The "Duchess of Dallas" Makes an Appearance From the Great Socialite Party in the Sky

Looking for Halloween costume inspiration? You may want to study this historic photo posted today on Shorpy. It's Dallas socialite Inez Thomas, looking downright stunning in 1920 flapper gear. Her contemporaries appeared to have appreciated her style as well -- she was the "Duchess of Dallas" at the 1916 San...

By Andrea Grimes

October 8, 2010

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Looking for Halloween costume inspiration? You may want to study this historic photo posted today on Shorpy. It's Dallas socialite Inez Thomas, looking downright stunning in 1920 flapper gear. Her contemporaries appeared to have appreciated her style as well -- she was the "Duchess of Dallas" at the 1916 San Antonio Fiesta.

According to the Texas History experts over at the Dallas Public Library, Miss Thomas was a student at St. Mary's in 1908 and attended Fairmont Seminary in Washington, D.C. This photo appears to have been taken in our nation's capital, probably when Miss Thomas returned for alumnae events. She went on to marry one J. William Rubush in 1926, though her husband seems to have shot himself in 1948. A quick glance over at The Dallas Morning News' historical archive suggests that she remarried a man named Schubert and died herself in 1978, living at an address on Lomo Alto Drive not far from our very own Unfair Park headquarters.

Of course, I'll be scouring local vintage shops looking for anything I can fashion into a version of her fabulous hat come October 31.

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