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Designer Judy Aldridge (mother of Jane, as in Sea of Shoes Jane) posts photos of new pieces from her revived clothing line Atlantis Dry Goods (formerly Atlantis Underground) and updates on what’s new.

His LFT is a BFD—those f’s are for “fashion”—and therefore he is too.

1. Your quest for inimitable footwear begins with the leather, so first give thought to your stomping grounds (cattle pen or cubicle?) and your image (rhinestone cowboy ?). Your basic, most traditional option is calfskin. Need extra-tough work boots? Elephant, shark, or bull offers durability. Dress boots? Go with lizard, stingray, ostrich, or crocodile. And then there’s kangaroo. “The cashmere of leathers,” says Nevena Christi, co-owner of El Paso’s Rocketbuster Boots. “Soft, sturdy—and expensive.”

THERE ARE TWO MAIN SCHOOLS OF thought when it comes to after-hours dressing (especially on the evening of February 14): archetypal tart or minimalist androgyne. Corsetry houses such as Victoria’s Secret, Frederick’s of Hollywood, and Agent Provocateur specialize in the former, with their feathers, sheers, and high-tech wonders, while Eyes Wide Shut’s Nicole Kidman was the poster girl for the latter, cavorting in only Hanro’s white cotton camisoles and briefs.

In 1932, when the Citrus Fiesta held its first PRODUCT COSTUME STYLE SHOW, Mission’s beauties slipped into outfits that were, shall we say, crude—just imagine the look, and smell, of models decked out in cabbage leaves.

“I USED TO THINK ABOUT A CAREER IN POLITICS,” says Lauren Bush, “but not recently.” That’s probably just as well, since—as the niece of two governors and the granddaughter of an ex-president—she’s seen her share of statehouses and swearing-in ceremonies. You might imagine that, coming from a family with a predisposition for success, the offspring of George W.’s brother Neil could do just about anything she set her mind to.

Elisa Jimenez didn’t start out as a fashion designer. The 34-year-old El Paso native, who is the daughter of sculptor Luis Jimenez, set out for New York City in the early nineties to pursue her interest in sculpture and performance art. In 1995, she says, “I wore a dress I had made to a party, and this woman liked it. I said, ‘I’m always trying to make money.

IT’S NEVER A SURPRISE to find old political hand Ann Richards in the middle of a campaign—but an ad campaign? In the August issue of Elle magazine, the former Texas governor can be seen in a new series of ads commissioned by Anne Klein to celebrate the first collection by designers Isaac Franco and Ken Kaufman.

DEEP ELLUM IS PFFFFFT—IT’S not the underground anymore,” a salesman in a Montrose vintage-clothing store says with a sneer, as if his locale were any different. Here in Houston the fabled Westheimer strip—the blocks of Westheimer Road east of Montrose Boulevard—is quiet, pretty much cleared of seventies-era chicken hawks and their prey, along with the once-ubiquitous Oriental modeling and massage studios.

For her history of Texas fashion (see “The Way We Wore”), senior editor Anne Dingus began with—who else?—Sam Houston. “He’s always a good place to start,” she says, “and he distinguished himself by being sartorially flamboyant.” Then, drawing on library research and her personal archive of vintage postcards, ads, magazines, and other ephemera, she built a time line. “It was pretty challenging to make sure I didn’t overlook any section of Texas history,” she says.