Show Your Colors

Where to find the best game-day fashion in Houston

Go beyond the basic jersey.

Photo courtesy of Wrangler

When your favorite sport's season rolls around, you're likely ready to whip out the steel blue and battle red, the green and gold, the burnt orange, and more. But if you're still sporting T-shirts from the supermarket or gear from the college bookstore ... well, it's time to update your game-day wardrobe.

In the spirit of CultureMap's newest signature event, The Tailgate, we're celebrating a season of sports with insider intel on all the ways you can enjoy it. (P.S. Tickets are on sale now).

Consider this a style how-to for cheering on your favorite team. Some of these suggestions are local, some are happy to ship to Austin, but all place top priority on outfitting you properly for the big game.

Elizabeth Purpich
Coveting Loreal Sarkisian's sidelines style? It all starts with the iconic Longhorn bag from this Houston-based handbag designer, who even named a mini version of the purse after the UT football coach's wife.

Impeccable Pig
If you want to show your support without a literal logo, head online here or to the two Houston outposts for tons of clothes in team colors. The Game Day collection has everything from cheeky shorts sets and flouncy dresses to headbands, earrings, beaded purses, and booties.

Spirit Snob collegiate wraps
From Longhorns to Red Raiders to Horned Frogs, this line of scarves proudly declares your love for your alma mater (or the Lone Star State as a whole). The Otomi-inspired designs are created by hand by Fort Worth artist Allison Castillo. Not only is the product versatile — wear them as a scarf, sarong, head wrap, or even a halter top — but the company also donates a portion of every wrap sold to a women's college scholarship.

Wrangler Collegiate Collection
From tailgating to the stands, tried-and-true brand Wrangler is reimagining the standard jersey with shirts, sweatshirts, hats, jackets, and even embroidered twill Western snap shirts for UT and A&M, plus eight other non-Texas schools. Of course, you can finish off your look with some classic denim.

Tenenbaum Jewelers
As an Official Sponsor of the Houston Astros, this local jeweler is delivering high-end pieces that really show your spirit. Think coral and lapis, 18K gold, and diamonds, some of it vintage.

Kendra Scott
Of course Austin's favorite jewelry maven has a game day collection. Her ubiquitous designs come in a range of sporty team colors, and are the perfect addition to your fandom (if you're bold) or in-the-know accent to a cute ensemble (if you're subtle).

Zilker Belts
Take your pick from belts named Horned Frog, Raider, and Reveille, after the First Lady of Aggieland. World-class Argentine leather is combined with nylon thread that's artfully hand-stitched in Buenos Aires. Wondering what size to get? A good rule of thumb is ordering two inches larger than your pants size.

Rally House
You weren't expecting us to leave off this game-day staple, were you? It's the go-to place for officially licensed jerseys and other merch that fits everyone on your team, even down to the littles. Even though there aren't any locations in Houston (Waco and College Station are the closest), it's a low threshold for free shipping online.

Now that you're all decked out, check out these top sports bars in Houston. Then mark your calendar for October 27, when The Tailgate is happening at Silver Street Studios.

Early Bird tickets are sold out, but use promo code FASHION15 for $15 off your ticket.

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smell ya later

5 Houston boutiques for sourcing niche perfumes for scent lovers

Courtesy of Baroque & Bloom

From rare finds to centuries-old perfume houses, Houston’s niche fragrance shops offer scents as distinctive as the people who wear them.

Like a signature style or favorite piece of jewelry, a distinctive perfume can be instantly recognizable and linked to the person wearing it. For those who don't want to smell like the same designer fragrances found in malls across the country, Houston offers several options for something more personal and unexpected.

These boutiques aren't places to grab a bottle and go. They turn fragrance shopping into an entire experience. From trying perfumes that can't be found anywhere else in the city to wearing a scent from centuries-old perfume houses or creating a one-of-a-kind blend, here are the best places to find niche perfumes in Houston.

Baroque & Bloom
With over 1,500 niche fragrances in its Post Oak boutique, Baroque & Bloom by Scent Split offers one of the country's largest specialty fragrance retail collections in a physical store. Shoppers can expect to find exclusive and rare fragrances available only in Houston because of the boutique's relationships with perfume houses worldwide. Ahead of holiday shopping, look for the latest drops from brands including Sikelia and Sasva, both U.S. exclusives at Baroque & Bloom.

House of Creed
This European perfume house has been making fragrances and serving royalty since the 1700s. It is one of the few places in Houston where perfumistas can find all-natural scents made with iris, one of the world's most expensive ingredients. To extract the most refined scent from the plant, Creed ages the iris roots, which it sources from Tuscany and France, for up to eight years. Across its lineup of exclusive fragrances, which each take months to produce, six contain iris, including Millésime Impérial, Queen of Silk, Green Irish Tweed, Fleurissimo, and Iris Debonair, the brand’s latest release.

Krigler
This century-old perfume house began with a scent created for Albert Krigler's soon-to-be bride as an engagement gift in the 1800s and has since turned into a coveted brand with only 15 boutiques worldwide. Its fragrances have been worn by everyone from Leonardo DiCaprio and Jacqueline Onassis to Ernest Hemingway. Houstonians can find the cozy Krigler boutique inside the Four Seasons Hotel, where if an off-the-shelf bottle won't do, a custom scent can be created for a starting price of $50,000.

Kuhl Linscomb
Housed within one of its five interconnected bungalows in Upper Kirby, Kuhl Linscomb offers a variety of hard-to-find fragrances. Customers can shop for brands including Lubin, one of the oldest French perfume houses dating back to 1798; Fiele, a small botanical-focused fragrance house; and Fischerund, so obscure that finding a bottle in the wild is the ultimate discovery.

Le Labo
Santal 33 may have put Le Labo on the mainstream map, but the "slow perfumery" that focuses on small-batch fragrances and minimalism has plenty of scents that deserve a cult following of their own. The Le Labo Montrose boutique is the place to try out Another 13, The Matcha 26, and The Noir 29. Every year, the brand also releases a new addition to its City Exclusives collection, available in the city that inspired it, which creates a frenzy among fragrance devotees. For those willing to cash in their airline miles, the latest drop is Shiu 25, available only in Beijing.

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