Keeping Shop

(NEW YORK) A flair for period jewelry isn't Karen Elson's sole passion. At a dinner she co-hosted on Thursday for Palm Beach-based House of Lavande, the redhead supermodel revealed that she is opening a vintage clothing boutique in Nashville, Tennessee. She now calls the city home with her husband, musician Jack White, and their two children, Scarlett Teresa and Henry Lee. "It's just gold untouched," she told Fashion Week Daily of the Tennessee capital, better known for its Grand Ole Opry and Country Music Hall of Fame than couture finery. "What the old grande dames have is just amazing!"

The new store, which Elson said has not yet been named, will bow on Belmont Boulevard near Belmont University by the end of the year. The 29-year old model's partner in the retail venture is Amy Patterson, whom she met locally and who has had a vintage store in Nashville for the past 10 years called Venus and Mars. "There are so many fashion shoots in Nashville," Elson offered. "I want to sell everything from vintage Kenny Valenti and rare Ossie Clarke to Valentino couture--but also cheaper vintage stuff to attract a wider audience." Elson added that she wants to also carry some new young designers as well.

In the meantime, the British beauty is concentrating on obtaining her driver's license and the upcoming November presidential election, around the time which her Citizens Band will perform (the troupe was formed in November 2004 out of political frustration and plain annoyance following President Bush's reelection). "One of my neighbors is supporting Obama and the other, Hilary, so I feel like I'm home," said the staunch Democrat and Obama advocate.
JIM SHI