Please wait. Contacting image service... loading

Article text

Boots-'n-buckskins
By
JULIE
KUSKO
Buckskins, boots,
and stetsons are
coming IN as top
fashion casual gear,
says Country and
Western television
star Reg Lindsay.
REG and his wife,
singer Heather
McKean, recently opened
Reg Lindsay's Country
Store and Trading Post
at Concord, a Sydney
suburb.
They sell exclusively
Western gear.
Judy Stone, Noeleen Bat-
ley, Graham Webb, Norm
Bodkin, and Kenny Sole are
among many entertainers
who are customers, much to
the delight of star-spotting
local residents.
The idea for the store has
been with the Lindsays a
long time. For six years they
toured the outback, appear-
ing at rodeos and Country
and Western shows.
People used to ask them
where they bought their
clothes and instruments.
"We usually ended up
getting things for them from
the cities," said Heather,
whose Western-style radio
program, "On the Trail with
Heather McKean," has been
running for 11 years.
"Before the bigger stores
opened country branches,
country people had nowhere
to get special things they
wanted. They heard me on
radio and felt they could
trust me, so they wrote ask-
ing me to buy things for
them. I once bought a
refrigerator for one fan.
"So you see, the store is
not a new idea. Now that
we've settled down, mainly
because of the children's
schooling, we've put it into
operation."
The Lindsays have three
daughters, Dianne, 13,
Sandra, 8, and Joanne, 5.
none Help
COUNTRY AND WESTERN STARS Reg and
Heather Lindsay with their daughters, Dianne,
Sandra, and Joanne. Heather says all the girls
love Western-style clothes and music.
none Help
SINGER HEATHER McKEAN (Mrs. Reg Lindsay)
at the Country Store and Trading Post. She had
been shopping for her radio fans for years.
Flying to Adelaide to tape
his "Country and Western
Hour" (screened on 26 Aus-
tralian TV stations), record-
ing his radio program in
Sydney, making records, and
touring interstate doesn't
leave Reg much time, so
Heather runs the store with
the help of two assistants.
As a Country and West-
ern star in her own right,
Heather has four EPs and
half a dozen single records
to her credit and an LP,
"Heather McKean sings
Patsy Cline."
"Western" revival
Heather and her sister,
Joy (married to Slim
Dusty), for many years
formed a duo as the
McKean Sisters.
Both Reg and Heather
believe there is a great
revival in Country and
Western music.
"Once aware of the music,
the next step is awareness of
Western clothing," said
Heather.
The Country Store and
Trading Post stocks all sorts
of Western gear - jackets,
boots, skirts (minis, too),
jeans, shirts, whips, Country
and Western records, rugs,
pots, pans, saddles, spurs,
and cow horns. They've even
got scouts out scouring the
countryside for rare genuine
sulky wheels.
Heather says Western
clothes are smart, well-cut,
and very comfortable.
"And the boots — once
you've worn them you just
don't want to take them off,"
she said.
"Reg designs some of the
boots himself. It's the same
with suits. Either Reg designs
them or the customer tells us
what he wants. We get an
American firm to make
them. They send us the
fabric samples, we then send
them the measurements, and
in six weeks the finished
product arrives.
"It's surprising how many
of the young people like to
wear this gear-particularly
the hand-carved leatherwork.
The young surfies like the
fringed jackets-they're fan-
tastic sellers-and the girls
go for the cotton jackets to
wear over bathers to the
beach.
"We now import the
latest rodeo styles and equip-
ment from the U.S.
"Soon we'll be getting
cowboy outfits for the
kiddies and supplying equip-
ment to pony clubs."
Dianne, Sandra, and
Joanne Lindsay love wearing
Western clothes and like
Country and Western music,
too-they have appeared on
their father's TV show.
"Dianne is very keen on
singing and has a very good
voice," said Heather proudly.
"But a career is a long way
off. Later, if she decides to
take it up, we'll help, but we
won't push her."
$