Hauling clothes in the Garment District in 1955

Around the time this 1955 photo was taken, the vast majority of clothes for sale in the United States was made in the states too.

Specifically, they were made in the square mile south of Midtown long known as the Garment District.

Today, only 5 percent of clothes are made in America. And while you still see factories and showrooms in the Garment District, the narrow, dark streets here compose a ghost town compared to what they were 60 years ago.

At least some faded ads continue to hold their own on former factory buildings.

[Photo: LOC/Al Ravenna]

Shooting James Dean all around New York City

In early 1955, after wrapping up his third and final movie in California, James Dean allowed photographer Dennis Stock to chronicle his return to his hometown in Indiana as well as his adopted city of New York.

East of Eden had yet to be released, and Rebel Without a Cause wouldn’t premiere until shortly after his death in September.

But Dean was a rising celeb, and in a story titled “Moody New Star,” Stock’s images appeared in the March 7, 1955 issue of Life magazine.

These photos of Dean looking introspective as he walks through Manhattan lmost 60 years ago are part of a more extensive collection available in the wonderful Life archives.

Here’s Dean brooding in Times Square and another part of what looks like Midtown, with an old-school barber pole in the frame.

The photos helped solidify his image as an outsider before the public really got to see his onscreen persona.

And then there’s this shot of him in his tiny studio apartment on the top floor of a brownstone on West 68th Street. It was Dean’s home in the early 1950s, when he was one of thousands of struggling young actors trying to make it in the city.

[Photos: Dennis Stock-Magnum/Life magazine]