Austin360 blogs > Out & About > Archives > 2009 > January > 30 > Entry
Cracking Austin’s Glamour Scene 1
Preliminary thoughts for a Leadership Austin breakfast at Chez Zee next week:
The light-bulb moment came at Austin Java at City Hall on a sunny afternoon last year. I realized that every third person who passed the coffee shop on West Second Street could pass as a model. When did Austin accumulate so much beauty and style — and what did it mean about the city’s evolving culture?
On my beat as social columnist, I witness Austin’s glamour scene nightly at movie premieres, art openings, club gigs, charity galas and chic restaurants.
All this is, historically speaking, new. The music scene coalesced into recognizable form about 30 years ago; its film counterpart 20 years ago. Fine dining — virtually nonexistent when I arrived in 1984 — added more than 125 white-linen eateries with celebrity chefs in the past 15 years.
The performing and visual arts seriously professionalized about 10 years ago and built significant museums and arts centers. Meanwhile architecture and fashion came of age, adding dozens of design firms and boutiques. Runway shows, once a rarity, are staged almost every week, sometimes more than one a night, and a half dozen glossy magazines were founded to follow Austin’s hard-to-define style.
The nightlife industry — once conflated with the music industry, which never made much money beyond fronting liquor sales for clubs — altered as well, adding ultra-lounges and wine bars to the usual beloved dives, dance halls, coffee houses and funky music venues. And every night, representatives of these various glamour fields mix with others to create a genuine cafe society, clustered around momentarily fashionable spots.
More to come…
Permalink | Comments (2) | Post your comment Categories: Style
Comments
Click here to report comment abuse.
By Michael Barnes
January 30, 2009 1:20 PM | Link to this
JY: Come out with me sometime! We'll hit five places on a random weekend night. I'll buy. But only if I can use your real name in the write-up. MB
By jy
January 30, 2009 12:20 PM | Link to this
Where do you see these pretty people. I have been here for two years now and have seen more unattractive people than any city i have ever lived in.