Few were surprised at precisely how high Dallas ranked in the list of fashionable cities, which was compiled and posted by bundle.com last week. We reached number five in the nation, with Irvine, CA taking first, followed by New York, Los Angeles, and Miami in the other top seats. As a city that likes to put our best, most polished toes forward there's a number of reasons why we took this ranking. Here's a few.
1.) Look At Who We're Standing Next To There aren't a whole lot of fashionable cities nearby, which is like standing next to a motley crew and thus appearing hotter. Austin, I love you, and so I can say this: Please stop wearing Crocs as "evening shoes," you're so much cuter than that.
2.) Our Local Designers Beat Your Local Designers Rubys and Olives, House of MacGreggor, Status, Lucy Dang, Prashi Shah and countless others keep pushing ahead to hold court on the runway. Bored with the rack? So are they. That's why we've got a market saturated with their well-tailored offerings.
3.) We Know We Have A Good Thing, So We Support It Dallas is brimming with organizations that work to promote designers and showcase their work. The Pin Show did that; the monster of a runway affair brought dozens of local and national start-up designers together with more established ones, giving us a really great first look at items that will certainly be seen by the rest of the country quite soon. Also, we have the Fashionistas. The glitzy group raises dough to support local talent via runway shows, like the recent Fashion's Living Canvas affair, and by providing scholarships. So while our designers still have to pull themselves up by their bootstraps, at least those boots can be couture.
4.) We're Born Into It We've got a legacy here, ladies. We might rank just below Houston on the list of richest cities, (they are 6 and we are 7) but we sure do beat them when it comes to spending that cash. (Look at how low they ranked; even Austin destroyed them.) That's a little thing we like to call "good grooming."
5.) Neiman Marcus Is Our Community Nexus Edna Woolman Chase, former editor of Vogue once said, "I dreamed all my life of the perfect store for women. Then I saw Neiman Marcus, and my dream came true." Them's big words, especially considering they were uttered in 1936 when being fiscally frivolous wasn't terribly fashionable.
As the birthplace of Neiman Marcus, high end clothing is engrained in our culture, and should you forget, Neiman's is there to remind you. Last week they hosted the Stiletto Strut, which organized their dedicated shopping base into a high heel brigade, stomping down the street to raise cash for The Family Place, which works to eliminate family violence. Neiman's was also a point on last month's experimental, multi-venue art project, The Dallas Biennale. It's been defining Dallas for more than 100 years, tucking our tags in and smoothing our pleats.
