FINEST FASHIONS LISA SORRELL CHATS WITH MARTY STUART LS: Your musical genius is wellknown, but perhaps everyone isn’t so aware of your passion for collecting vintage country music stagewear. Why is this important to you? MS: It’s about preservation. When I began collecting, you could find this stuff at thrift stores and garage sales. I understood that they were relics of the past. Plus, they looked cool! As a child, I’d watch country music shows with my dad on an old black and white TV. The first time I saw stagewear in color was when Ernest Tubb visited Mississippi, and I got to see him in concert. He and his band stepped out in pink suits with rhinestones, and it was
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the most beautiful vision ever. I had the opportunity to meet many of the artists and makers behind the clothing when I was a kid traveling with Lester Flatt. We went to Nudies, and just by showing an interest, I got invited to back rooms to meet the makers — the ones actually doing the work. I met Manuel at Nudies when I was 13 or 14. I was interested in what they were doing, and because of that genuine interest, they shared information and knowledge and made me feel welcome. That gave me another level of appreciation for the clothing and boots as I began collecting them; I often recognized
the work of individual artists. LS: You and I met when you were commissioning boots from Jay Griffith in Guthrie, Oklahoma. How did you find Jay? MS: In the early days of going out on my own as a musician, I played a bar in Oklahoma and met a guy named Bobby Barnett. He was a country music singer who had a great eye for clothing and boots, and he gave me some Nudie suits and boots. We hung out after a show one night, and he told me there was a bootmaker in Guthrie I needed to meet. He introduced me to Jay, who was an absolute legend. He was like the Porter Wagoner of boot making, one
HONKY TONK TIMES
