Wednesday, August 12, 2020

Masking the East Village


[La Sirena owner Dina Leor]

Text and photos by Stacie Joy

If you're in the market for a well-made, reusable, nonmedical face mask, then you're in luck. Several East Village shops and artists have a variety of homemade creations available for sale. Here's a look at some of them in honor of World Mask Week:



La Sirena Mexican folk art store, 27 E. Third St. between Second Avenue and the Bowery, is selling handmade masks by Mexican artists, including sugar skull masks designs from the Chiapas region and Lucha Libre wrestling-style masks. You can also shop online for them here.



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Kadette from Pretty Decorating & Upholstering Company sells her handmade masks at a table on Sixth Street between Avenue A and First Avenue. You may also email her at skaydette@yahoo.com or call 212.674.1310 to place an order.

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Jane’s Exchange, the secondhand and consignment shop for kids at 191 E. Third St. between Avenue A and Avenue B, has homemade kids’ masks by Frank New in stock.

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Spark Pretty at 333 E. Ninth St. between First Avenue and Second Avenues carries Laura Texter’s homemade masks, including a popular rainbow design and some colorful and pastel prints.



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Modeling a couple of his designs, East Village-based artist Scooter LaForge offers his decorative, painted custom and bespoke masks via Patricia Field.



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East Village-based costume designer Laura Texter can sometimes be found selling her homemade masks outside Tompkins Square Park or by contacting the artist directly for pickup on St. Mark’s Place.

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East Village Vintage Collective at 545 E. 12th St. between Avenue A and Avenue B features handmade masks by Frank New and Sara Ann Rutherford available in a range of sizes and patterns, including some NSFW...



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7 comments:

  1. hell yes! these are all so cool! i have several from pretty decorating; they are wonderful! she makes them in several sizes! sadly, i will definitely be needing more, so this is an excellent resource. thanks stacie joy and ev grieve!

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  2. Gracias Stacie Joy y EV Grieve for keeping it real during challenging times !
    For the fashionistas & all who want some style these are all WoW masks !!

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  3. I love my masks from La Sirena!!

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  4. Love La Sirena, Dina
    Love my Santos mask and a few Beautiful folk art pieces that I bought
    Thanks EV Grieve and Stacie Joy

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  5. Need sugar skull masks NOW.

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  6. Love this! Will definitely be on the lookout to buy some from these lovely business owners and artists

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