A Look Inside: The Style of Susan King

A Look Inside: The Style of Susan King

By Brady Sloane
Photography by Jennifer Nichols

“A Look Inside” often gives you an inside view of interesting buildings around town. For the style issue, however, we are taking an even closer look – into the closet, wardrobe and style of Susan King.

King, an Abilenian for 37 years, served the Abilene Independent School District Board for eight years, with two years serving as president, and is a fifth-term member of the Texas House of Representatives serving District 71. She is an avid collector of fashion, mostly items that tell a story or are like nothing she has seen before.

The Space 

Her main closet that she shares with her husband was previously used as a small bedroom for prior occupants who had 12 children. About ten years ago, King repainted the closet and had some additional storage built in. They also added a granite top to the vanity. During this time, they removed the carpet to reveal an open heart pine floor original to the house. Neutral paint colors were chosen so as not to distract from the clothing. In addition to shelving and hanging rods, a mirror and vanity sit at one end of the space. Her future plans for the closet include swapping out the light fixture for chandeliers.

King stores winter coats and furs in a cedar-lined closet in another area of the home and also stores various items (like her beloved boot collection from the 80’s) in another storage area.

King prefers to organize her clothing first by item, then by color. This method delightfully reveals her selection of red blazers worn often at the Capitol.

To care for more fragile pieces, sweaters and wool items, including some beautiful hats from Europe, are kept in a cedar chest that was hand-painted by her husband’s grandmother.

Personal Style

King describes her style as “weird, eclectic, and courageous; not a clone.” She enjoys finding items for her wardrobe at second market shops and sometimes vintage stores, estate sales and “great boutiques with sale items.” Some of her most interesting pieces were found while travelling domestically and internationally.

She has some beautiful costume crystal necklaces, including a replica of a necklace Nicole Kidman wore in the film Moulin Rouge. She also has kept a few things her mother sewed for her during adolescence.

“My mother made every single thing I had growing up. I didn’t have jeans until I was in college,” King said, which may have led to her love for fashion as an adult. She also keeps a denim sleeveless dress from the Gap she wore often to take her own children to school.

Refusing to suffer for fashion, she doesn’t notice if things are in style or not. Her approach to fashion is a focus on enjoyment and fun. Once, during a trip to Santa Fe, she packed fifteen hats and changed them out twice a day.

Clothing Cycle

While she doesn’t consider herself sentimental about her wardrobe, she admits she has let go of some items that were worn on a “less than positive occasion.” King doesn’t have a favorite item in her wardrobe, but she has detailed stories about when and where almost everything she owns came from.

An oversized turquoise belt buckle, for example, has a good one. While shopping at the Buffalo Gap Flea Market, she came across a salesman and asked if he had anything out of the ordinary. He pulled out a belt buckle with turquoise inlay that was custom designed for a man (who weighed over 400 pounds), but the customer never picked it up. The buckle measures over ten inches wide, and King knew the curve of the buckle would fit her petite frame perfectly at hip level. Due to the oddity of the item, a great price was decided on and everyone left pleased.

When acquiring something new, King says she knows something is perfect when, “I don’t have to wonder if it looks great, and the price is right. I try not to have shopper’s remorse and wish I’d gotten something when returning home without.”

In her home decor and wardrobe, she estimates the majority of her items are from someone else’s home or an estate sale stating, “I like things with a story more than things from a store.”

She has never sold items from her wardrobe (and feels that she may keep too much), but when cleaning out her wardrobe she prefers to donate to Faith Works, Salvation Army, or to friends and family.

While clothing doesn’t define a person, King’s outstanding wardrobe and sense of style offers a fun, engaging and unique glimpse at her personality.

Susan King’s organizing tips and wardrobe rules:

• If you’ve always felt like a piece of clothing doesn’t look good on you, get rid of it via donation or consignment.
• Organizing by category and color helps you see new outfit combination possibilities, thereby expanding your wardrobe potential.
• Never keep multiple sizes of clothing just in case you gain weight or some other rationale.
• If there is a new trend and you don’t like it, forget trends. Wear what you KNOW looks great on you and enjoy being eclectic and a trendsetter.
• Find a (brutally honest) friend to help you weed out items you no longer will wear
• Don’t please anyone but yourself; you’ll be the one wearing the clothes.