The Violet Hour is a contemporary women’s clothing boutique located in historic Alamo Heights, in the heart of San Antonio, Texas. Founded by sisters Camilla Basse and Amber Long in March 2008, the store’s singular mission is to bring up and coming designers and unique, beautiful dresses, separates, jewelry, etc. to the Alamo City.

Camilla—known as Cami to friends and family—and Amber originally hail from the great gulf city of Corpus Christi, Texas. After receiving her BA in English literature from the University of Texas at San Antonio, Camilla began her career on the opposite end of retail and worked for 15 years in Specialty Leasing and Marketing for local malls. The abundance of that time was spent at North Star Mall, one of the oldest shopping centers in the country. She also took part in grand-opening the beautiful, open-air luxury property, The Shops at La Cantera. But her wish had always been to open her own business, and in 2007, she finally felt the time was right. So she gave her sister Amber a call, and the store was born. Camilla loves having the shop, and is most passionate about movies and her daughter, Sloane.

Amber, who considers herself an eternal student, received her BA in English, Creative Writing from Loyola University Chicago (Go Ramblers!). After a brief stint in book publishing after graduation, she decided to move to London to attend graduate school, and soon earned her MA in Modern Literature from University College London. She then returned to her second home in the Second City—Chicago—but shortly thereafter received that Violet Hour call from her sister, and so returned to the homeland to help open the store. Amber is happy to be close to her family again, and her favorite things are theme parties and her friends.

A Francophile and Anglophile, respectively, Camilla and Amber share an equal love for dachshunds, “I Can’t Tell You Why” by the Eagles, travel (but who doesn’t, really?), the city of Chicago, their parents, and most recently, genre fiction.

The Violet Hour launched its online boutique in December 2008.