When I was in Houston a few months ago one of the places my friend Kate took me to was the fantastic shop Installations Antiques. The store (which is located in an old commercial bakery) is a great mix of American and European antiques, with an emphasis on Belgian goods. One thing I really like about the things on offer at Installations are the modifications that owners Becki and Jur van der Oord (hence the concentration on Belgian antiques) make to some of the found objects — like making a light out of a aluminum aircraft wing. It sounds like a stretch, but Becki and Jur really have excellent taste and it shows. The shop is beautifully merchandised — probably the best merchandised independent store I have ever been to. I bet the folks from Pottery Barn and Restoration Hardware visit often, so they can knock it off.

Peruse the shop in the photos below, or better yet stop by next time you are in Houston. Might be best to take a truck, at least I wish I did.

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The first factory tour I posted on ACL was Rocco Ciccarelli’s suit factory in Queens.  Previous to that, my friend took me to a tie factory in Manhattan but that predates ACL and it was never posted. Watching the ties being made was my first foray into the spectator sport of apparel manufacturing. This week — with a trip to the Hamilton Shirts factory in Houston — I finally completed the trifecta of menswear staples: suits, shirts and ties.

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The past few days have been spent doing a little business and visiting friends in Houston, Texas. One of the places my friend Kate took me to was the Texas Junk Company in the Fourth Ward section of town. Texas Junk is a quirky shop full of all sorts of odds and ends. Everything from broom handles to old doors to all sorts of other “junk” that you might need. However, the main attraction of the place are the vintage cowboy boots and western wear. Texas Junk is the destination for some vintage boots — everything is neatly organized by size in the cluttered warehouse of a store. While perusing the boots we met a newly transplanted New Yorker who had just started a job with Exxon and was humorously trying to “immerse himself in the local culture.” It seems like he is on the right track. Texas Junk seems like the perfect place to start.

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