Plenty of places to wear hipster jewelry in Austin

I have to hand it to A&E's "Rollergirls." If nothing else, it leaves a better impression of our city than MTV's "Real World: Austin" did. "Rollergirls" isn't concerned with women's roller derby so much as the lifestyle of Austin hipsters, the group responsible for the sport's revival.

Here in Rollerland, we all live with roommates in rented South Austin bungalows and East Side warehouses. We spend our days at sidewalk cafés and our nights supporting our friends' art collectives. We'd be lost without tattoos and cheap beer. We wear truckie hats, secondhand clothes and indie designer jewelry.

One of the jewelry lines that makes an appearance is Xovo, which is designed by Cara Singleton, a native of Austin and a former Hollywood camerawoman. Princessy yet savage, it dovetails perfectly with the rollergirls' feral aesthetic. Crystals and faux pearls coexist with metal spikes and leather. Most of the pieces have lacquered mini-reproductions of paintings by contemporary artists, a few of whom are Austinites as well. They cost $35 to $150 and are sold at Cupidz Clozet, Book People and The Garden Room.

I know exactly where I'd show off my feral jewelry: the Peacock, the East Side bar created by and for hipsters. They also welcome mainstream sellouts like myself. I live nearby, so I go all the time, though on weeknights, I've noticed I'm the only woman there whose hair isn't longer in the front than in the back. That's why I'll never pass for a hipster.

Raise your hand if you were totally overbooked last weekend. It started Thursday, as weekends do, when Stephen Moser had a fashion show benefiting the art collective Gat5. You might know Moser as the Austin Chronicle's Style Avatar, but he has designed clothing, costumes and home decor for 25 years. Besides, with his trusty buttoned collars, brooches, sunglasses and fan, he always reminds me of Karl Lagerfeld.

Moser designed a collection of billowy loungewear, resortwear, gowns and clubwear out of Chinese brocades and simple but beautiful silks. The models were a cast of socialites and local celebrities including singer Patricia Vonne, jeweler Anthony Camargo of Anthony Nak and Mayor Will Wynn. I daresay not many mayors would be willing to model pajamas at all, let alone bare their chests, then turn around and coyly display their alabaster shoulders for the screaming, supportive audience at Antone's.

Moser was assisted by bridal designer Linda Asaf, who saved the day with some 11th-hour dressmaking. He was giddy with relief and joy when it was over. He was still giddy Saturday, when he threatened to make me model next season. Yay, I get to be a nervous wreck for the next six months.

Saturday I volunteered to work the door at the Thistle afterparty for Night in the Galleries. After a few hours of chauffeured revelry, the 400 gallery-hoppers who streamed in were loopy, happy and desperate for the bathroom. See "Party People" on the back page of this section for photos.

I was torn all night between Thistle and Oslo, where Brilliant magazine fêted its "hot singles" issue. Why I wasn't named one of the 100 hottest singles in Texas along with Andy Roddick and Luke Wilson, I can't fathom. Co-publisher Lance Morgan humored me and said I must have deleted the e-mail. Well, yes, that's the only reasonable explanation. It was flattering just to be invited to the party because that was the best-looking crowd I've seen in many months.

There were more parties that same night that I couldn't even make. I skipped AIA Austin's architecture awards gala at Seaholm because I didn't want to be in black tie all night. Apparently I missed something called Art Erotica Ball, which sounds perfectly scandalous. And of course, it was Mardi Gras on Sixth Street.

I can't be everywhere, but I'll keep trying.