” We learned how to “Group” so that your name, seam allowance and pattern piece can be moved together. We learned how to add collars, or measure armholes by using the button: “set, measure, distance.” I showed you how to add notes to your pattern. I tried to plot on Thursday night. If it wasn’t for Noel and Mark-Allen, nothing would have gotten done. THANK YOU, GENTLEMEN !!!!!

Notes to all those who sent me patterns to plot while I was teaching my other courses. If the pattern was complete, I printed it. If the pattern was NOT complete, I did NOT print it. I did NOT have the time to go back and complete your patterns for you. Also, there was a person who wanted to print too much. I only printed one. So, when you come to class on Monday, you can look through the patterns I printed. I will go over with you, why I did or did not print your patterns. You can cut them out and we can fit them. I need to go over your grading sheets. Some of you do not know that you are missing a few things. I would like to give everyone a certificate for this course. I made you all fill out an intake form. I can only do that if you complete the requirements.

This Wednesday, we will have class evaluations, and SLO goal sheets to do. I will also have the top fashion origami (the top 4 that you picked.) for you to try. Remember to bring colored paper and a paper scissor!!!!!! All I have is white paper !!!!!! I found a GREAT FABRIC origami site in my latest national ASG Newsletter. Check this out: http://www.fabricorigami.com/ We all need to thank Eiko for her insight into Dior’s 2007 origami collection that was designed by John Galliano: http://www.style.com/fashionshows/complete/S2007CTR-CDIOR. This collection is awe inspiring !!!!

Learn to Sew: You have chosen to just sew and receive help for last week and the final week of the summer semester. If the class changes its mind, we can still do fashion origami the final day of class. Yes, you will need to fill out class evaluations, and SLO goal sheets. I need to go over your grading sheets. Some of you do not know that you are missing a few things. For those of you, who filled out the intake forms (due last week), if you have completed the requirements, you will get a certificate. I need pictures of your completed outfits on your fit models. A few of you, who filled out the intake forms, need to send me pictures. I will accept pictures through Thursday, July 22, 2010.

I have the latest Sew News magazine to bring to class. The magazine has articles on sewing knits, vintage sewing, seams, pattern adjustments, tailoring and blog surfing. Here are the blogs. I have not fully checked them all out, yet, but I thought the sites were very educational (Even the one with the picture of the pussy cats on it.):

http://www.adventuresindressmaking.blogspot.com/

http://www.angrychicken.typepad.com/

http://www.annamariahorner.blogspot.com/

http://www.heatherbailey.typepad.com/

http://www.off-the-cuff-style.blogspot.com/

www.sewmamasew.com/blog2 Gladys also told me about this site. Thank you Gladys!!!!

www.theninaline.com/blog

http://www.thesewingdivas.wordpress.com/

www.threadbanger.com/blog

http://www.whipup.net/

SAD Industry news but this could be a gold mine for someone starting a business !!!!!!:

Thank you for sending this in, Jayne!!!: There is a sewing contractor in Point Loma going out of business! They are selling EVERYTHING! machines, clothes, fabric...EVERYTHING in the warehouse. Cutting tables, assortment of industrial sewing machines, 70 total. Needles, and so on! Some of the clothes produced there are Priana, International Male and others. There are bolts of fabric, and I don't mean the bolts like at Joane's. These are industrial! They have been in business 30 years. At one time there were 70 employees. They are located at:

Kimberly Enterprises, Sewing Contractor
3486 Kurtz Street
Suite 103
San Diego 92110
The phone #: 619-543-1030
Calvin Lee is the General Manager.

The name of the business is: Kimberly Enterprises, Sewing Contractor. They are over behind Kolby Swap Meet. I forgot to mention the clothing was a very low price!!! Buy one, get one free. And the prices are discounted. I'm sure even lower now! They are ONLY there to Aug. 18th!

http://www.threadsmagazine.com/item/14823/create-a-detachable-flower-embellishment Very cool detachable flowers.

http://campaign.constantcontact.com/render?v=001OlZyvMDk6bjG9m_EZyegx_q6unMbA7GVehDj6bv8Hkj8Fui0QBa7AXh96bdCJMS2ltFQYOqUwed0-gqmtOQ4jKdV-anCY77BKNB-gLKRaX4%3D This is called the Quilt Woman. The tea cozies are incredible. Check out Jeremiah's Belly Warming Tea Cozy Pattern BTH-017!!!!

http://ebm.e.taunton.com/c/tag/hBMInZQBs5O-JB8MOlTAuxTDd.Bs5O-J$G/doc.html?RAF_TRACK=&email=mckenna@gothere.com&password=Bs5O-JAuxTDdBMInZQF-GMPWX-YBv6&FNAME=JOAN Craftstylish. Always Good Info.

See you all this week with bells on my toes !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Make Money with your Skills !