DAY TRIP TO THE GARMENT DISTRICT

The girlfriend's a budding fashion designer and needed to hit LA's Garment District for some fabric. It was Saturday. The sun was up. I had shit to do, but nothing too pressing, so I said fuck it and hopped in the car. Plus, she promised we could hit what turned out to be an absolutely killer vegan restaurant named VegiSoul on the way home.

Here are some pics.



Random shot of some stores.



Intersection of 12th and San Pedro. Not quite a hotbed of activity. That's around the corner.


Part of the reason I wanted to take this trip was my love for old buildings. Downtown's got plenty of them. Here's one. I'd tell you what it is, but I don't know.


There is no great story behind this one except I was stopped at a red light and wanted to kill time. This is the result.


The final 100 yards before a swarm of people would make traffic nearly impossible.


A camera with a wider lens would show how there are garments on the sidewalk for as far as the eye can see. Of course, I wear glasses, so maybe that's just me. Anyway, there are lots. Here are some.


Pedestrians crossing on a green? What pedestrians crossing on a green?


Our destination was Michael Levine. There are two Michael Levine stores. This shot is of the one we didn't go to. Don't ask the difference; I'm just the boyfriend. If you're into fabric, it's like heaven. If you're not at all interested in that sort of thing, prepare to be more bored than you've ever been. Wait, I take that back. There are some Grade A women to people watch. Other than that, you'll be bored.


You wouldn't know it from this picture, but I had to wait a long ass time before I could snap one without a sea of people in it.


I tried to get a shot without a car, but that's like aiming your camera up and not getting a glimpse of the sky.


Maybe where the showrooms are is where families like this hang out, but not in the section we were in. I walked around and smelled piss and watched as people who didn't speak English sold hamsters on the sidewalk.


This is the back of the Michael Levine we went to. One hour validated parking!


Not sure why I took this one. Probably boredom. Or a desire to look like a tourist when I'm from a 20-minute drive from this location.


More cool buildings. Maybe in another life I'll live in downtown LA. There's just something about the area that has me intrigued.


Yet another cool old building.


A crowd of people usually means something interesting is going on. I took this pic, then crossed the street to see what was going down. It was nothing.


Santee Alley, home of knock-offs, pick pockets and parents who don't care that their children are walking into your shins.


This is just a guess, but after dark, I bet a lot of shady shit goes on in this alley.


Our photo tour concludes with a final picture of a cool old building.


Other than sitting in traffic for 20 minutes to get to a freeway offramp that without traffic was about three minutes away, I enjoyed myself. People from around the world think of LA as blondes, the beach, movie stars and all that. Sure, that's here, but when I think of LA, crowded downtown streets filled with people and cars and the smell of roadside taco stands is what comes to mind.

PS All that imitation crap and not one Lakers shirt. What gives?