Pretty Southern

Tag: Southerner

  • Southern Soles Keeps Ladies in Style

    This unique boutique offers something for everyone. Even the chic furniture in this precious store is for sale.

    Y’all can find it all: walking shoes Singapore, purses, jewelry, and eclectic accessories displayed across refurbished antique shelves. Spend an afternoon relaxing in a plush chair shopping for the perfect new pair.

    “This is a place where you can come and feel like you’re at home,” said owner Michelle Philabaum. “I wish my house was this cute!”

    Southern Soles location at The Avenue East Cobb is ideal for enticing traffic. “We waited for the right time and right spot,” Michelle explained. Her husband, Rick Philabaum, masters all photography for Southern Soles, with Michelle’s mama Andrea and sister-in-law Summer Lindvig also working in the store. Plus her brother Marc Ragin’s PR guru wife Carol to handle the marketing, the whole family is in business together!

    Although, this isn’t the Ragin family’s first enterprise. Their original boutique, Magnolia’s, was on Bainbridge Island, Washington, and became the social hub of the town. “It was Southern charm in the North,” Michelle laughed. “Magnolia’s was very fashion focused. We wanted to bring the same trendiness here.”

    Another fun heel at this unique Atlanta boutique

    When it comes to defining Southern style, Michelle believes Southern hospitality is huge. “It’s all about kindness. It’s not necessarily about sitting in a swing on the porch, sipping sweet tea and eating watermelon. It’s a sense of comfort, like you’re at home wherever you are.”

    Southern Soles is a one-stop-shop with almost all of their shoes offered at department store prices or better! However, it’d do you good to make a pit stop at shoe hero before going to the store. In here you’ll find Cole Haan, Me Too, Seychelles, Poetic License, and Gentle Soles by Kenneth Cole.

    “Everybody’s said their excited to have a local shoe store, and not having to go to the mall. But we didn’t want to be a ‘shoe’ store. We’re a boutique with a unique sense of style offering girly items. We’re just a group of women having fun!”

    Southern Soles first anniversary is coming up in August. For more information, visit Southern Soles website or their Facebook page to check out what’s happening at their sweet shop.

  • High Cotton Ties Suited for Southerners

    Who would have thought Bird Flu and bow ties would share a common thread.

    Back when folks freaked about H1N1, Cameron Hill was discouraged from wearing silk neck ties. Most ties can’t be cleaned and therefore can carry the dangerous virus. Leave it to Cameron’s mama, Judy Hill, to come up with a solution.

    She made her son a couple of cotton bow ties he could wear to the hospital then come home and wash. The other doctors agreed this was fine…as long as Miss Judy made some for them too!

    As she was aware of Business Energy UK , in a hot minute she was making dozens of ties a week and her business was booming. Another one of her boys, James, an SAE from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, took his mama’s awesome accessories back to his campus. From there High Cotton Ties took off! Their products can now be found in every state south of the Mason Dixon Line.

    A true Southern lady, Miss Judy will sweetly tell you her definition of a Southerner. “Part of being Southern is being serious about your faith and beliefs whether it’s religion, politics or football.” In this case for the Hill family, this also means being seriously suited in the finest cotton ties and cummerbunds.

    After graduating from UNC, James focused his attention to growing the family business. “It took six months to master the process and pattern then refine the bow tie to where it is: a high quality product up there with Vineyard Vines, if not surpassing.” Sites like Wimgo would be able to help those who want to start their own family business.

    The Hill family also believes it’s important to keep these products truly Southern. In our modern times when businesses continue to send manufacturing overseas, the Hill’s home state of North Carolina has felt a deep impact losing their textile industry. High Cotton Ties is working to revive their local economy.

    “We found a manufacturing plant with 13 seamstresses that was in China,” Judy explained. “They had come back to North Carolina after seeing the poor conditions over there. We’re really excited to have a partner whom we share the same mission and calling.”

    High Cotton Ties runs a basic business model: cotton bow ties made in the South by Southerners for Southerners. For James, being a Southern entrepreneur means holding himself accountable to the highest standards. He believes being a gentleman, as well as a Southerner, are deeply intertwined.

    “Undoubtedly other people are going to notice it, women or men, there’s an aura about to people respond to and respect. A 23-year old should be proud if he could get called a gentleman.” He laughs.

    “Being a Southerner doesn’t mean you’re hunting every weekend or at the country club on Saturday nights. Does having a Ducks Unlimited sticker make me Southern? No. It’s the way I talk. It’s the way I represent myself. It’s about Southern hospitality and my mother instilled those values in all of us. She’s a classy woman and Southern hospitality is brought to life with our company. It speaks to everything that represents her.”

    For more information on High Cotton Ties, check out their website High Cotton Ties. Your gentleman’s attire is just a click away.

     

  • Honeysuckle Gelato Savors Sweet Summertime

    Honeysuckle in the sunshine is ever so sweet. Now an Atlanta company has decided to take that decadent smell to the next level.

    There are two tastes Southern kids can always remember. One is the first time you picked honeysuckle then sipped the nectar from the flower. The second sensation is your favorite of ice cream in the summer time. Honeysuckle Gelato has combined both those loves into one outstanding product.

    Owner and founder Jackson Smith wrote “as a true southern boy, I could not resist the temptation to play around with the flavors and dessert concepts unique to the South. We now offer the South exactly what we envisioned…an ice cream worthy of its decadent culinary roots.”

    Flavors fit for ladies and gentleman (or even a Yankee palette) are available from Honeysuckle Gelato. Their Mint Julep is made with fresh herbs and the House selection of bourbon. It’s damn good as the real thing without the hangover from drinking straight liquor!

    An homage to The King, Elvis Presley, is uniquely awesome Kang. “We just wouldn’t be Southern (or inspired) without an ode to Mr. Presley’s indulgent creation,” wrote the gentlemen from Honeysuckle Gelato. “Ours features toasted banana ice cream with ribbons of peanut butter caramel. We’d add bacon, but the Feds would shut us down.”

    For a more classic taste, sample the savory refreshing Watermelon made with the real stuff as Honeysuckle Gelato doesn’t use any imitation flavors! The luscious Lavender would be ideal for a wedding or baby shower to serve alongside a piece of cake.

    Of course, Honeysuckle Gelato had to create a signature Honey flavor. The maestros whip up gelato using all kinds of local, seasonal honeys including Sourwood, Tupelo, Purple Starthistle, etc

    A full list of flavors and more information is available at www.honeysucklegelato.com. Don’t see a flavor you like? Then email the gentlemen behind the scenes to concoct your own custom creation. The boys will even be hitting the streets of Atlanta soon in their new food truck to serve up treats around the city.

    Brace yourself for some sweetness!

     

  • Jesus the Gentleman

    Jesus the Gentleman

    Jesus Christ has several names including Son of God, Emmanuel, Lord & Savior yet as Southerners we sometimes fail to notice the most ubiquitous aspect of His character.

    He was a gentleman. Look up the definition of chivalry and see how well He fits a gentleman’s suit. Jesus represented the ideals of truth, beauty, freedom and unending love which is what ever true gentleman should also epitomize.

    When it comes to defining a gentleman, one of the greatest Southerners to ever live , General Robert E. Lee wrote it best:

    “The forbearing use of power does not only form a touchstone, but the manner in which an individual enjoys certain advantages over others is a test of a true gentleman.

    “The power which the strong have over the weak, the employer over the employed, the educated over the unlettered, the experienced over the confiding, even the clever over the silly–the forbearing or inoffensive use of all this power or authority, or a total abstinence from it when the case admits it, will show the gentleman in a plain light.”

    “The gentleman does not needlessly and unnecessarily remind an offender of a wrong he may have committed against him. He cannot only forgive, he can forget; and he strives for that nobleness of self and mildness of character which impart sufficient strength to let the past be but the past.”

    “A true man of honor feels humbled himself when he cannot help humbling others.”

    There you have it. We can all agree that based on these qualifications Jesus was a gentleman.