SXSW/part one: style

over the weekend, while styling a client, i sat waiting for her to try on another fit from teddies for betty's and grabbed a free magazine simply called, austin.  i didn't have time to even crack it open, before i got to talking with my client and the owner of the boutique.  i saw a few bold, green words on the face of the magazine that made me throw it in my bag to flip through later:  SXSW, the music issue, and cheap eats.  PERFECT!  everything that had been on my mind for the past 6 months.

in turn, i wanted to wait for one particular flyer to be completed, until i did a write up on my expectations for SXSW this year.  but i might be waiting too close to the start date and it could be a pretty, lengthy editorial.  so i have decided to break my expectations into 3 parts, over 3 weeks, starting on the 1st day of march:  music, food, and...style.

flipping through the magazine this morning, i ran across their style section.  turns out, the latest inclusion in SXSW is style x (prounounced:  stahyl ba-hy), founded by john spearman and jon patillo.  i am not surprised this is the next additive into the SXSW forum; it only seems natural and it comes at a perfect time; the 25th anniversary of SXSW.

austin itself is full of style.  over the past few years that i have attended sxsw festivities, austin street style is something i never missed.  some of it reminded me of new york actually.  in alot of TX cities unfortunately, you see alot of unfortunate looking outfits that came from the local galleria, out door mall, and/or outlet mall.  not that there is anything wrong with that, but that's where fashion and style can be confused.  buying an outfit off the mannequin or out of the spring catalog is not style. that's fashion.  luckily, austin has a handful of boutiques that offer an array of different styles, brands, and exclusiveness to help one define their own style.  TX is notorious for getting practically everything late.  from music to clothes.  we are also stuck with the stigma that we all go to work on a horse and have spurs on the back of our cowboy boots.  it can no longer be denied that TX, more specifically austin in this case, is on the rise and a city to be reckoned with.

to wrap this up, i am excited there will be retail booths of some up and coming designers from across the country and fashion shows on different style segments, being held at the austin convention center on march 18-19.  also, to top it off there will be a blogger conference being held on march 11-13 by the texas style council founded by indiana adams of adored austin.  & of corse as i write this at 12:40am, march 1st, registration is closed.  but i am hoping, some how, some way, by a miracle i will be able to attend.  it would be a great networking opportunity for me.  let me end this by saying, that maybe i should stop looking to the east so much... austin just might be an option...