From the corner of the Discovery Green stage, Horacio Alonzo paid close attention to his wife Vanessa Alonzo’s movements — how her dress swayed as she danced to the sound of the mariachi, the length of the embroidered skirt, how much freedom she had to move her arms, how comfortable she was singing on stage.
Horacio is also the architect behind the design and stitch of most of the dresses Vanessa wears on stage.
“I’m always looking at the dress making sure that it performs the way it should,” Horacio said. “Is it too long on this side, too short? I’m always looking for what adjustments I can make so that in the next event she won’t have to worry about that.”
“They are all special, like keepsakes,” Vanessa said, adding each look adds confidence to her performances.
Vanessa, 43, is a renowned local Mariachi singer who was featured in the Cruzar La Cara de La Luna play that premiered in 2010 by Houston’s Grand Opera, which has toured around the world as the first to mix mariachi and opera.
Horacio, 46, is a well-known lowrider upholsterer with 30 years of experience creating intricate designs for Houston’s classic car scene. He is president of a lowrider and classic car club called Firme, and works at his family’s shop Ordayas Custom, where his father taught him to work on car interiors.
Since 2015, Horacio found a new passion in teaching himself how to make dresses for his wife, looks that would make her feel confident and comfortable on stage.
“I like to challenge myself,” Horacio said. “I watch videos, photos of dresses to get ideas of what I can make. With her dresses, and with my lowriders, the next one has to be better than before.”
The two started dating in 2004 and got married a year later. Over the last 20 years, their artful stories have intertwined as they’ve learned the ins and outs of each other’s professional careers and have become each other’s most fervent supporters. And while they aren’t technically in business together, they indeed are each others’, business partners.
Lowriders, mariachis and Pancho Claus
Well before the renaissance of dating apps and online chat rooms, a love story unique to Houston came to life: A clash of Latino and Chicano artforms in the form of Vanessa, a then-aspiring mariachi singer, and Horacio, a car enthusiast and soon to become lowrider expert.
Their first date 20 years ago was eventful and foreshadowed what was to come. Horacio recalls picking up Vanessa at her then home in Houston’s First Ward in his truck, ready to go to dinner, but she had one quick stop before.
“I had a gig on our first date,” Vanessa recalls laughing. “But it was great! It was an event for Pancho Claus… I said, ‘I just had to go in, sing a song and we can leave,’ and he said ok, so we did, and did my gig.”
Horacio was not upset, he knew Pancho Claus through the lowrider community and was familiar with his fundraising events. So after a song or two, the couple headed to the original Spaghetti Warehouse in Downtown Houston.
After that, Horacio’s drives from Stafford to downtown Houston became a daily occurrence, supporting any gig that Vanessa had in the books.
“My mom would ask, ‘¿A que viene ese muchacho todos los dias?’” Vanessa said holding the hand of her now-husband of nearly 20 years. “‘Pues, no’ mas a verme, ma,’ I would say.”
Vanessa was a performing artist long before they met. She is a product of First Ward and of MECA – the Multicultural Education and Counseling through the Arts school – where she started when she was in middle school. She began by singing in her school’s mariachi band and practicing after school at MECA, a feat she would accomplish with a white lie or two.
“When I started in the mariachi, my mom never really gave me permission,” she said. “So I would tell her I had to stay late at school for a project.”
Before she could go out to do her after school activities, Vanessa had chores to finish at home. Sometimes she couldn’t make practice. But one day, MECA founder Alice Valdez knocked on her door and told her mother that Vanessa had talent and needed her in her mariachi program.
Her mother reluctantly gave in, and Vanessa joined the mariachi under the direction of Alfonso Guerra who saw potential in her and gave her her first song, “Tu Solo Tu,” a classic mariachi song written by Felipe Valdéz Leal.
“Next thing I know, we were at the Houston Rodeo opening for the Mariachi Invitational,” Vanessa said. “I started going places with MECA.”
Vanessa embarked on a rewarding mariachi career that has led her to tour the world with performances such as Cruzar la Cara de la Luna with the Houston Grand Opera, to coaching young mariachi singers for competitions such as the National Mariachi Vargas Extravaganza.
Through the years, Vanessa also became acquainted with lowriders, Horacio’s passion since his high school years, and the community he had built through car clubs, including Firme Car Club, which he established in 1997.
Lowriders are known for carrying the owner’s persona — from the intricate paint jobs, lettering and chrome details on the outside, to the lush interiors with custom fabrics, intricate classic stitching and monogram lettering. And of course, a true lowrider is known for its hydraulics that lift and lower the car and give it that attention-grabbing bounce.
Horacio can do all of the above – although the paint work he saves for his own cars – all traits that he learned from his father and on his own by trying new things.
“All I’ve known my whole life has been a shop,” Horacio said. “My first lowrider, my father did the interiors and I did hydraulics.”
From the moment he decided to build his own lowrider, he has specialized in hydraulics and upholstery. This is work that he’s done to hundreds of custom cars for area clubs or individuals. But it is also a skill that has transferred onto the stage with his wife.
The making of a dress
Performances such as the ones Vanessa often gets hired for mean she will be the center of attention, whether she is accompanied by a mariachi or by orchestra or with just her tracks. But dresses can cost thousands of dollars and many times have size limitations.
Seeing his wife’s struggle, Horacio began to adjust the clothing she could find. One day, he made a blouse for her, which led him to make her dresses.
There was one small problem: there was no mannequin at the car shop.
Horacio then got a hold of some leftover fabric, duct tape and his wife.
Using Vanessa as a live model, Horacio started taping the fabric around her. He then cut her out of it and stuffed the mold with foam to hold the shape. The hours-long feat proved effective.
“He just said, ‘I’m going to have to tape you up, and I’ll cut you out of it,’ and I just said ‘ok, do what you gotta do.’ He knows what he is doing better than I do,” Vanessa said laughing at the memory.
Horacio has been perfecting his technique dress by dress. He starts by drawing the design of her dress, then Vanessa picks the fabrics and the fun begins.
A couple of months ago, he made a new mannequin to better adjust new dresses to his wife’s shape. He went from making simple, loose blouses, to long gowns that beautifully display his wife’s curves, embroidered skirts and off-the-shoulder tops.
The couple has had many nights together perfecting looks, trying out solutions for something that doesn’t fit right, or that doesn’t move right with Vanessa. For her, wearing her looks are way more meaningful than buying an expensive dress, and for Horacio, this is a fun new challenge.
“There’s nothing you can do wrong,” Horacio said about his new venture. “If something doesn’t look right, you unsew it and sew it again.”
The couple doesn’t always get to travel together for Vanessa’s performances, sometimes she relies on friends or her makeup artists to help her adjust her dresses on the go. But Horacio said he prefers being there, ready to help perfect her look if she needs it, and enjoys seeing her perform wearing his gown.
“She’s taught me so much about music, that I can hear if something is out of tune or if something is not right,” Horacio said. “But I can also watch if everything looks right (with the dress). Maybe I need to do a pin, or a stitch.”
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