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    Shelby's Social Diary

    What oil bust? $14,000 alligator boots have Houston partygoers swooning at classy new boutique's opening

    Shelby Hodge
    shelby hodge
    Feb 11, 2015 | 1:54 pm

    Packed to its 100-year-old rafters, the new Lucchese store in Highland Village rocked and rolled earlier this week with a grand opening party that played host to a mixed, yet glam, bag of bold-faced types. Leading the trail were Lucchese owners Lyn and John Muse, who flew in from Dallas for the fete.

    It was Lyn Muse who was responsible for those 100-year-old rafters, culled from aging farmhouses across the country. Along with Dallas-based Droese Raney Architecture, she orchestrated the trés chic western design that had many guests swooning. This is Lucchese's fourth free-standing store with others in Nashville, Santa Fe, N.M., and San Antonio, where the revered luxury bootmaker was established in the late 1800s.

    "This is really how we want our product and brand presented to the consumer and the only way you can do that is to have your own store."

    "This is really how we want our product and brand presented to the consumer and the only way you can do that is to have your own store," said John Muse. "The shop represents the highest part of the brand with our Classics collection."

    While Muse noted that the price on boots in the store ranges from $500 to $5,000, we did eye a magnificent pair of American alligator center cut boots, The Baron, custom-made and priced at close to $14,000.

    Shortly after spotting those beauties, we ran into Robert Sakowitz, wearing a pair of vintage center cut American alligator boots. They were custom-made for him by Sam Lucchese back when Sakowitz was Houston's premiere department store and carried the venerable brand. "I love their boots. I still buy a bunch of them," he said.

    Next, we ran into interior designer and author Bill Stubbs, who acknowledged loving the store even though he was wearing Gucci loafers.

    The VIP party crowd included Lucchese investor and MLB Hall of Famer Goose Gossage, country music legend Neal McCoy, World Champion bull rider Tuff Hedeman, Lucchese president Doug Kindy and wife Sally, former Houston Oiler Dan Pastorini,Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo executive committee members including Ed McMahon and Dallas-based Charles Ward, luxury marketing and communications whiz. Ward handles marketing for the Santa Barbara Polo team of which John Muse is president.

    Among those admiring the fine leathers were Laurann Claridge and William Zeitz, Margaret Justice, David Droese, Lance Raney, Maggi Jones, Carolyn Farb, Bob Boudreaux, Stephen Newman, Taylor Byrne-Dodge, Erin Kronberg and Catherine Brooks.

    Belts and accessories.

    12 1647 Belts and accessories at the Lucchese Grand Opening February 2015
      
    Photo by © Kimberly Park
    Belts and accessories.
    unspecified
    news/society

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    Springtime Splendor

    Fashion, fun, and funds soar at Houston's $1 million+ Bayou Bend weekend

    Joel Luks
    May 9, 2025 | 9:30 am
    MFAH Bayou Bend Weekend 2025
    Photo by Wilson Parish
    Connor Huff, Alanna Flores, Jim and Cherie Flores, and Caldwell Flores.

    Houston's stylish convened for a three-day cultural escape as the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston hosted the 2025 Bayou Bend Weekend from March 28 to March 30. With its lush gardens and historic charm, Bayou Bend Collection and Gardens set the stage for a memorable weekend of fashion, family fun, and twilight revelry.

    MFAH Bayou Bend Weekend 2025
      

    Photo by Wilson Parish

    Connor Huff, Alanna Flores, Jim and Cherie Flores, and Caldwell Flores.

    The festivities launched Friday afternoon with the eighth Bayou Bend Fashion Show and Luncheon, chaired by Gillian Sarofim. Beneath a sweeping garden tent dressed in olive greens and coral-pink blooms by The Events Company, 200 guests feasted on a City Kitchen-catered menu.

    The real treat? Texas-born designer Lela Rose wowed the crowd with 37 radiant looks, her Neiman Marcus-presented runway show earning nods from oohing fashionistas and seasoned museum patrons alike.

    Saturday's scene shifted into full whimsy for the annual Children's Party, where more than 250 guests wandered into The Secret Garden, a wonderland imagined by chairs Carrie Compton and Jill Wright. Activities like Mary's Magic Bubbles, Face Paint Petals, and The Enchanted Workshop turned the day into a colorful dreamscape for little ones and their grown-up companions.

    Sunday evening’s record-breaking Bayou Bend Garden Party was partly thanks to Lugano’s support as principal underwriter, ushering 325 guests to mingle at twilight under a tent blooming in lavender and spring green hues. Cocktail hour was extra nostalgic as guests sipped Fish House Punch, a concoction dear to Ima Hogg herself, its 293-year-old recipe charmingly printed on custom napkins. Jazz Revisited set a mellow groove before Manhattan amped up the night for dancing under the stars.

    Thanks to generous support, the weekend soared past expectations, raising more than $1,275,000 for Bayou Bend's operating budget.

    Among those spotted in the chic garden crowd—and it’s quite a list—were Irma Castor, Ashlee Schneider, Ann Bookout, Lilly and Thurmon Andress, Kathy Leigh, Kari Dagley, Tiffany McCauley, Susanne and Bill Pritchard, Clayton Erikson, Polly and Murry Bowden, Denise Monteleone, Meredith and Mason Barker, Alanna Flores, Morgan Allen Neal, Kendall Allen Strait, Logan Dresser, Lisa Dodd, Lilly Cullen, Anne Chao, Carolyn Sabat, Rose Cullen, Anne Duncan, Shelli and Steve Lindley, Nancy and Butch Abendshein, Frances Lummis, Eleanor Lummis, Tye Leon, Betsy Goodman, Lauren Gray, Lauren Reckling, Randa McConn, Christiana Reckling, Barbara Gamson, Sima Ladjevardian, Cherie Lindley, Whitney and Jim Crane, Phoebe Tudor, Liz McIngvale-Mackey, Moti Ferder, Josh Gaynor, Stuart Winston, Leslie Duncan, Nancy and Rich Kinder, Will Mathis, Cherie and Jim Flores, Lynne and Joe Hudson, Franci Neely, Karl and Ann Stern, Lisa and Downing Mears, Kate and Steve Gibson, Diane and David Modesett, Kelly and Bill Montgomery, Laura and Keefer Lehner, Janie and Daniel Zilkha, Cynthia and Tony Petrello, Sara Dodd-Denton and Will Denton, Isabel and Ransom Lummis, and Aliyya and Herman Stude.

    museum of fine arts houstonbayou bendfundraisers
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