--Lead item in the September 19 Park Cities People society column by Agness Robertson
"People love the breezy way that Agness writes," says Tom Boone, managing editor of Park Cities People and the man who writes the headlines that top each of Agness' society items. "I get these wonderful, fawning letters about Tom and Aggie. I call her Aggie Waggie, and she calls me Tommy Booney. And I hear about them wherever I go in town. People sometimes call them almost begging for them to cover their party. That would be a heady experience for any of us in journalism, I think. But Tom and Agness seem to not be affected."
Agness could be affected if she wanted to. But she decided long ago she couldn't--didn't want to, really--fake her way into high society. Her one pair of $250 Ferragamo pumps takes her everywhere she needs to go. (Besides, she says, they may be pricey, but they still hurt her feet after only a couple of hours.) The Robertsons haven't even invested in any chic, new Western threads for the ultraprestigious Cattle Baron's Ball in years. While the revelers try to outdo each other every year with rhinestone-studded denim jackets and custom-made cowboy boots, "Tom just wears the same old jeans and a bolo tie. I have jeans and kind of a fancy denim shirt," Agness says.
"Oh, those cute little girls who show up at these things in their Escada suits--they're adorable. But that isn't me. Tom and I are background people."
They are at their best, in fact, when chatting it up with the servants. As the Robertsons pull into the circular drive at the $10-million McCutchin mansion, the parking boys bound over to the Seville, practically falling over each other to open Agness' door. "How are you, Miss Robertson? Haven't seen you in a while!" says the fresh-faced twentysomething who helps her from the car.
"Here are our parking boys, Tom, finally!" Agness says, squeezing the attendant's arm. "We missed y'all earlier this morning, didn't we, Tom?"
On the way to the massive front door, Tom leans over and shares a good McCutchin tidbit.
"Sharon, the lady of this house--she was the chairman of the Crystal Charity Ball last year. And she used to have more shoes than that woman who used to run the Philippines. I don't know if she still does. That was a few years ago, when they lived up near Las Colinas. She had a whole walk-in closet filled just with shoes. Every kind of shoe you can imagine."
Agness adds the icing to this cake: "Oh, and Tom, remember that dress rack she had in her closet? She had one of those mechanical racks just like the dry cleaners that, zoop! brought her clothes right to her fingertips."
Clearly a good anecdote. They both chuckle. Did it ever make it into their column?
"Oh, no, Agness says, a little rattled at the notion. "That's not what we do. You mustn't print that. We're just observers at these things. We just write about what happened. Tom and I, we're just little ol' background people. That's all we are.
