It doesn’t seem that long ago since our last trip to New York City, and I did two posts, here and here, but this time we did a few different things and I thought it might be worth a third post on this amazing city.

I really love all the little gardens that are dotted around the city. Some are tiny and some are much larger, but they are all interesting and sometimes quite exquisite.

With secret spaces for seating. These photos were taken in the Liz Christy Garden.

We had a rainy day which we thought would provide the perfect excuse to stay indoors at the Metropolitan Museum. Unfortunately lots of other people had the same idea. This is the queue!

However, once inside we had a lovely time. We visited the Met last time we were in NYC, but I think you could spend weeks here and still not see it all. Of course I had to visit the Fashion and Textile section, and these were some of my favourite clothes. Mostly because they are fairly wearable, and ultimately might inspire me a bit for my own makes.

I was very impressed with this closet belonging to Sara Berman, who lived alone in a small apartment in Greenwich Village. I have no idea who she is, but I loved her meticulously organised clothing, and all the shades of white. Apparently she only wore white, but no-one knows why.

We also visited the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian which had an exhibition on Native Fashion Now. Admission to this exhibition is free and can I say, it is great value for money!!

I didn’t quite know what to expect, but it wasn’t what I got: amazing Christian Louboutin boots, just look at them!

and some really stunning clothes

The building was also pretty spectacular

Whilst we were in the vicinity we checked out the Fierce Girl. I found it fascinating that the bull was surrounded by both men and women, but girls were the only people waiting their turn to be photographed with the Fierce Girl.

We then jumped on the Staten Island Ferry and thoroughly enjoyed the ride to and from the island. We didn’t stay on the island, we just did the round trip. This is free and the views are excellent, even on a dull day.

You can even see the Statue of Liberty. Did I mention that the trip is free?

Mark and I are modelling my holiday knitting – a scarf for him from muskox yarn (amazing stuff) and a head band for me from baby alpaca that I’ve decided looks like a bandage, but hey, it’s warm.

We went to the Museum at FIT, which is also free. NYC is full of great value activities. The exhibition is small but full of gorgeous things. This black and red dress was inspired by Alfred Hitchcock’s film “Birds”. Just stunning

and Stella McCartney has produced a range of clothing from sustainable viscose.

One of the things I love about New York is that it is full of interesting and quirky things, even walking down the street can prove absorbing. How is this for a group of well trained animals and birds? Yes, that’s a pigeon sitting on a cat, which has guinea pigs cuddled up to it.

and this drummer produced the most amazing music from this motley collection of kitchen castoffs.

We saw a documentary series called “Metropolis” and one of the programmes was on NYC. It had some really interesting facts in it, one of which was that Grand Central Station was saved from demolition by Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and that when they cleaned the building, they left a dirty brick to show the difference. Can you see it? Can you imagine how the inside of this building would have looked completely covered in the brown grime?

There is a plaque on the wall acknowledging her role in the preservation of not only this building, but several other important landmarks. There is a quote which I felt could apply to cities all over the world:

Is it not cruel to let our city die by degrees, stripped of all her proud monuments, until there will be nothing left of all her history and beauty to inspire our children? If they are not inspired by the past of our city, where will they find the strength to fight for her future? (Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis).

A bit of fabric shopping was undertaken at Mood

and I had a zip custom made at Botani Trimmings

I wish we had a shop like this in Perth!

I tended to move round the city with my mouth agape, taking a million photos of beautiful buildings. This one is pretty exceptional, with its salamander carvings. 

I had thought that this might be our last visit to NYC, but I suspect that I’ll be back in the not too distant future, so there may be a further post, if I can find anything of interest.