Elizabeth Scokin is all about covering it up — but stylishly, of course. The Arkansas native, Tennessee-based founder and designer of Haute Hostess Aprons, a glam line of aprons, is bringing her rodeo collection to Houston’s luxury gift shop, Events Gifts.
Houstonians who have a knack for entertaining and serving in style can shop the rodeo capsule collection Wednesday, March 11 from 4 - 7 pm and Thursday, March 12 from 10 am - 6 pm at 2439 Westheimer Rd.
Haute Hostess Aprons are custom-curated collections and have been seen on the likes of Oprah, Martha Stewart, Beyoncé, and Sandra Lee, who requested a custom apron that she wore on a Thanksgiving episode of her Food Network show, Semi-Homemade Cooking with Sandra Lee. The aprons are also a favorite of Houston’s society set.
Scokin is also bringing her spring 2020 collection, select styles from the collegiate collection, and a few styles from her Fiesta collection, just in time for Fiesta in San Antonio, TX which runs Thursday, April 16 to Sunday, April 26.
Named after two characters from the 1956 western drama film, Giant, Scokin turned to Leslie Lynnton, played by Elizabeth Taylor, and Rock Hudson’s sister, Luz, played by Mercedes McCambridge, for inspiration.
The Luz is a double ruffle waist apron with black boucle and red tooled stitching, lined in black satin ($400) while Leslie is a double ruffle apron featuring shimmering rattlesnake print sequins flecked in gold and lined in chocolate satin ($500).
Scokin’s rodeo capsule collection celebrates the Champagne Cowgirls, a buying group for the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo’s Junior Market Steer Auction, and includes six limited-edition aprons.
Haute Hostess launched in 2008 after the former couture model noticed aprons were “haute” again but says they weren’t anything she would want to wear to answer the door.
“If I got caught — my hair looks great, makeup is on, and I was in the kitchen stirring the pot one last time or fluffing flowers at the table and I didn’t have my dress on yet, would I want to wear a cotton apron to answer the door, no, I would not, because I’m a glam girl,” Scokin says.
The wife and mother of four who is known for chairing charity balls, hostessing fabulous dinner parties, and entertaining, says she would want to wear something that looked like a cocktail dress rather than a dingy cotton apron.
Inspired by her grandmother’s Christmas apron, one that was worn while she entertained, Scokin notes, the Mary Alice, a red waist apron featuring gold rickrack and gold-toned bells, is a part of the Give Me Sugar collection.
“Every Christmas, when the family would go over to her house to celebrate, that’s what she appeared in,” Scokin recalls. “It was in the ’60s, so think Jackie Kennedy. [My grandmother] wore a sheath dress, crocodile heels, a triple strand of pearls around her neck, diamond earrings, and a blonde bouffant.”
Each Haute Hostess Apron features a Scarlett O’Hara cinch to accentuate a woman’s figure. Scokin says she purposely created them that way because most aprons are chef-style and make a woman look frumpy.
“They really look like party frocks,” Scokin says.
The aprons are all handcrafted in Nashville, Tennessee in small quantities which Scokin says allows for quality control. She also notes that she designs for girls and men as well but during the holiday season, the women’s aprons sell better because men buy them for their wives and girlfriends.
“They find them sexy,” she says.
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Shop Haute Hostess Aprons at Events Gifts, located at 2439 Westheimer Rd., Wednesday, March 11 from 4 - 7 pm and Thursday, March 12 from 10 am - 6 pm.
Serve in style in the Mary Alice waist apron.
The new FIGS store will offer a Color Clinic and Customization Station to let shoppers personalize their FIGS uniforms. Photo courtesy of FIGS/Instagram