HIGH-FALUTIN BRINGS HIGH FASHION, CAMARADERIE TO REFUGIO

High-Falutin clothing boutique offers Southern-style home decor for sale.

Photos by Kendall Warner/kwarner@vicad.com

HIGH-FALUTIN OFFERS HIGH FASHION, CAMARADERIE

BY MORGAN THEOPHIL mtheophil@vicad.com

REFUGIO – When people walk into High-Falutin, a hip, fashionable boutique tucked off U.S. 77, it’s not rare that they feel the store is out of place in a quaint, small town.

“We’ve had a lot of people walk in here and go, ‘I can’t believe you’re here, in little old Refugio – you belong in a big city,’” said owner Debra Moore.

But High-Falutin does belong in Refugio, Moore said.

“We feel that it really brings value to this community,” she explained. “If you’re from a small town, you need a fun, welcoming, fashionable place, too.”

High-Falutin, 208 N. Alamo St., sells clothing, shoes and accessories for women, girls and babies; clothing and accessories for men; and home decor and gift items.

Also, the store has a section called 77 Outfitters, which offers fishing gear, clothing and accessories.

Before it stood as its own vibrant store, the early stages of High-Falutin were found in a laundromat.

Moore and her husband, Kenneth, have owned Greenhouse Cleaners & Laundry – which is on the other side of High-Falutin – for years, after purchasing it from Debra Moore’s parents. It was there that Moore started embroidering and printing on shirts every so often, alongside running the laundry business.

One thing led to another, she said, and before she knew it, people starting asking for accessories to match

whatever she made.

Moore’s husband said it’d be hard to legitimize High-Falutin in a laundromat, and he always saw potential in the building where the two run the boutique now. But it took time for everything to line up.

When the two were finally going to purchase the building, it was ravaged by Hurricane Harvey. They nearly backed out, but ended up buying it in January 2018.

After months of repairs and hard work, High-Falutin had its grand opening on Sept. 15, 2018.

“I knew everything would happen in God’s time,” Moore said. “This is when it all came together.”

Now, the store is visited by people just passing through Refugio as well as locals, Moore said. The vibrant shop offers unique, boutique-style brands as well as major names, including Oakley, Columbia, Mustard Seed and Judith March.

The store’s wide array of accessories includes earrings, necklaces and “every color of bead made under the sun,” Moore said.

Shannon Hendley said she finds herself in High-Falutin about once a week and each time finds something new to buy.

“I get my dry cleaning done by (the Moores), come on in here to shop, it’s like a great one-stop shop,” she said. “I’ve told Debra if they sold bread and eggs here, we’d never need to leave.”

Hendley, a volunteer with Refugio’s Chamber of Commerce, said High-Falutin and its owners are “so supportive of community events.”

High-Falutin is designed to be a store where people can gather together, shop for “adorable, affordable outfits” and feel welcome and have fun, Moore said. She said that every so often, some older women stop in and don’t shop at all, but sit and enjoy a glass of wine while sharing one another’s company.

“They make everybody who comes in here feel like your best friend,” Hendley said.

 IF YOU GO

HIGH-FALUTIN

211 3rd St., Refugio

HOURS// 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays; 11 a.m.- 2 p.m. Saturday; closed Sunday

TOP: High-Falutin clothing boutique offers a men’s section focused on fishing gear and apparel.

BOTTOM: Coffee and water are offered all day to shoppers along with wine in the afternoon.

A mannequin inside High-Falutin clothing boutique offers ideas on how to style pieces of clothing they sell.

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