With two stores total (a South Congress location and a separate downtown flagship), By George is an Austin institution for the fashion-infatuated.
But By George proves to be more than just fashion.
From the laid-back seating area to soaps and candles, to bowls and kites, to employees with the best 100:100:100 friendly to helpful to chill ratio of any store you've ever walked into, By George firmly grounds itself more as a lifestyle and less as a store. And "being" By George is truly something to aspire to be. If everyone "were" By George, the world would be a better place.
Shelves and tables curated with a small selection of books, housewares, spa-smelling and colorful geometric bath soaps, a very select collection of three Le Labo candles, and an incredible fully functioning sailboat-shaped kite round out the store's offerings. Centered around neither men nor women, but instead around good sense for what's right, these are items anyone would find tasteful.
An excellent and refined men's shoe collection complements that of the ladies' and offers a can't-go-wrong shoe-shopping experience for potentially uncertain male shoppers; but worry not, "fashionistos," for you will be equally pleased with the likes of Lanvin and Common Projects.
Meanwhile, women's staples like bags, jeans, and tasteful dressing rooms with great mirrors comfort the female shopper while her man discovers -- perhaps for the first time -- what it's like to fall in love with shoes, bags, and French for himself as the soft yet durable leather of WANT Les Essentiels de la Vie opens his imagination.
From its wares to its walls, By George exhibits beauty that resonates throughout those lucky enough to experience its fine treasures, the main affair of which might just be what perfectly melds the mid-century modern with the contemporary: the tantalizing twin Julie Lansom Sputnik pendant lights from L'ArcoBaleno, whose hand-painted, white, wooden frames were also hand-woven with blue and gold cotton thread by Lansom herself in her Paris studio.
Those that wish to experience the remarkable By George will have to visit Austin, which is itself a beautiful and quickly maturing city of youth, technology, art, culture, and a splash of country charm. While both the downtown and South Congress stores are worth a visit, the latter is the more open and enchanting of the two if you only have time for one...and it's also the store covered in these images.
Thankfully for the whole world, By George's curated goods can be seen on its site, too, at ByGeorgeAustin.com.