River Oaks Fashionistas Fall for the New Kid on the Block

What better reason for throwing a party than the start of the Stages Repertory Theatre season and the arrival of a new kid on the block? Both were reason enough for rounding up a well-turned out group to land at J. McLaughin in River Oaks Shopping Center where they noshed on party bites from Brasserie 19, toasted the season with champagne and did some serious fall shopping.

Welcoming guests were J. McLaughlin’s Jack Lynch, director of business development, in from Brooklyn headquarters, new store manager Tyler May, and Stages board chairman George Lancaster. The always-dapper Lancaster was among those picking up fall items, a percentage of sales from which benefited the theater. While May has been in Houston retail for a number of years, this is his first spin with the East Coast-based fashion house.

Houston boasts three J. McLaughlin boutiques (CityCentre and The Woodlands) among the firm’s stable of 127 stores nationwide. The company launched on the East Coast, catering to vacationers in Nantucket, Palm Beach and the like.

“Our Houston woman travels a lot. She wants ease of packing,” Lynch says. “She winters here, summers there. So since this is Texas, our biggest seasons are primarily spring and fall because these customers tend to go away in the winter months and the summer months.” (Read that second homes in enviable locales.)

In addition to the dreamy burgundy, violet and sophisticated patterned women’s fashions, the men’s nook at the front of the store enjoyed its fair share of shoppers. The up-dated preppy looks were clearly a hit with this River Oaks crowd.

Who: Patricia Griffith, Josh Bell, Brandon Weinbrenner, Lauren Taft and Libby Cagle, Charles Swan, Austin Miller, Kappie Boles, Kathryn Wilson, Wendy and Jeff Hines, Sofie Frommer, Mark Folkes, Michelle Ramsey, Tye Taft, and Stephanie Fore.