Fashion Savant Rocks River Oaks District With Powerful Champagne and Caviar Bash — Brian Bolke Brings the Party to The Conservatory

The dashing Brian Bolke of Dallas/New York fashion fame quietly opened his swank emporium dubbed The Conservatory in River Oaks District in September. But it wasn’t until late this month, that the retail visionary invited his soigné friends in for a bit of caviar and potato chips, champagne and, of course, shopping.

And so it was on a perfect fall-ish evening that 100 high-style Houstonians and a sprinkling of Dallasites swanned in to the swank boutique where Bolke has assembled his signature luxury collection of emerging and hard-to-find clothing and lifestyle brands.

Confirming that this would be the most stylish party of the season was the sexy clutch of co-hosts that included Gillian Sarofim; Ceron (reminding of The Tin Man, dressed shoulder to toe in silver Bottega Veneta); Meredith Flores Barker on the arm of her devilishly handsome hubby Mason; Marjorie Jacobe, Holly Moore, Melissa Ison and Monsour Taghdisi, inviting guests to his totally revamped Tanglewood swankienda; and Becca Cason Thrash, absolutely miserable to have missed, due to an ankle injury.

An unanticipated note of excitement added to the scene when rocking DJ RomiQ of Dallas amped up the turntable and the lights went out, more than once. The intermittent, momentary darkness failed to dampen these partygoers’ enthusiasm. Little could thwart the energy of the night fueled with champagne by Lallier, Casa Dragones Tequila and Kastra Elion Vodka. Good neighbor River Oaks District restaurant Toulouse, just across the oak-shaded patio, provided the succulent bites.

The Houston Conservatory is something of a homecoming for Bolke who occupied the airy, light-filled space when River Oaks District first opened. His store then was the famed Forty Five Ten.

“I’ve always loved this location,” Bolke tells PaperCity. “I always wanted the space originally, originally, originally when they were building the mall. It was also very funny that from the first time I had it, the only other person that had it was Avant Garden, which I also started.

“So I think it always has my name on it.”

For the party, Bolke dressed in a zebra print jacket with pink lining by Tom Ford, “which I always have made for me,” he allows. The pink lining? “That’s how you know it’s mine,” he quips.

“Our holiday theme was pink and animal prints so of course I had to wear it.”

PC Seen: Armando Palacios, Cathy Echols, Milton Townsend, Melissa Mithoff, Courtney Hopson, Carrie and Sverre Brandsberg-Dahl, Rick Nguyen, Marnie Greenwood, Ann and Eric Linden, Lily and Jonathan Schnitzer, JD Adams and Tony Gibson, Maria Bassa, Beth Muecke, Duyen and Marc Nguyen, Valerie Fuller, Patricio Vales, Gemma Joffroy, Fariba Taghi, designer Amir Taghi, who created a capsule collection for the Houston store; and in from Dallas Bolke’s partner Faisal Halum, Brooke Hortenstine and Suzanne Droese.