16 BEST OF DALLAS® 2026 dallasobserver.com DALLAS OBSERVER ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT | SPORTS & RECREATION | FOOD & DRINK | SHOPPING & SERVICES | READERS’ CHOICE | CONTENTS BEST NEW FASHION BOUTIQUE Kick Pleat 4710 W. Lovers Lane, Dallas kickpleat.com Kick Pleat is the premier destination for hand-picked fashion brought to you by founder Wendi Koletar. The Dallas location has been open for a little over a year and continues the fashionista legacy that began at their original Austin shop. Kick Pleat is ahead of the curve in discovering designers and brands you can’t find in Dallas. The racks feature labels from all over the world. There are well-known names like Comme des Garçons and a WJ Martin collection ex- clusive to Kick Pleat designed for those who value quality fabrics and comfortable sil- houettes. BEST NEW VINTAGE STORE Satori 1322 N Peak St., Dallas instagram.com/satori_dallas You don’t have to be a fashionista or even trendy to know that Y2K aesthetics are back in big, blinged-out form. Mini handbags, leopard print baby tees and oversized camo cargo pants are the object of everyone’s eye, and Satori in East Dallas is putting it all in fo- cus for us. The vintage women’s boutique is stocked with Carrie Bradshaw-approved de- signer pieces from brands like Christian Dior, Jean Paul Gaultier, Miu Miu and just about every other closet-candied label imaginable. Even if you don’t walk out with the vintage find of your Paris and Nicole dreams, a selfie in the fuzzy pink fitting rooms will make it a successful shopping trip every time. BEST VINTAGE CLOTHING ....... Fetch Vintage 1501 S. Ervay St., Dallas @fetchvintagestudio Dallas officially made “fetch” happen. This shop initially opened in late 2025, served up delicious lattes and then promptly closed, leaving local fashionistas with nowhere to go for their fur-lined needs. But Fetch returned this year with cheetah-print pool tables and a bigger space. The vintage shop, opened by two sisters, offers a wide selection, including Juicy tracksuits and designer deals. And you can sip on a cherry matcha while you browse. Get in loser, we’re going shopping. ............................ Rare Heart Vintage 330 W. Davis St., Dallas rareheartvintage.com This shop, named one of the best vintage stores in Dallas by Vogue Magazine, is tucked off the main drag in Bishop Arts. The shop, known for its unbeatable women’s wear, carries a healthy dose of men’s wear too, and it’s just as good. Owner and curator Katie White has an encyclopedic knowledge of vintage clothing, so if you’re a devout be- liever in “They just don’t make things like they used to,” you’ll relish in White’s collec- tion and expertise. BEST THRIFT SHOP Cliffhanger Community Store 900 E. Clarendon Drive, Dallas cliffhangerthrift.com There are thrift shops, and there are vintage shops. The terms are often used inter- changeably, though they shouldn’t be. Vin- tage shops are stocked by experts, and you pay premium prices for their knowledge and time spent sourcing. On the other hand, thrift shops are less fussy but equally less ex- pensive. Cliffhanger is a bit of both: it has a good selection of amazing finds, but there’s no sticker shock when you enter the store. Open in the East Dock, the store hosts free Fridays, putting out a rack of free items at the end of every workweek. ................. Grapevine Antique Mall 1641 W. Northwest Highway, Grapevine grapevineantiquemarket.com This antique mall is pretty big. Like 25,000 square feet big. With more than 150 ven- dors, traversing the entire space takes at least an hour, even if you’re speed-walking it. There are quirky, fun knick-knacks and vintage tchotchkes as far as the eye can see, literally. Provided by Kick Pleat | B I G D R E A L I T Y : N A N C Y R O D R I G U E Z | | Q & A | How long did you live in the Dallas area? . After I finished graduate school, I moved to Dallas and lived there for almost 10 years. What is your favorite Dallas restaurant? . A classic is always Oishii Sushi. What is your favorite Dallas park or greenspace? . I love taking my family to Klyde Warren Park, but we take the trolley that drops us off there! What is your favorite coffee shop? . La Reunion is my go-to spot, combining a coffee shop with live music. What is the one place in Dallas you take out-of-town visitors? . I love taking visitors to Bishop Arts for food, shopping, and live music! N ancy Rodriguez was one of the more grounded personali- ties on her “Love Is Blind” season, even as her relationship with Bartise Bowden became one of the season’s biggest sources of drama. A Dallas-area speech pathologist and real estate investor, Rodriguez’s relationship survived disagreements with her fiancé over family and even abortion. The Dallas setting occasionally crept into their story. The couple went on a swanky date at Perry’s Steakhouse in Uptown, for one ex- ample. They didn’t do as much local trekking as some of the other couples, as much of their story unfolded in their apartment and at group gatherings before their disastrous wedding. At the altar, Rodriguez said, “I do,” but Bowden did not, leading to an angry confrontation between their families. She later told the Los Angeles Times that a couple of weeks before the wedding she planned to say no, but gave him another chance after he asked her to reconsider. After the show aired, Rodriguez began lifting weights, trav- eled more and expanded her real estate portfolio. Netflix re- ported in 2024 that she had continued buying properties and was “thriving.” Her financial life has become a major part of her post-show identity. In a May 2024 appearance on Jason Tartick’s “Trad- ing Secrets” podcast, Nancy discussed eliminating $100,000 in debt and building her real estate in- vestments. She also talked about creating a so- cial-media business around sharing what she had learned about money and investing. In a May 2025 “Banking on Cultura” inter- view, Nancy said she still works as a speech-language pathologist while using Insta- gram and TikTok to discuss real estate, finance and other parts of her life. She also talked about learning to be more selective about what she shares publicly after discovering that reality-TV expo- sure can follow her indefinitely. Romantically, it seems as though Rodriguez may have finally found what she couldn’t find in the pods back in 2022. She told People magazine in 2024 that she began a relationship with a “Love Is Blind” fan who had reached out through social media DMs just before she moved to New York, where she still lives. Kick Pleat