Year-Round shopping gets a major boost in the Texas countryside.
Seasoned Round Top shoppers know that a good hat is essential not only for protection from the sun while traipsing around the fields for treasure, but also as a fashion statement. And there’s no better place to find the perfect straw hat than Sissy Light’s new year-round location in Henkel Square.
For five years, shoppers have stumbled upon Light’s pop-up shop at Bader Ranch and gone home hat happy. Light debuted her wood-and-mortar store last month and it will be open year-round. The seasonal shop inside Bader Ranch will also continue to run during the Round Top antiques shows.
Sissy Light store front in Henkel Square. (Photos by Candice Cowin)
Head gear: Sissy Light has everything you need for above the neck fashion.
Custom made earrings
Sunny selection
Founder and creative director Kristin (Sissy) Light is a Jane of all trades, armed with a degree in fashion design from Los Angeles’ FIDM, and a decade spent photographing and styling weddings before turning her hand to designing projects such as The Frenchie Boutique Hotel with Katy Bader. In the new Henkel Square bungalow shop, in a space which dates to 1850 and sits next door to Ellis Motel, expect to find Light’s trademark West Texas meets Palm Beach vibe. The new store is stocked with the brand’s well-known hats and field straps made with French grosgrain ribbon (a must-have for preventing your hat from blowing away on blustery days) and an expanded array of accessories hand-picked by Light.
Sissy Light officially opened its doors for the Round Top Spring Antiques and Design show with a grand celebration. Shoppers enjoyed salmon canapés, melon and prosciutto caprese, plus blueberry lavender spritz cocktails prepared by The Frenchie’s private chef Brenna McBroom. Joining in the celebration were Light’s spring show business partners, including Alissa Moyse of Casual Carats Jewelry and Margaret Walker and Sarah Caruth of Fraulein Boot Company.
Hors d’ oeuvres anyone? Chef Brenna McBroom of The Frenchie Boutique Hotel catered Light’s grand opening soirée. (Photos by Chris Pierre Bachman)
Scrumptious salmon canapés
Branded blueberry lavender spritz
Margaret Walker and Sarah Caruth of Fraulein Boot Company
Boots by Fraulein Boot Company
Rob Oriti, Jan Pieter Zweegers, Shannon Vance
Rima Baassiri, Alissa Moyse of Casual Carats Jewelry
Sissy Light’s Margaret Ortego
Katy Bader, Margaret Ortego, Sissy Light, Monica Flores, Shannon Vance
Open Thursdays through Sundays all year with late hours during the antiques shows, Sissy Light is located at 168 Henkel Square in Round Top.
Round Top also just got a whole lot chicer. Online luxury consignment boutique Modern Marla has opened its first store in historic Moores Fort in Rolland Square.
Owner Marla Hurley is as effervescent as they come — and so is the Vueve Cliquot she serves from a Hermés-orange Smeg fridge. Behind the tangerine-lacquered doors at the 1831 log blockhouse that formerly served as shelter from Comanche raids, this sixth-generation Texan beauty carries beautiful-condition vintage womenswear, handbags, jewelry and shoes from Chanel, Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Prada, Miu Miu and Golden Goose — many new with tags — as well as vintage furs, cowboy boots and hats.
Hurley works closely with her clients, delving into their closets to pick what she feels will resonate in her boutique. She recently acquired a 1960s Christian Dior sable fur and sold a Chanel gown that was worn only once — to Ronald Reagan’s 1980 inauguration. Hurley, who has three grown children, purchased a Round Top property with her husband Matt Hurley last year and jumped at the opportunity to have a store in town.
Modern meets antique: Modern Marla’s storefront in Rolland Square’s historic Mores Fort. (Photo by Courtney Dabney)
Bubbling over: the champagne flows inside and out at Modern Marla. (Photo by Courtney Dabney)
Chic peek: inside Modern Marla, Round Top
“I love Round Top,” Hurley says. “It is the most fascinating small town with the biggest personality.”
At her home in Houston, she’s active in the Houston Symphony League and The Salvation Army Women’s Auxiliary and also serves as the official stylist of Miss Texas USA and Miss Teen Texas USA. Only in Round Top.
Modern Marla Luxury Consignment Boutique is located at Rolland Square, 303 S. White Street in Round Top.
