January » 2012 » Markets of New York

Recycle Your Closet Party With Grace Napoleon

I’ll never forget the first time I met Grace Napoleon at the Brooklyn Flea in the summer of 2009 under the Brooklyn Bridge. Her tent was swarmed with hip, cool women of all ages trying on her dresses, skirts and tops. Each garment was unique and made by hand from other pieces of clothing. They were flying off the racks then, just as they do today!

Grace is the founder of Folk Couture, the art of making clothes out of vintage and previously owned clothes. Since Grace first, well, graced the Brooklyn Flea, her Folk Couture has garnered a cult-like following. Her clothes themselves are perfectly wonderful, whimsical and often wild. Her use of existing clothing as virgin fabrics makes her work eco-friendly. She has an eye for color and pattern combinations; pieces I would never think of putting together become a vibrant new dress that turns heads on New York City streets.

The term “Folk Couture” is perfect for Grace’s creations, which are handcrafted designs, one-of-a-kind, and stylish. (Check out these images of her collection.) Purchase a piece of Folk Couture and rest assured that nobody else in the world will ever have the same one.

And now Grace will teach you her secrets! She has started giving Recycle Your Closet Parties. We all have beloved sweaters or dresses we can’t bear to part with, even though we know we’ll never wear them again. Now you can invite five or more of your best friends to bring their favorite no-longer-used clothing. Grace will help everyone turn their pieces into something brand new that they will wear and love. She brings the buttons, threads, ribbons, trimmings, scissors, pins, and more, and she will help each person create and stitch a new garment. She has an amazing talent for determining what will look good on someone, and she’ll sit on the floor, cut up the pieces with you, and help you sew them together – every step of the way.

The fee is $50 per person — barely the cost of a random sweater at Macy’s or The Gap. Your friends will go home with new, exciting pieces of clothing they made with their own hands — and a little more space in their closets!

If you’d like to host a Recycle Your Closet Party, simply send Grace an email for details!

Grace sets up shop most weekends at the Brooklyn Flea, and sometimes at the SOWA Open Market in Boston too. Follow Folk Couture on Facebook for inspiration and for updates on where she’ll be showing her creations next!

(Photos provided by Grace Napoleon)

Four Beautiful Words: Crispy Purple Potato Chips

I’ve had a bad cold for the last three weeks, drifting in and out of mild misery. But I’m feeling better every day now, thanks for asking.

Saturday I was feeling particularly low energy as I was walking through Union Square. The Greenmarkets always make me feel better, and so I was strolling along amongst the tents, despite the brisk cold, on my way to the 6 train. And then something bright purple caught my eye. (It has happened before – purple food makes me happy.)

The bright purple this time turned out to be a sample bowl of beautiful and delicious potato chips from Mountain Sweet Berry Farm. The Andean Mix includes the true purple chips made from purple Peruvian potato, mixed with rich yellow chips made from ruby crescent potatoes. This farm has three other flavors of chips made from other potatoes. The Crunchy Indian chips are made from Ozette Indian potatoes. The other two varieties are Brown Butter and Pure Pleasure.

UPDATE: The chips are fried in rice bran oil, which has a mild taste and is good for high heat frying. According to Dr. Andrew Weil, MD., it has additional health benefits as well.

Potato chips are one of my very favorite foods in the whole world. But I’m a purist. No ranch, no BBQ, no salt and vinegar. I like simple potatoes and salt. Each chip from Mountain Sweet Berry Farm has a pure potato taste and yet a wonderfully distinct flavor. The purple ones were my favorite because a) they’re purple, b) they taste rich and wonderful, and c) my mom is from the Andes mountains, and so I feel a personal connection to them. That said, they are all mouthwateringly delicious.

Mountain Sweet Berry Farm comes to the Union Square Greenmarket Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. Go try them for yourself and let me know which one you like best! And check out this wonderful video featuring Rick Bishop of Mountain Sweet Berry Farm on Serious Eats.

Revving up for 2012 Plus Market Picks For A Cold Wet Weekend!!

Pantera Azul - Not Your Average Mouse Pad

Hi Everyone!

It was an incredible holiday season at the markets! There were almost 50 market events throughout the city, and they were all filled with festive shoppers. I took a little hiatus to rest a bit, catch up on business, and write a couple of book proposals (more on that coming soon). The photo is my co-author Pantera Azul. Not your usual mouse pad, but much warmer and fuzzier.

I want to thank every single person who bought their holiday gifts in the markets. You have supported local artisan entrepreneurs and helped make sure that the creative community that is so important to the culture of New York City can continue to thrive for another year. And I’d be prepared to wager that your gifts were the best ones under the tree this year! Mine always are.

And I want to thank all the markets and market sellers who make my weekends so incredibly fun and inspiring! I’ve been visiting markets almost every weekend for the last three years, and I still find things that blow me away all the time. I can’t wait to see what 2012 has in store for this blogger!

This weekend there are several great market events going on:

Indoors: