Specialty Shop Knows How to Take Orders
Still searching for that one-of-a-kind holiday gift? How about a pair of snakeskin cowboy boots for baby? Or a sapphire-studded sterling belt buckle that would put a rhinestone cowboy to shame? Or a lavishly embroidered jacket?
These are not your typical department store offerings. They’re not even the kind of thing you’ll see at most Western-wear stores. Rather, they can be found among the unusual clothing, jewelry and accessories made by artisans and designers from the Southwest and brought to Orange County by Ted Greve, general manager and merchandise buyer for Out of Santa Fe at Fashion Island in Newport Beach.
Whether it’s because Greve has the soft-spoken charm of a cowboy or because he’s given to wearing blue jeans and shoulder-length hair, he’s won the trust of independent-minded artisans throughout the Southwest.
On his frequent buying trips to New Mexico, Texas, Colorado, Arizona and elsewhere, he has established one-on-one relationships with a stable of designers who are often picky about where they sell their creations.
“We’re looking for a long-term relationship so we can ride off into the sunset with these artists,” Greve says. “I might start out meeting them on a reservation or in the artist’s home in Santa Fe.”
Often, he and store owner Tamara Box are the only people in the county or even the state allowed to carry a designer’s line.
Greve lived in New Mexico for 26 years, and Box grew up in Colorado, so both have an eye for authentic, well-made Western goods.
Greve looks for things that can’t be found anywhere else. One of his more recent finds: Levi jackets with insets of material from Chimayo and Navajo blankets from the 1910s to 1940s ($500 to $655).
Other Southwest items include colorful hand-painted silk jackets and shirts by Sandra Smit (about $300 to $500), rich chenille sweaters by Colleen Milligan (about $350) and suede blazers and vests adorned with fringe, beads and antique bones by Patricia Wolf ($300 to $700).
Out of Santa Fe also sells cowboy boots made of “anything that’s legal,” from alligator to stingray ($475 for a calfskin pair, $3,750 for full horn-back alligator).
Some items have subtle Western details, such as a deerskin jacket with a Western yoke or a black tailored blazer with a silver conch button.
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“It may not shout or scream rodeo, but it has its roots in the Southwest,” Greve says.
Among the designers featured is Manuel, creator of the Elvis jumpsuit and famous for dressing Johnny Cash in black. Based in Nashville, Tenn., Manuel now makes jackets and shirts elaborately decorated with rhinestones, embroidery and inlays.
About 40% of the clothing by Manuel is tailored to the customer. He once worked with Out of Santa Fe to create a custom suit for Roy Rogers Jr.
“If a [custom] jacket is a size 14 and you’re not, we send it back to Manuel with your measurements. He disassembles it and [alters its] so you’re the only one walking around on the face of the earth in that jacket,” Greve says.
Because they’re exclusive and have elaborate embroidery work, Manuel jackets don’t come cheap. They range from $950 to $6,000.
“We have clients who have five or six of them,” Greve says.
Out of Santa Fe has all kinds of items custom-ordered to a client’s specifications.
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Want a Manuel jacket with red Spanish roses on the front instead of white ones? Want a wolf or a buffalo hand-painted on the back of a deerskin vest by Robert Bowley? Want your initials inlaid on the shaft of cowboy boots? Want a cowboy hat designed to the exact dimensions of your head, be it shaped like an egg or a peanut? Such personalized treatments are common.
Often, designers visit the store so customers can meet them and put in a special order. Some clients have private appointments with their favorite artisans.
One customer, a Hollywood screenwriter, had an exact duplicate made of the cowboy hat Kevin Costner wore in the movie “Wyatt Earp.” An avid fly fisherman ordered a sterling belt buckle set elaborately engraved with fish and lures. A woman had a buckle engraved with a picture of a cement mixer for her husband, who worked in construction.
Some people bring in pieces of turquoise or even diamonds and have them made into a belt buckle.
“A client can envision a buckle that’s never been made, and we’ll determine which silversmith or goldsmith is best suited in style to make the buckle,” Greve says.
In its seven years, Out of Santa Fe has grown from a kiosk in the Fashion Island courtyard to a 2,500-square-foot store. The latest addition is a children’s department, complete with kiddie cowboy hats, little suede jackets and even child-sized chaps. A mail-order catalog was introduced in September.
“Before we even got a catalog out, 25% of our business was from out of state,” Greve says.
Those willing to pay $39 for a pair of baby cowboy boots or $6,000 for a Manuel jacket covet things that are made to last, he says.
“They’re buying this with the intention of handing it down to future generations,” he says.
