Stephen Montoya
Gayle Hill founder of Maverick Fine Western Wear.
A rhetorical question: Is there a better time to be in the Western wear industry? If fashion keeps trending the way it is, there could be a whole generation of people who look at a button and wonder why it’s not a pearl snap.
And we’d also argue, if one was in the Western wear industry, there’s no better place to be than where Maverick Fine Western Wear sits, the corner of North Main Street and E Exchange Avenue in the Fort Worth Stockyards — ground zero for where the West begins.
The 30-year-old Western wear shop is a beacon of western style, which is observed by locals and envied by the throng of national and international visitors who swing by the Stockyards to catch a glimpse of the Old West. Whether you’re in the market for a custom cowboy hat, a slick high-end pair of boots, or a nice piece of bling to accentuate your already honed Western look, this spot is what we would call a “go-to.”
Stephen Montoya
Gayle Hill opened the store in 1987, four years after opening the still-popular General Store across North Main Street. The way she tells it, the tenant of the much-desired corner spot that would eventually become Maverick had abandoned the store, leaving her wondering about its possibilities.
“The landlord is my ex-husband, and I asked him if I could have that spot to expand and do something a little different because the General Store is mostly gifts and souvenirs,” she says. “I wanted an opportunity to start doing ladies clothing, sportswear, and jewelry.”
Hill would get her wish and would soon expand, knocking down her store’s east wall and taking over what was once the Maverick Social Club — hence the name. Hill says she wasn’t about to take out the social club’s long wooden bar that was in the center of her new expansion.
“I didn’t see any reason to destroy the beautiful bar,” Hill says. “So, we got a beer license, which allows us to not only sell beer, but also wine. This spot also gives our customers a place to sit and relax while they’re shopping. And the men especially like it.”
But Hill’s customers, which include the likes of Eric Clapton and Pat Green, don’t frequent her store because of the beer. No siree, they come for the western wear. On any given day, Maverick carries everything from women’s western gear and jewelry to high-end cowboy, or ahem, cowgirl boots.
Another unique item Maverick is proud as punch to have is one of only three custom cowboy hat conformatuers in the Lone Star State. Inspired by a French design that dates back to the 1840s, this device is used to track the skull pattern of anyone wanting to buy a custom fit high-end cowboy hat. When placed on a customer’s head, this device uses a series of pins to punch holes into a card that gives an exact outline of their head shape to scale. Just imagine a dark ages torture device turned hatter tool.
Stephen Montoya
“To this day, there is no better way to get a custom fit, and it remains the best technology (or anti-technology) in hat making,” a promo card in the store reads.
Despite Maverick’s legendary inventory, unique space, and phenomenal locale, Hill says none of it would mean anything without the aid of her staff, whom she treats like honest to goodness family.
“My real claim to fame is the people that I’ve managed to get to work with because they’re the real reason Maverick is what it is,” Hill says. “I’ll take credit for finding this place, but I can’t take credit for the merchandise. I mean, sure, I like a lot of it, and I go with ‘em to oversee purchases, but I try not to be the final word. I feel like they’re more talented in that area and that’s really what’s given us continued success.”
