Your source for tips, stories, and interviews about the worlds of Texas fashion, interior design, architecture, and more.
Shudde, a fourth-generation hatter, was born and raised in Houston. He runs Shudde Bros. Hatters, near Brookshire, which has been making hats since 1907.To be a good hatter, you have to listen to the customer. Be patient and let him or her tell you what they need to tell you.
Ken Downing on updating your closet.
A tour of our greatest architectural master-pieces—from the Alamo to the World Birding Center—shows how the collision of the Old World and the New forged a unique style on the Texas frontier.
Kate Hersch and Lance Avery Morgan, the principals behind August Morgan, know how to throw a great party. Just mix champagne with friends and toss in some vintage needlepoint pillows.
When I want to know what’s new, what’s out, what’s it, I visit my five favorite blogs.
How a teenager from Trophy Club became an “It Girl.”
His LFT is a BFD—those f’s are for “fashion”—and therefore he is too. Following a hugely successful maiden foray into upscale retail with Octane and Premium93, both going strong as storefronts in the West Village neighborhood of Dallas, Varona opened Lifestyle Fashion Terminal last March at Victory Park, northwest of
The population of Texas is rapidly expanding—from just under 24 million today to perhaps 50 million in 2040, according to the state demographer—and someone has to put out the welcome mat for all our neighbors-to-be. It may very well be the founder and chairman of D.R. Horton, one of the
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,
Give yourself the slip.
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. But technology and ambition over the years have led to a more sophisticated couture:
The Austin Museum of Art tries to right itself, again.
This year’s model.
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
How three Dallas area developers are beating back the threat of soulless sprawl by restoring a sense of community.
Ann Richards ads it up.
These twelve Texas artisans herald the victory of man over machine, carefully crafting wood, metal, or stone into items for your home and hearth that are tomorrow’s heirlooms today.
Things get woolly for the state’s mohair producers.
The ceramic designs created by these four Texas studios will look great in your kitchen or bathroom—and except for their shape, there’s nothing square about them.
Has the best-known Latina writer of our day painted herself into a corner?
Master builders.
Accessories for sexual adventurers, columns for your Craftsman bungalow, tasteful tables made from old manhole covers: You can find it all on this reborn Houston strip.
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,
Growing up in Chihuahua, Mexico, Victor Alfaro based his sartorial education on all the American fashion magazines; today the 33-year-old creative director of the New York clothier TSE Cashmere is so busy designing his own line of chic clothes and accessories that he barely has time to read. After a
Why hire an architect, an interior designer, a graphic designer, and an image consultant when one person can do the whole job? That’s the idea 29-year-old Trinh Pham has been building on since she earned an architecture degree from the University of Houston in 1991. Her first big job had
In the sixteenth century, potters emigrated from Talavera de la Reina in Spain to the new colonial settlement of Puebla in Mexico and began crafting their majolica- inspired earthenware, known as Talavera. Although some factories in Puebla still produce high-quality pottery in the old style, most of the vibrantly decorated
We’ve found thirty shops just across the Rio Grande where you can buy everything from hand-carved furniture to whimsical walking sticks. The quality is high, the prices are right, and you don't have to pay in pesos.
Carolyn Farb wrote the book on charity fundraising, so when she calls, the stars come out to play, and Houston�s high society has a ball.
In an era of AIDS and family values, who’s crazy enough to have a tattoo? Some twenty million Americans, including sports stars, Academy award winners, the CEO of Nike, a Republican Secretary of State—and me.
Fashionably affordable.
There haven’t been many successful sister acts in the world of modeling, but don’t tell that to the Parkses. Farm girls who grew up near Arlington in the tiny community of Webb, 20-year-old Wende, 22-year-old Becky, 23-year-old Kelly, and 26-year-old Kimberly piled into the front seat of a pickup truck
Bob Ragan’s nationally renowned, intricately detailed stone carvings have a distinctly European look. Is it any wonder he lives in a place called Florence?
“I always liked Western buckles,” says Robert Brandes, “and then one day it dawned on me to ask, ‘Hey—who makes these things?’” The Austin collector-investor set out to learn more about the silversmiths and engravers who made their mark on cowboy adornment in the form of weighty, elaborately decorated rodeo-style
The rodeo belt buckle is prized by cowboys and collectors alike. By the look of these handcrafted samples, it’s easy to see why.
The contrversial color of ASan Antonio’s new public library is only the latest indication that architect Ricardo Legorreta isn’t afraid to buck convention.
The boy wonder of style.
Only sixteen, and very much in Vogue,
Turning denim into dollars for AIDS.
Building a better Fort Worth.
A look back at San Antonio Fiesta gowns reveals how the dresses have gone from elegant to excessive.
The secret to a well-appointed Texas Christmas.
All around the state, shoppers angle for the perfect catch.
Bare and spare, J. Crew’s newest retail outlet pays homage to refined minimalism.
Fashion designers are betting the ranch on new Western shirts with styles inspired by Hollywood, not history.
A Dallas stylist’s patrons enjoy hair-raising experiences.
“Still ahead of its time, even after twenty years,” says architect Doug Michels about Ant Farm’s futuristic House of the Century, designed and built in 1972. The colony of anti-establishment architects (of whom Michels was one) christened themselves Ant Farm in honor of the toy ant colonies popular in the
Long forgotten, Western artist Till Goodan’s bucking broncs and stalwart cowboys are bringing big money and sparking a revival.
Troubles disappear when they’re seen in the proper light.
In Texas, the cowboy boot still makes the man.
Piety or passion: The trials of James Avery, craftsman.
