My very first machine when I was 12 was a white one--about the last year that they were produced. I loved it and made all my clothes on it until mid college years when I made enough money to buy a standard zig-zag machine. I have had 3 since then in the past 15 years, my grandmother's white one which I bought her and 2 from ebay. A white one and a black one. Now I use an Elna grasshopper which is far superior to the featherweight but most people are too enamored with the featherweight being the "perfect" little machine to even give the Elna a look. It has more room under the arm both horizontally and vertically than a featherweight and is about the same weight and size in the case.