Viva Santa Barbara: A Store for All Fiestas
Where You Can Find the Most Colorful, Joyful Clothes in the City
Around the corner from Tondi Gelato in Paseo Nuevo is a riot of vibrant color called Viva Santa Barbara, a store where everything Fiesta can be found. Ruffled skirts and dresses and handsome guayabera shirts come in sizes from the very smallest to the very largest, and — it must be said — at extremely good prices.
Even sweeter than the profusion of flowers and Lupitas, ceramic figurines hand-painted by two brothers in Jalisco, are proprietors Rafa and Aunt Rose, who welcome every customer into the store like family. For 28 years, Rafael Martel’s mother had clothed the Westside as Mely’s Fashions on San Andres Street, but when she retired, Rafa and his aunt, Rose Gonzales Mullins, opened as Viva Santa Barbara in Paseo Nuevo four years ago. It’s currently Fiesta central, though they revamp and revise all their stock for special holidays like Día de los Muertos, September 16’s Mexican Independence Day, the Feast of the Virgin of Guadalupe on December 12, and on through the holidays.
Fiesta posters, Fiesta pins, all variety of fans, and cascarones — beautifully decorated by Juana Pacheco — are displayed alongside Western shirts, young women’s clothing, and shoes and hats for young and old.
“Rafa is loved by everyone who knows him,” Aunt Rose confided, as she fanned out the beribboned folklórico skirts on display for the dancers. Rafa smiled as he looked around the store: “I love what I do.”
Viva Santa Barbara can be found at 505 Paseo Nuevo Mall, seven days a week, 11:30 a.m.-6:45 p.m.
