diff --git a/tailbone/static/css/forms.css b/tailbone/static/css/forms.css
index d33f4cc8..b3cec279 100644
--- a/tailbone/static/css/forms.css
+++ b/tailbone/static/css/forms.css
@@ -54,7 +54,6 @@ div.field-wrapper.error {
 }
 
 div.field-wrapper label {
-    color: #000000;
     display: block;
     float: left;
     width: 15em;
diff --git a/tailbone/static/css/theme-better.css b/tailbone/static/css/theme-better.css
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..923cc613
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tailbone/static/css/theme-better.css
@@ -0,0 +1,120 @@
+
+/**********************************************************************
+ * styles for 'better' theme
+ **********************************************************************/
+
+/****************************************
+ * core overrides
+ ****************************************/
+
+a {
+    color: #0972a5;
+}
+
+.flash-messages,
+.error-messages {
+    margin: 0.5em 0 0 0;
+}
+
+#context-menu {
+    margin: 0.5em;
+    white-space: nowrap;
+}
+
+.form {
+    padding-left: 5em;
+}
+
+.newgrid-wrapper .grid-header #context-menu {
+    float: none;
+    margin: 0;
+}
+
+/****************************************
+ * header
+ ****************************************/
+
+header .global {
+    background-color: #eaeaea;
+    height: 60px;
+}
+
+header .global a.home,
+header .global a.global,
+header .global span.global {
+    display: block;
+    float: left;
+    font-size: 2em;
+    font-weight: bold;
+    line-height: 60px;
+    margin-left: 10px;
+}
+
+header .global a.home img {
+    display: block;
+    float: left;
+    padding: 5px 5px 5px 30px;
+}
+
+header .global .grid-nav {
+    display: inline-block;
+    font-size: 16px;
+    font-weight: bold;
+    line-height: 60px;
+    margin-left: 5em;
+}
+
+header .global .grid-nav .ui-button,
+header .global .grid-nav span.viewing {
+    margin-left: 1em;
+}
+
+header .global .feedback {
+    float: right;
+    line-height: 60px;
+    margin-right: 1em;
+}
+
+header .page h1 {
+    border-bottom: 1px solid lightgrey;
+    margin: 0;
+    padding: 0 0 0 0.5em;
+}
+
+/****************************************
+ * content
+ ****************************************/
+
+body > #body-wrapper {
+    margin: 0px;
+    position: relative;
+}
+
+.content-wrapper {
+    height: 100%;
+    padding-bottom: 30px;
+}
+
+#scrollpane {
+    height: 100%;
+}
+
+#scrollpane .inner-content {
+    padding: 0 0.5em 0.5em 0.5em;
+}
+
+/****************************************
+ * footer
+ ****************************************/
+
+#footer {
+    border-top: 1px solid lightgray;
+    bottom: 0;
+    font-size: 9pt;
+    height: 20px;
+    left: 0;
+    line-height: 20px;
+    margin: 0;
+    position: absolute;
+    width: 100%;
+}
diff --git a/tailbone/templates/base.mako b/tailbone/templates/base.mako
index 3dcd5621..77b7271f 100644
--- a/tailbone/templates/base.mako
+++ b/tailbone/templates/base.mako
@@ -135,9 +135,13 @@
   ${h.javascript_link(request.static_url('tailbone:static/js/tailbone.js'))}
 </%def>
 
-<%def name="core_styles()">
+<%def name="core_styles(jquery_theme=None)">
   ${h.stylesheet_link(request.static_url('tailbone:static/css/normalize.css'))}
-  ${self.jquery_theme()}
+  % if jquery_theme:
+      ${jquery_theme()}
+  % else:
+      ${self.jquery_smoothness_theme()}
+  % endif
   ${h.stylesheet_link(request.static_url('tailbone:static/css/jquery.ui.menubar.css'))}
   ${h.stylesheet_link(request.static_url('tailbone:static/css/jquery.loadmask.css'))}
   ${h.stylesheet_link(request.static_url('tailbone:static/css/jquery.ui.timepicker.css'))}
@@ -150,7 +154,7 @@
   ${h.stylesheet_link(request.static_url('tailbone:static/css/newgrids.css'))}
 </%def>
 
-<%def name="jquery_theme()">
+<%def name="jquery_smoothness_theme()">
   ${h.stylesheet_link('https://code.jquery.com/ui/1.11.4/themes/smoothness/jquery-ui.min.css')}
 </%def>
 
diff --git a/tailbone/templates/themes/better/base.mako b/tailbone/templates/themes/better/base.mako
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..1c5c21bf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tailbone/templates/themes/better/base.mako
@@ -0,0 +1,132 @@
+## -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
+<%namespace name="base" file="tailbone:templates/base.mako" />            
+<%namespace file="/menu.mako" import="main_menu_items" />
+<%namespace file="/newgrids/nav.mako" import="grid_index_nav" />
+<!DOCTYPE html>
+<html lang="en">
+  <head>
+    <meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />
+    <title>${self.global_title()} &raquo; ${capture(self.title)}</title>
+    ${self.favicon()}
+    ${base.core_javascript()}
+    ${self.extra_javascript()}
+    ${base.core_styles(jquery_theme=self.jquery_theme)}
+    ${self.extra_styles()}
+
+    % if not request.rattail_config.production():
+        <style type="text/css">
+          body { background-image: url(${request.static_url('tailbone:static/img/testing.png')}); }
+        </style>
+    % endif
+
+    ${self.head_tags()}
+  </head>
+
+  <body>
+    <div id="body-wrapper">
+
+      <header>
+        <nav>
+          <ul class="menubar">
+            ${main_menu_items()}
+          </ul>
+        </nav>
+
+        <div class="global">
+          <a class="home" href="${url('home')}">
+            ${self.header_logo()}
+            <span>${self.global_title()}</span>
+          </a>
+          % if master:
+              <span class="global">&raquo;</span>
+              % if master.listing:
+                  <span class="global">${model_title_plural}</span>
+              % else:
+                  ${h.link_to(model_title_plural, index_url, class_='global')}
+                  % if master.viewing and grid_index:
+                      ${grid_index_nav()}
+                  % endif
+              % endif
+          % endif
+
+          <div class="feedback">
+            ${h.link_to("Feedback", url('feedback'), class_='button')}
+          </div>
+
+        </div><!-- global -->
+
+        <div class="page">
+          ${self.content_title()}
+        </div>
+      </header>
+
+      <div class="content-wrapper">
+        
+        <div id="scrollpane">
+          <div id="content">
+            <div class="inner-content">
+
+              % if request.session.peek_flash('error'):
+                  <div class="error-messages">
+                    % for error in request.session.pop_flash('error'):
+                        <div class="ui-state-error ui-corner-all">
+                          <span style="float: left; margin-right: .3em;" class="ui-icon ui-icon-alert"></span>
+                          ${error}
+                        </div>
+                    % endfor
+                  </div>
+              % endif
+
+              % if request.session.peek_flash():
+                  <div class="flash-messages">
+                    % for msg in request.session.pop_flash():
+                        <div class="ui-state-highlight ui-corner-all">
+                          <span style="float: left; margin-right: .3em;" class="ui-icon ui-icon-info"></span>
+                          ${msg|n}
+                        </div>
+                    % endfor
+                  </div>
+              % endif
+
+              ${self.body()}
+
+            </div><!-- inner-content -->
+          </div><!-- content -->
+        </div><!-- scrollpane -->
+
+      </div><!-- content-wrapper -->
+
+      <div id="footer">
+        ${self.footer()}
+      </div>
+
+    </div><!-- body-wrapper -->
+
+  </body>
+</html>
+
+<%def name="global_title()">${"[STAGE] " if not request.rattail_config.production() else ''}Rattail</%def>
+
+<%def name="content_title()">
+  <h1>${self.title()}</h1>
+</%def>
+
+<%def name="favicon()"></%def>
+
+<%def name="jquery_theme()">
+    ${h.stylesheet_link('https://code.jquery.com/ui/1.11.4/themes/dark-hive/jquery-ui.css')}
+</%def>
+
+<%def name="extra_javascript()"></%def>
+
+<%def name="extra_styles()">
+    ${h.stylesheet_link(request.static_url('tailbone:static/css/theme-better.css'))}
+</%def>
+
+<%def name="head_tags()"></%def>
+
+<%def name="header_logo()"></%def>
+
+<%def name="footer()">
+   powered by ${h.link_to("Rattail {}".format(rattail.__version__), 'https://rattailproject.org/', target='_blank')}
+</%def>
diff --git a/tailbone/templates/themes/better/master/create.mako b/tailbone/templates/themes/better/master/create.mako
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..9070c58e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tailbone/templates/themes/better/master/create.mako
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+## -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
+<%inherit file="tailbone:templates/master/create.mako" />
+
+<%def name="context_menu_items()"></%def>
+
+${parent.body()}
diff --git a/tailbone/templates/themes/better/master/edit.mako b/tailbone/templates/themes/better/master/edit.mako
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..00803375
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tailbone/templates/themes/better/master/edit.mako
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+## -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
+<%inherit file="tailbone:templates/master/edit.mako" />
+
+<%def name="title()">Edit: ${instance_title}</%def>
+
+<%def name="context_menu_items()">
+  % if master.viewable and request.has_perm('{}.view'.format(permission_prefix)):
+      <li>${h.link_to("View this {}".format(model_title), action_url('view', instance))}</li>
+  % endif
+  % if master.deletable and instance_deletable and request.has_perm('{}.delete'.format(permission_prefix)):
+      <li>${h.link_to("Delete this {}".format(model_title), action_url('delete', instance))}</li>
+  % endif
+  % if master.creatable and request.has_perm('{}.create'.format(permission_prefix)):
+      <li>${h.link_to("Create a new {}".format(model_title), url('{}.create'.format(route_prefix)))}</li>
+  % endif
+</%def>
+
+${parent.body()}
diff --git a/tailbone/templates/themes/better/master/index.mako b/tailbone/templates/themes/better/master/index.mako
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..b1d1d798
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tailbone/templates/themes/better/master/index.mako
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+## -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
+<%inherit file="tailbone:templates/master/index.mako" />
+
+<%def name="content_title()"></%def>
+
+${parent.body()}
diff --git a/tailbone/templates/themes/better/master/view.mako b/tailbone/templates/themes/better/master/view.mako
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..fb98b980
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tailbone/templates/themes/better/master/view.mako
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+## -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
+<%inherit file="tailbone:templates/master/view.mako" />
+
+<%def name="content_title()">
+  <h1>${instance_title}</h1>
+</%def>
+
+<%def name="context_menu_items()">
+  <li>${h.link_to("Permalink for this {}".format(model_title), action_url('view', instance))}</li>
+  % if master.editable and instance_editable and request.has_perm('{}.edit'.format(permission_prefix)):
+      <li>${h.link_to("Edit this {}".format(model_title), action_url('edit', instance))}</li>
+  % endif
+  % if master.deletable and instance_deletable and request.has_perm('{}.delete'.format(permission_prefix)):
+      <li>${h.link_to("Delete this {}".format(model_title), action_url('delete', instance))}</li>
+  % endif
+  % if master.creatable and request.has_perm('{}.create'.format(permission_prefix)):
+      <li>${h.link_to("Create a new {}".format(model_title), url('{}.create'.format(route_prefix)))}</li>
+  % endif
+</%def>
+
+${parent.body()}