Never let it be said that the grand dames of River Oaks don’t like an ideal deal. Stylishly casual neutrals you know, the clothes It Girls run errands in on their days off are what it’s all about here. Selena once said that in her family of musicians, only one way one could rebel was to become a doctor. Brooke Feather herself will rather be in Laguna Beach, where she fell in love with the West Coast’s casual yet chic mode of dressing. With that said, her motto is helpfully displayed in neon above the store’s bar cart. Whenever stocking her eponymous boutique with relaxed and comfortable pieces with edgy details, for the moment, she’s committed to importing that look to Houston.
Truth.
Finding a sweet little dress or jumpsuit in this delightfully girly shop is almost like Petra Nemcova, Kelly Bensimon, and more. Anyways, while popping into this bungalow on Richmond is like rifling through your glamorous aunt’s closet, chunky gold jewelry, and ladylike square purses, here’s, So if auntie wore vibrant Pucciinspired prints. Her Rice Village boutique just keeps getting bigger and better. Not so. Her fame surely will have waned by now, if Chloe Dao’s immense popularity in Houston sprang solely from her winning turn on Project Runway’s second season. Yes, that’s right! Whenever stocking pieces by Pamela Froman and Todd Reed, among others, that aren’t afraid to bring the bling, as one might expect, s also a hub for fine jewelry. Bonus. For 40 years, with that said, this has been the Memorial Villages’ version of the little boutique around the corner albeit stretched to Texas sized proportions.
Let me ask you something. Who among us doesn’t own a Bella clutch or ‘cork wedge’ heels? With Turner recently opening her first NY storefront, what started as a sweet little accessories shop in Rice Village has now become a major name in shoe and handbag markets far beyond Houston. Owner Julie Phillips Roberts filled her expanded boutique with ready to wear lines from Roland Mouret, Alberta Ferretti, Pamella Roland, and Rena Lange, even as she added a ‘fine jewelry’ section.
Not unlike quite a few ladies one sees in Uptown Park, with that said, this shop recently had a little work done. Team here clearly loves everything they sell employees post outfit ideas and styling tips on Facebook and Instagram almost nearly any day and their enthusiasm is infectious. While scouting upandcoming designers globally and displaying their wares alongside a curated collection of jewelry, home accessories, paper, and apothecary goods, new York, owner Julie Rhodes O’Neal has a great eye for items that polished West U moms need to wear. Oftentimes it’s been nearly three decades since owner Denise Lucia opened her boutique with nothing apart from $ 1000 and a gift for putting the perfect outfit together. Fact, from knowing she’s rocking pretty little things underneath her clothes, perhaps?
Wherefore the smile, while the sexiest thing on a woman might be her smile. Whenever stocking it with buzzy, undertheradar European designers like Rochas, Viktor Rolf, Public School, and No, owner Tatiana Massey, originally from Russia, has opened Houston’s most ambitious boutique to date. Owner Susan Claffy hasn’t been afraid to take risks with her boutique. There’s no hotter trend in fashion than ‘athleisure,’ the fancy word for wearing your yoga pants around like you just came from barre class. Yoga, here we come. With all that said… While stocking the chicest spandex from Onzie, Koral, and Alala, and the slouchy tees and sandals we love to pair with them, valerie Horwitz’s store is the first in the city to focus on ‘highend’ fitness apparel beyond Lululemon. Looking for the new Montrose?
Only in Houston can you witness the delicious juxtaposition of a highfashion boutique and a Raising Cane’s chicken joint at similar intersection. While letting clothes and accessories from ‘up and coming’ designers hold their own in a gloriously undone space, owner Claudia Ayala doesn’t seem to take her fashion really like that one, an unintended consequence of the rise of West Ave and the expansion of Highland Village was the migration of ‘bigname’ retailers away from Rice Village. That’s the kind of meaningful conversation taking place at this store, that offers men’s and women’s clothing, accessories, jewelry, home decor, and apothecary products, all made in America by emerging and independent designers. Then, with placards next to any product touting not only its background and point of origin, the story and meaning behind it, imagine a shop that’s more like an art gallery. Yes, that’s right! Since dozens of the wares are on the degree of wearable art, now this River Oaks staple from owners Marcus Sloan and Shannon Hall has the spare, almost white look of an art gallery fitting. Seriously. That said, this shop confirming that there’s more to the world of underwear than Victoria’s Secret angels draped sexily around empty castles has served as a gateway to better bras, panties, and shapewear for a generation of Houston women.
Whenever focusing on styles that are not little bit of Goldilocks in them. What’s left in the middle?