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Bandera’s fashionista takes on Today Show
By Melissa Benge
(Editor’s note: How exciting would it be to dress a couple of television personalities and help showcase Bandera and San Antonio? Well, read the following, submitted by Bandera’s favorite fashionista, and find out. Yee haw!)
NBC’s Today Show featuring a vacation in the Lone Star State aired Wednesday morning, July 29. My role is only a small portion of what went on with the Texas vacation series, but I feel truly blessed to have been one tiny, behind the scenes but special part that I wanted to share with y’all.
A couple of months ago, Jennifer, the producer of The Today Show, came to check out Bandera – and also Gunslinger. She asked if I would help wardrobe the anchors for an upcoming show. Well, of course!
I knew this would be just totally fun! So, Thursday, July 16, I set up a “boutique” in The Westin Luxury Salon on The Riverwalk in San Antonio where Kathie Lee Gifford and Hoda Kotb could browse through four brass bellboy racks – that, I might add, took about eight of those boys to roll it up to the 14th floor – seriously! You should have seen the looks we got going through the halls with all that stuff. Like you knew people were thinking “Has she ever heard of packing light???”
It all came down to finding appropriate clothing, hats, boots and accessories from Gunslinger for the girls – it was like, “Melissa, style Me!” – in everything head to toe. They had their own jeans when needed, but I provided them with a wonderful selection by Tasha Polizzi, Marrika Nakk, Ryan Michael, Pat Dahnke, Scully, Rockmount, Jerry Faires, Arnold Goldstein, Old Gringo and Back at The Ranch; 30 to 40 pairs of boots; nearly 40 hats by Michael Malone, items by Vintage Revival, Richard Schmidt, Vintage Sculpture, Kippy’s, bbSimon, Lazy Daisy and more.
Kathie Lee and Hoda had a ball playing dress up. Their clothing choices, however, were dictated by the extremely hot weather. The girls dressed for comfort and not just style – especially outdoor tapings scheduled for the first night and the next day.
FYI: Austin’s Bo Salon expertly did hair and makeup. Ron King and his two talented assistants were also assets to our adventure, but both Kathie Lee and Hoda are natural beauties!
Decked in their Gunslinger gear and ready for “a night out on the town in Texas,” the girls headed into SA to dine at Mi Tierra’s – oh my goodness, yum, you must try it sometime.
Meanwhile, we packed up – ugh!
Then Kathie Lee and Hoda came to Bandera where they were heartily welcomed by our colorful locals with whoops and hollering, good ole live country music and dancing at the one and only 11th Street Cowboy Bar. I nudged my friends Guy and Gilbert to jump in and teach those gals a little two steppin’!
The next morning, okay, I never even slept, too worried about oversleeping. If by chance, I’m in any crowd shots, I’m sure I will look totally exhausted. Anyway, early, early (at least for me, folks), I headed down the road to outfit the girls for their Dixie Dude Ranch experience, which is what attracted The Today Show to our area in the first place.
Diane and Clay Conoly were the perfect hosts and the Dixie Dude cooks served up a hearty breakfast and a fiesta lunch for everyone. Of course, Kevin Fitzpatrick performed. He was inducted into the Texas Heroes Hall of Fame during The National Day of the American Cowboy on Saturday, July 25 – wooo hooo, Kevin!
I snapped lots of pictures of the event. They may get posted on the new Cowboys and Indians Magazine website http://www.cowboysindians.com/home/. By the way, grab a subscription ‘cause Gunslinger’s – “where there’s always a cold one in the fridge!” – is in every issue.
Oops, back on subject …
Kevin taught both Kathie Lee and Hoda how to rope. And of course a couple of the Dixie Dude’s authentic wranglers showed them a lesson or two about Texas ranching and – what they weren’t expecting, (wink, wink) – work.
“Cookie” Joe Reedy taught them about chuck wagon cookin’.
Kathie Lee and Hoda returned to SA for a live segment, so I met them again with another – much smaller – wardrobe and let them select something fun to wear for the Wednesday, July 29, morning live feed.
Everyone was wonderful, warm, down-to-earth – and exceptionally funny. Kathie Lee, Hoda, Jennifer and the whole camera crew were just so cool to work with.
On a side note – but this is oh-so-important – a huge thanks to my sweet, sweet husband, Jim, who helped me pack everything up in the Gunslinger trailer and got us everywhere on time. Thanks for your patience and I appreciate everyone who has shopped with us so far!
Also, I don’t know what I would do without my awesome staff – Eric, Bird, Roxie, Sonya and Judi. And, of course, Bob, who’s busily polishing the girls’ boots right now to get the dude ranch dust off!
Thanks for reading and letting me ramble on. Yee Haw!
