The Emerson Rose Marquee Is Giving Us Life
Image: Instagram/emersonrose
I am, it must be said, a huge fan of an irreverent marquee. Now that the internet has more or less stolen their original reason for existence, you might as well have fun with them.
Underbelly usually uses theirs to support Houston sports teams or mention happy hour, with the occasional reference to the space's previous life as a lesbian club. On Richmond in Upper Kirby, Indian restaurant Khyber has for years been waging a one-sided war with neighboring marquee-marketer Pappadeaux, putting up odd and occasionally pointed responses to whatever deal the seafood restaurant is currently pushing. It's so strange I'll go out of my way to see what weird ish is on the marquee on any given week.
So its fair to say the title of 'favorite Houston marquee sign,' does not come easily, and the winner is Emerson Rose, an affordable clothing and accessories boutique on 19th Street in the Heights. I've noticed it for months, sitting in front of the store, often next to a perfectly accessorized mannequin, flirting with me.
I know street harassment is supposed to be bad but honestly I'm fine with it when the source is a non-sentient object that just wants to let me know I'm looking pretty fly.
It's even responsive to the weather, and completely factual if you consider tassel earrings and cute cards to be sunshine in shopping form, which of course we do.
During rodeo season when the goods in the store were giving Willie, Waylon and Merle a lot of love, the sign repped for the lady legends of country—can we get this on a tee too, guys?
Considering that many of the tees and other merch in store is covered in mottos like "Texas is my happy place," "Adios, pantalones" and "Team Champagne," this is clever marketing that can't help but appeal to meme-loving millennials. And then, just in case you weren't already slayed, they quoted Mean Girls.
Just take all my money. It's fine.
