Garments

WESTMINSTER - After changing hands several times and producing clothing for 44 years, Westminster Knit Corp. will close permanently on Feb. 12.Eighty-four employees, who may be eligible for job retraining funds with the Trade Readjustment Act, will be laid off when the plant closes its doors.To receive money through the act, the company's union -- the International Ladies' Garment Workers Union -- must prove to the U.S.Department of Labor that the jobs were lost because of foreign competition.

NEW YORK -- Mark Goldsmith does not create males and females in his own image -- he uses models -- but create them he does, starting from a lump of clay. His creations are shaped far from Eden, in a Long Island City factory. They go forth naked into the world, some to be clothed by Donna Karan or Thierry Mugler, some to wear more humble garments. Goldsmith owns Goldsmith Mannequins, the company his grandfather founded about 70 years ago. "The sign outside says 1938, but that's when the corporation was formed," Goldsmith says.

Violinist Ellen Pendleton Troyer has struggled for years with the constraints of wearing evening attire for physical, sometimes-strenuous performances. And she considers herself luckier than her male counterparts, who have a stricter dress code of bow ties and evening jackets adorned with tails. "Our issues with the dress stem from a functionality standpoint," said Troyer, who plays first violin with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. "What we do is quite physical. There is a lot of sweating under the hot lights.

BY THE TIME I arrived at the wreckage of what had been the Morton Schenk Co., the place resembled London after the bombing.News reports said a windstorm knocked down the east side of the building on Tuesday morning. The city condemned the west side, the place where 110 years ago H. L. Mencken's father and uncle manufactured cigars.It was a sad sight -- and not only because a city treasure lay in ruins.I'd been coming to this tailors' supply store since the 1950s, when my grandmother and her sister would have me in tow on the days they called at 410 W. Baltimore St. We'd stay for what seemed like hours, although it was probably 20 minutes.

Tina Marie Zochok, a former garment worker, died of a heart attack Thursday at her Southwest Baltimore home. She was 39. Born in Baltimore and raised in the Pigtown neighborhood, she attended Southern High School. She worked at Schroeder & Sons in West Baltimore, making men's neckties and dollhouse rugs until leaving about nine years ago on a medical disability. Miss Zochok enjoyed keeping a daily journal and spending time with her family. Services are private. Miss Zochok is survived by a daughter, Shannon Bittner, and her mother, Barbara Lawhorn, both of Baltimore; three sisters, Helen Reightler and Freda Zochok, both of Baltimore, and Barbara Lawhorn of Arbutus; her maternal grandmother, Freda Thomas of Damascus; and many nieces and nephews.

Lillian E. Wright, a retired garment worker who held an office in her union, died of congestive heart failure Feb. 5 at the Genesis Healthcare Loch Raven Center. The Randallstown resident was 83. Lillian Elizabeth Harris was born in Baltimore and raised on East Eager Street. She attended Dunbar High School and later earned her GED diploma. In 1975, she received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Antioch College. For many years she worked the London Fog raincoat factory in Woodberry and was an member of the Amalgamated Clothing Workers Union, where she served a term as local president.

To understand what's new for back-to-school wear, you need only take a look at what trendy adults are wearing on weekends.This fall, 4-year-old girls, their 14-year-old sisters and even their mothers will be pulling on leggings and minis and slipping into oversized jackets.For men and boys of all ages, the basic uniform remains a pair of loose-fitting pants, a one-pocket T-shirt and bomber-style jacket.A vivid rainbow of colors usually associated with spring and summer is brightening up every category, and plaid madness has touched them all.While the overlap between the children's market and adult wear is increasing, certain distinctions remain, especially among the young set.Take, color.

Anna K. "Honey" Glebas, a retired Baltimore garment worker, died Tuesday of multiple organ failure at Stella Maris Hospice. She was 94. Anna Eva Kleinota, the daughter of immigrant tailors from Lithuania, was born in Baltimore and raised on South Paca Street. She was a graduate of Southern High School and had worked for more than 40 years as a seamstress for Stetson Dee and the Haas Tailoring Co. before retiring in 1973. She married Charles Glebas, a tailor, in 1934, and for many years the couple lived on Bateman Avenue in Windsor Hills.

"Project Runway" Season 11 began last night, and first of all, I'd like to say the return of Heidi Klum is such a relief after an entire season of watching Angela Lindvall, who has all the charisma of hand sanitizer. I've grown to enjoy Joanna Coles, but she is no Tim Gunn. So, welcome back to the normal "Project Runway. "   The season begins with Heidi and Tim announcing that this season will be "Project Runway: Teams. " I guess I spoke too soon when I said welcome back to normal "Project Runway," guess we needed a gimmick.