SantaFe.com

Whether you live here or you’re visiting, just as sure as Hatch chiles grow, somebody is going to say those words to you. Usually, you’ll hear it from your house or pet sitter when you ask them what they’d like as a thank you from your trip. You’ll hear it from your hostess if you’re going out of town. We’re not talking about the goodies you’ll blow your credit limit on buying for yourself. We’re talking about a gift: Something Southwestern; something portable, that won’t add a ton of weight to your already crammed suitcase; and something that looks like you spent way more money on it...

Friday, May 30, 2008
by Leslie Clark and Mary Corcoran (Photographer) • SantaFe.com

The two Japanese women got off the plane in Albuquerque for only one reason. Starting in New York, they had been shopping their way across the U.S. for a week. New Mexico was their last stop before heading to Los Angeles for their flight home. What were they looking for, cowboy boots? No, they both already had plenty of those. Turquoise jewelry? That was for another trip. They wanted just one thing:

A Chimayó jacket.

Sophisticated, fashion-savvy Japanese are some of the biggest customers of the centuries-old New Mexico wool-weaving tradition. In the picturesque Hispanic settlement of...

Tuesday, April 1, 2008 at 4:00 PM
by Leslie Clark and Mary Corcoran (Photographer) • SantaFe.com

When it comes to finding that once-in-a-lifetime wedding dress, Santa Fe has got the goods on dream gowns. From traditional to cutting edge, there’s incredible diversity to choose from.

Along with custom wedding gowns, the Laura Sheppherd Salon de Couture on Marcy Street offers everything from custom day to evening wear. At the moment she is prepping two luscious gowns to send off to a Dallas debutante and her mother. A thirty-year veteran of the fashion business, Sheppherd is also known as much, if not more, for her custom work for the “mothers of the wedding,” as she calls them—the...

Friday, March 14, 2008
by Leslie Clark • SantaFe.com

They say of a great beauty that her face has “good bones,” and the same could be said about Santa Fe designer Nancy Traugott’s clothing line, Homefrocks. The clean lines underscore the subtly stated structure to her designs. Her style combines common sense with a low-key, romantic sensibility, and the relaxed, easy-going fit compliments a deeply feminine look. Timeless in their appeal, her clothes attract independent-minded women willing to trust their own taste—someone like Traugott herself.

“What I make comes from me,” the tall, statuesque designer said. “I like to think about...

Friday, February 29, 2008 at 1:44 AM
by Leslie Clark

Two new books offer revealing glimpses into the world of haute couture. One celebrates the great post-war decade and the other exposes couture’s decline, from a tradition of quality and superlative workmanship to the mass marketing of inferior products under designer labels. They both help point to Santa Fe as a mecca for beautiful, handcrafted clothing that reflect artisan-made standards of excellence.

In April 1970, famed fashion photographer Cecil Beaton received a note from Baroness Alain de Rothschild: “Let me know when you do come to Paris and I will show you what I have!...

Wednesday, February 13, 2008
by Leslie Clark

After months of cold and drab winter, Valentine’s Day couldn’t come at a better time. Suddenly everywhere plush teddy bears demand “Hug Me,” aisles are lined with heart-shaped candy boxes, and pops of that wonderful color, red, fill shop windows. True, sweethearts hog the spotlight on Valentine’s, but it’s great for sharing the love with all your favorite people. And no matter who they are—a niece or nephew, grandmother, or good friend—in Santa Fe you’ve hit the jackpot for shopping. Here’s a guide to some gift goodies around town.

The fashion runways are decreeing fierce, bold colors...

Wednesday, February 6, 2008
by Leslie Clark

The Museum of Indian Arts & Culture has a fascinating new exhibit, Native Couture: A History of Santa Fe Style (through June 7, 2009). The exhibit chronicles changes in taste and fashion from the 1880s through to the present in Native American jewelry, and from 1968 to the 1990s in clothing. Not only a dazzling collection, it celebrates the ingenuity and inspiration that's transformed traditional dress and design over time into contemporary urban chic, while still keeping elements that are timeless.

Tuesday, January 15, 2008
by Leslie Clark • SantaFe.com