Cat Cardenas for Texas Monthly - 3/11/19
Images by Jeff Wilson
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Now a cold-season staple, the duster came straight out of the Old West. With a hem that pooled around the ankles, the long, rugged coat shielded cowboys from the elements on cattle drives. When open-air motorcars came along, women began wearing refined, elaborate versions. In recent years, these classic pieces have become part of a Western-wear craze that has ushered in boutique hat bars, cowboy boots at fashion week, and “coastal cowgirls.” Designer Sarah Ellison Lewis has joined the revival with Texas Duster Company, an apparel brand that marries modern design with vintage flair.
“The duster was the original workwear,” she says, adding that it’s as versatile as the little black dress or the classic white button-down.
Lewis grew up in the tiny town of Anderson, about thirty miles southeast of College Station, where she tended to her show steers and received an informal fashion education from her mother, an antiques dealer with a treasure trove of vintage clothes. Together they frequented markets, including the semiannual mecca in Round Top, where they would marvel at grandiose feathered Victorian hats, necklaces made of Czech glass beads, and dresses from the forties.
