So I spent a lot of my time in Austin – my first trip to Austin or Texas for that matter –  in the bath. I even had lunch in the bath (a ’why not?’ moment). In spite of all my time underwater, I still managed to see a lot, perhaps because my hotel was well located on South Congress Street, a quirky street that takes some time to warm to.

We’re here, said the cab driver.

Really?

I looked out of the car window at a bunch of unassuming, low built, bungalow style 1930’s buildings bordering a wind-blown deserted street.

This is it?” I asked, not sure I wanted to get out of the car.

Whacky doodle

is how architect and native Austinite David Lake of the talented Lake Flato practice describes South Congress Street. There’s an ad hoc, funky town element to South Congress that gives you a good flavour of the city and its unofficial slogan ‘Keep Austin weird’.

Austin is more tattoo than tiara, explained my sister Alexandra when advising me on what to pack. If only she’d mentioned tossing in some thermals. Weather-wise Austin – the fun, cool, hipster capital of Texas,  is nicest in the spring and fall. Don’t miss the April wildflowers at Ladybird Johnson Wildflower Center),

If heat’s your thing, summer is ok too.

I grew up in Texas, so I like the heat,” says Lake. “The best thing Austin has going for it is this huge green canopy of trees and open space. There’s a commitment to linear trails and park systems. Creeks, rivers flow down into the Colorado river. There are all these swimming holes that are natural- Barton Springs– which is spectacular, 69 degrees (fahrenheit), very cold. Deep Eddy is another one.

Winter-time, my vote goes to the steamy bath option on South Congress.

The street itself is lined with independent shops, restaurants and clubs. Top picks include By George for clothes, Perla’s for oysters, the Continental Club for music and  Jo’s Coffee for …

Funky as it may be, Austin is also booming thanks to tech, low taxes and the University of Texas. Much of the city feels like the Pacific Northwest, the Seattle of the south. The city has a thriving music and restaurant scene. Plus this month’s unveiling of  the late artist Ellsworth Kelly’s sublime secular chapel on the UT campus has put  a luminescent feather in Austin’s cultural Stetson.

I had come to Austin to join my mother

and friends to see the Kelly sanctum, an ode to creativity.

“Austin” as the chapel is called is the only standalone Kelly building and  a must-see, must-meditate spot.

Read this excellent article in the New York Times to learn more about Kelly’s final masterpiece.

Here I am, learning how to signal the Texan Longhorn, UT’s mascot, at the Kelly gala

If you visit Austin this spring, don’t miss two Kelly shows –  “Form Into Spirit” at the Blanton Museum of Art adjacent to Kelly’s Austin on the southern border of UT’s campus and “Ellsworth Kelly: Prints” at the Lora Reynolds Gallery.

Other sites to visit now or in the future: Lake’s firm has just finished Austin’s Central Library and is working on a 3 block project on South Congress … including a new Soho House, a new hotel called the Magdalena, and an addition to the existing St Cecilia hotel, plus plenty more restaurants and shops.

The upcoming Magdalena, St Cecilia and San Jose hotels – all located within a few blocks of one another –  are owned by Liz Lambert and her Bunkhouse group of cool hotels. She also owns the aforementioned Jo’s Coffee.

We did the San Jose 22 years ago, says Lake. We didn’t have much money.  It was a motel, a dive, the entire site was asphalt. So we kicked out all the cars and did an enormous amount of landscape.

The more expensive St Cecilia is located on a quiet side street off of South Congress with lovely rolling terrain, live oaks and a pool.

The 100-room Magdalena will sit  somewhere between the two price-wise  when it opens in 2020. It will feature an 85′ pool, reminiscent of Austin’s beloved natural pools.

Music is everywhere in Austin – live bands play on street corners, clubs, even a chili cook-off on South Congress …

Last of what I did see when I wasn’t submerged  was the terrific Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum on UT’s campus.

Following JFK’s assassination, LBJ presided over a tumultuous six year presidency (1963-69) spanning Civil Rights protests to the Viet Nam War. Three hours raced by in this multimedia extravaganza as I dove deep into the sixties, Johnson and the slew of landmark legislation Johnson got passed during his short tenure.

Don’t miss the illuminating and entertaining taped conversations between LBJ and the First Lady, Ladybird Johnson, Washington Post Editor Katherine Graham and various congressmen Johnson  charmed, cajoled and bullied to get bills passed.

I wish I had had more time in this city. Next trip I want to visit when it’s warmer and trade my hotel bath for a natural one. I plan to explore the city trails around Ladybird Lake on foot or bike, check out Ai Weiwei’s bike installation, and follow Lake’s advice at the capital building:

I just love going in the dome and lying on the floor and looking up. It drives the guards crazy, but there are all these kids doing it. Why let them have all the fun?

Food-wise Austin is full of tempting food trucks. But which are the tastiest? Lake’s team at Lake Flato singled out their top picks:

Veracruz All Natural, Migas & Migas Poblanos Tacos
Micklethwait Craft Meats, BBQ
Dee Dee, Northern Thai
G’Raj Mahal, Indian (technically ex-food truck, they just opened a bricks and mortar)
Kebabalicious, Turkish (same)

And restaurant wise -I loved Lambert’s (owned by Lizzie’s brother) for its barbecued meats, and cocktails. Eat downstairs, but use the loo upstairs.  I was tempted to strut my stuff when I passed the live band on the way to the bathroom. ATX Cocina  is a trendy Mexican  with delicious duck tacos, buzzy bar scene and a youthful crowd. Others I did not try but will on my encore  are  Italian Red Ash, Japanese Kemuri Tatsuya and Launderette. This last one serves American fare in a converted gas station/laundromat.

And last, but so not least, is a souvenir like no other. Local artist Eliza Thomas raves about the hand-made cowboy boot shop  ML Leddy’s  in San Angelo, a pretty three-hour drive west from Austin. Eliza says the boots take ten months to make but are worth every second.

February, 2018

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Does the idea of shopping make you feel like this?

Well, read my detailed round-up in Indagare about the shops that will bring a smile to your retail-worn weary face.  Highlights in the article include the talented Isabel Ettedgui at Connolly,

the equally delightful Audie at Anderson & Sheppard,

Drakes for ties and shirts …

and the unique Mr. Schnieder at Schnieder Boots for the closet horse lover in you …

Clifford Street brings the therapy back into retail, the smile into spending. Promise.

December 2016

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Enter Isabel Ettedgui, owner of the re-launched Connolly shop on Clifford Street in Mayfair, my new favourite go-to spot as much for what it does do, as for what it doesn’t.

Full disclosure, Isy, as she’s known to her friends, is one of my favourite people. Effortlessly chic,  warm, wise, hard-working and very funny, it’s no surprise that Connolly is terrific.

I sat down with Isy last week in the upstairs living space where the furniture is designed by the same people who designed the shop – Parisian architects Patrick Gilles and Dorothée Boissier –  and asked her about her vision for the brand, who her ideal customer is and what advice she would give to other women wanting to set up shop.

I wanted (Connolly) to be very personal. It’s not big, it’s not a huge flagship store. If you can’t explain a product to a customer because you’ve got 500 shops, then the mystery and the beauty of the product tends to be lost on them. I want people to discover and feel comfortable and very well looked after when they come. They’re coming into my space, my environment. I hope with Connolly that we’re more connected to the roots, to the manufacturers, to the designers, to our customers. It’s about giving something that’s a part of you.

Isy and her warm staff –  many of whom worked with her during Connolly’s previous incarnation several years ago when Isy’s husband Joseph was alive – know the stories behind each item sitting on a shelf or hanging on a rail. The Arran fisherman sweaters  are each handmade by one knitter,  six months from start to finish. Isy explains the origins of the Arran knits:

The cables were knitted by the fishermens’ wives. These jumpers … so that if they were lost at sea, each cable had a different pattern. (The wives) would be able to recognise a sailor if he drowned.

While Isy loves the past, she is a thoroughly modern woman. She discovered these vast bowls on Instagram, contacted their maker, an artisan named Joel Parks, and is now commissioning several pieces from him.

Parks finds dead wood in the forests of Devon, sands the pieces down to a rough shape, drills holes into the wood and then injects pewter and acrylic paint into the holes. Le voila.

Who is your ideal customer?

I don’t think they are into big status symbols … Connolly isn’t for everyone. It’s a very low-key brand. It takes a bit of confidence. It’s for someone who gets it, someone who says ‘Yeah,  I’m going to make an effort and go into the one shop in the world, because there’s only one and I am going to give my friend a present because it’s from Connolly and it means something.

What advice would you give other women wanting to open a shop.

Don’t, she laughs. Work with other women, get a good team of women. They’re multi-taskers … And try and find one thing, find something you really love because unless you love it, you won’t stick with it.

Not only does Isy have exquisite taste, she trusts her gut, doing things that might seem impractical, like having a sparsely designed living room upstairs.

It’s prime retail space, and I’ve got a bunch of flowers , she half-jokes, about the lovely first floor space. It’s very indulgent.

 For me it was very much about impact, the way people feel when they walked in.

On the ground floor, Isy made another bold move; the Classic Collection, created by designer’s designer Marc Audibet is limited to 19 pieces.

I didn’t want (customers)  to feel that it was just rows and rows of clothes.  The clothes are so beautiful that I knew I didn’t want to have 25 pairs of trousers. I’ll have three or four different styles. That’s more than enough … Ours is about the cut and the fabric, absolutely eternal pieces that don’t date. They’ll always be in your wardrobe. They’ll just work for you.

Do you have any fashion mentors?

Joseph for the way he merchandised and edited, his instinct for what women and men wanted to wear and the way he mixed brands.

Apart from launching Connolly fashion and leather goods,

the shop will stock other likeminded brands such as Charvet, Fedeli, Cedes, Car Shoe and Dixey eyeware.

Do you consider yourself a career woman?

A career woman is someone who is working for a large corporation, going up a ladder. There’s none of that here. The only ladder I go up is in the stock room. It’s not a career. It’s a life choice, really.

How scary was this opening?

It was the first time I was trying to do a build (18th c. Georgian townhouse completely gutted and redone) and build a brand. That was hard, and on my own, as a widow. There’s a certain freedom being on your own, but there’s also a certain anxiety. You miss that sounding board. It’s a double-edge sword.

What benefits does age bring?

Certainly not sagacity, she laughs. You kind of think ‘Well, I could die tomorrow, at least I’ve tried. It’s like youth. I think youth and age bring a kind of freedom. Youth because you’re naive and you don’t know what’s going to go wrong. And age, because what else are you going to do? You might as well give it a go.

Here’s to giving it a go. Bravo Isabel!

November, 2016

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Three Lives has been around for nearly forty years. It was originally started by three women, hence its name taken after American writer Gertrude Stein’s first published book.  (other blog: Tender Buttons on the Upper East Side is another NYC shop honouring Stein with its name)

When the women wanted to retire they sold Three Lives  to its current owner and friend of the shop Toby Cox in 2001. Originally from Marin County, Cox was doing marketing for Random House in Manhattan at the time. He  realised that his true passion was selling books to readers, not stores.  He is still very much behind the till, choosing and arranging books and serving customers.

(pic of  Toby Cox on right and staffer Troy Chatterton on left)

Cox attributes the shop’s longevity to three things:

The beautiful space these women created, the books on display and the people that work here.

He moves books around constantly,  every day to keep the space looking fresh and dynamic.

You move one book and it changes everything. I then have to change the whole look to the annoyance of everyone here. A book that was just on the front table has moved to the back of the shop.

A passion for reading is shared by all of the 8-strong staff plus Cox. Toby Chatterton explains:

We love reading and we get really excited about turning people onto books that we’re reading. I think we’re known for giving recommendations and we build relationships with customers.

Below are some of Chatterton’s top picks.

Carol Wald, one of two employees who has worked at Three Lives since before Cox took over,  reads a book a week and would work here for free.

I get to talk to smart people, interesting people all day long about books that I love and about culture and every two weeks I get paid. Seriously, I get my pay-check and I’m like ‘Oh!’ I would do this for free.

Three Lives isn’t big or flashy. It barely promotes itself, and it hasn’t changed much over the years despite the advent of chains, Amazon and e-readers. Instead Cox works hard to maintain the essence of this jewel box.

When Hanya Yanagihara author of A Little Life – shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize  and a  National Book Award finalist – recently spoke at the shop, Three Lives softly advertised the event with a mention in its newsletter and a small poster in the window. Instead, the staff focuses its energy reading and recommending books to its loyal clientele, as well as newbies, like me. I did not leave empty-handed.

The shop has very little signage to encourage browsing and conversation. When I was there, a regular spent a good twenty minutes talking to Wald about books, hopping from one title to another in bookworm-ese. And when Wald recommended  “The Sellout” by Paul Beatty to me, a fellow customer chimed in.

It’s so so good. It’s really funny, and it gets into your gut at the same time. Beatty is saying things that are so important. I just finished it so I am very excited by it.

Chatterton manages the ‘Book of the Month Club’ where he meets with the person who is giving the gift or signing up for it. Chatterton  chats with them, sees what kind of reader they are, what they’re looking for and then sends them a book every month.

We send them a new book, and it’s always something that either we’re really excited about or that one of has read and loved.

Of course, like any thriving community focal point, the staff are just as happy to discuss the news or the weather, as what terrific book they’ve just finished.

April, 2016

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It’s my life. It’s odd to say that my life is devoted to a button, but there is so much to that little thing, so much history, said Safro.

Each button has a story to tell from Civil War buttons and buckles to early 20th c. Italian glass scarab fasteners made popular after the discovery of Tutankhamen’s tomb,

to inexpensive, chunky 1930’s Bakelite baubles during the Depression.

Safro and Epstein learned on the job, becoming  more and more passionate about buttons as they realised how much there was to learn.

What I love about buttons is that each one is like a tiny, evocative event. They celebrate historical incidents, serve as a microcosm of the culture from which they arise, and reflect the aesthetic sensibilities of their time, said Safro in a button-sized book called The Button Book written by Epstein twenty years ago.

The two traveled to a cave in Brussels, the top of a fjord in Finland, a souk in Cairo, a chateau in France amongst other exotic destinations, all in their quest to find the perfect button or a castle of them.

Over the years I’ve gotten to know every button producer everywhere…We source rare buttons.

The long, skinny shop  is lined with floor-to-ceiling shelves filled with specially-made grey cardboard boxes, each box classified with a hand-written label, with captions like  “A Passage to India” or “Homage to Mondrian”. The boxes sit 90 across and 37 high, making for a lot of buttons, over a million in fact.

The shop celebrated its recent 50th anniversary with these buttons.

Fancy a horn button for your tweed blazer? Safro has got over twenty shades of brown for you. Glass, porcelain, pearl, ivory, jade, shell, horn and plastic, as well as gold, silver, brass and copper are available in this calm refuge, a  mecca for button collectors, fashionistas, historians, designers, art and craft enthusiasts, and regular Joes passing by. The buttons are red and blue, pink and yellow.

There are yellow and green pepper buttons.

There are Alice in Wonderland and  the Cheshire Cat buttons.

There are buttons to suit every fancy in this deceptively packed button-lover’s paradise. Even the Zen Master looking for a “button for levitation” and the woman seeking the ideal clasp for her dog’s coat left satisfied. Ditto the customer searching for Mother Goose nursery rhyme-themed buttons.  The  shop feels part museum, part retail with its polished wood, thin antique tables and lamps and studious clientele peering at these tiny relics of the past.

We’ve always seen the button as art. We treat something humble as art.

Safro says she always knows what’s going to be in vogue based on what the designers buy from her shop.

We follow fashion before it gets published… We see what they buy.

Grey, black and gold buttons are currently in vogue for women, says Safro. Scale – either very large or very small – is also on-trend.

People are becoming more creative with sizes and colours, she adds. They’re intentionally choosing one odd button as if it didn’t belong.

Tender Button’s list of famous customers is as eclectic as the shop itself; Greta Garbo, Bianca Jagger, Martha Stewart, Nora Ephron, Tom Wolfe, Ralph Lauren and the artist formerly known as Prince have all come looking for a button or two. Ditto Kermit the Frog and Batman’s Joker.

Tender Button has garnered a loyal clientele, whether to update an old look, distinguish a new purchase or just to replace a missing button.

There are people who first came as children with their parents and as they grew, they saw different shelves. At first they could only see the lower shelves and then the upper shelves. And now they’re bringing their children in. Everybody needs a sweater for their grandchildren.

Cute as a button may be, Tender Button’s Safro and Epstein have shown that the humble button is anything but.

March, 2016

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