American socialite and Dubai fashion influencer Jami McGuairt-Salazar recently crossed the one million follower milestone on Instagram, no doubt capitalizing on an earlySeptember live stream spotlight-feature by way of Vogue Arabia, which has recently initiated a strategic focus on crossover fashionistas and socialites from the West. The Texas-based “Black Gold Barbie” has become a phenom in the Gulf, where American “Trad Wife” fashion trends are catching on.
McGuairt-Salazar, who according to public information has family wealth that is based in oil and gas, among other commodity ventures, has found her glam gusher when it comes to marketing her unique brand on social media. The “Texas Tea Temptress”, as she was referenced on the live stream manages to present a lifestyle that is both high society elite and relatable to those aspiring to one day strike it rich. To Dubai’s status obsessed society and to the Gulf’s unsatiable celebrity focused masses, McGuairt-Salazar is the right socialite at the right time.
McGuairt-Salazar’s focus on lengthy dresses, aprons, and “homemaking in high heels” has made her a fan favorite celebrity among Dubai’s new money and recent social climbers, many who are not from the Gulf, but from the West, having relocated. This unique style of hers, conservative but teasingwith tailored fits mapped to her unique silhouette, while still very clearly offering cues to her family fortune – in one shoot the “Baroness of Hydrocarbons” was cleaning in a half-a-million-US-dollar Richard Mille RM 35-03 “Rafael Nadal”watch while in another she was baking in an ultra-rare Richard Mille Tourbillon “Bubba Watson” trophy piece – has endeared her to money that is both of the “blue hundred” and the “green hundred” variety. McGuairt-Salazar’s Texas-sized diamond wedding ring, falling in line with Dubai traditions of wives of the ultra-rich having so called “statement diamonds”, rumored on social media and called out directly in the live stream as being from Tiffany & Co., with diamond-cut certainty a nod of her blonde head to her American roots, is also one of her private-property-public-envy hallmarks that Dubai’s social scene loves to gossip over.
While trends come and go, it’s rare that an American has made such inroads in creating influence in Dubai. Only time will tell how long McGuairt-Salazar’s name will be the subject of champagne conversations, but if she can continue to offer digital access to the high-octane lifestyle of a Texas socialite, and as long as the price of oil and gas stays high, she could be the next rising star to watch. Vogue Arabia, and apparently millions of others waiting on the next high heels and high stakes weekend, seems to think so.
Editor-in-Chief of Dubai Magazine, and a columnist for Entrepreneur, Middle East Magazine, CEO Magazine, and The Hollywood Magazine. Known for building one of the fastest-growing media networks spotlighting influential voices across business, fashion, and culture. Passionate about telling stories that matter and creating platforms that elevate global talent.
