Some Like it Haute
By Julie K.G. Dam
Reviewed by Frances Rossi
Alexandra "Alex" Simons has arrived in Paris, her wardrobe carefully orchestrated down to the last designer detail. It is Fashion Week, and she plans to use her assignment as fashion writer for The Weekly to trip through the shows in style. Unfortunately, the hubris of such perfection is broken the first morning, when her scheduled shoe choice of the day, the 2 1/2 inch heel Manolo sling-backs, are nowhere to be found. In truely tragic fashion, this faux-pas leads to a downward spiral. Scheduled to attend the Chanel show that begins at 11am, Alex rushes off to the Bon Marché to look for a pair of suitable shoes. Not only does she find a pair of sling-back Louboutins there, but discovers her old high school French teacher, Monsieur Jacques--once the object of her affections--who now works in the shoe department at the Bon.
Clad in her 3-inch heels, Alex slips into the Chanel show at the last minute, and, in the process of climbing over spectators to reach her seat manages to collide with one of the models coming down the runway--a 6-foot blond from Latvia (with her "peculiarly mesmerizing Monty Python gait") As the two end up "a tangle of splayed legs" on the runway, the moment turns into a media frenzy, and Alex is totally humiliated. Quel honte!
Reduced to utter shame, Alex retreats and languishes in the isolation of her room, where she decides to watch the Givenchy show on fashion TV. There, to her astonishment, she witnesses a debacle similar to her own. A genuinely good-looking young man in khakis manages to roll down the steps and collide with the eccentric Welsh stylist on stage, thereby becoming a new magnet for media attention.
Khaki Man, as she begins to refer to him, enters the story, as does a new Brazilian designer, Luis-Heinz, who speaks only Esperanto. His creations become second only to Khaki Man in Alex's heart, as her week see-saws madly between nurturing a romance and solving a mystery. Throw into this mix Alex's mother, who arrives mid-week from Dallas, Texas, to stay with Alex, and jumps boldly into the fray as assistant sleuth and enthusiastic customer. Oh, did I mention the part about reality TV game shows? Well, can't leave that important bit out--for the reader to discover the part it plays.
Although not of her generation (Julie Dam comes from a thirty-something background), I can relate to the way Dam portrays Alex's fashion week. In my own younger days, I was a regular reader of Mademoiselle in high school, when everyone else stuck to Seventeen. Determined to one day achieve wardrobe savvy and subsequent acceptance by my peers, my fashion strategy involved making end runs around the current trends to embrace the next big thing. I tried introducing the beret when everyone else was happy with the little unfolding plastic head covers we all used in rainy Seattle. Unfortunately, my beautiful navy blue wool beret merited me a lot of snickering from the back of the bus. Just one of my many fashion blunders--one Julie, undoubtedly, would have understood.
Some Like it Haute is a fashion romp from start to finish--one that will have special appeal to anyone enthralled with the world of haute couture. . Interwoven with the fabric of design, I detect in this story a thread of light-hearted tongue-in-cheek spoofiness. The story line's romantic frustration and unsolved mystery yield to the warp and woof of humor.
The story's weaknesses are also its strengths, in my opinion. The humor relies on the reader's having some appreciation of the fashion world, and would be lost on someone unfamiliar with it. I found such a liberal salting of the writing with designer lingo sometimes overpowered the story's own flavor, causing the plot to lapse into the background. It could be that Julie Dam intended this to be, above all, a comedy, and if that is the case, then it may not matter that this reader could not connect with an authentic feel for Alex's love interest, nor that I couldn't manage to get caught up in solving the mystery of Luis-Heinz's disappearance.
However, I was touched by the inclusion of Alex's mom, who is treated tenderly, with respect. In fact, Dam dedicates the book to her own mother. Julie writes from the perspective of my daughter's peers, who grew up in the 80s and would appreciate much of the pop-culture Julie infuses into this novel. In fact, having fought many of the fashion battles of the 80s by my daughter's side--Jordache Jeans and the United Colors of Benetton, to name a couple--and having inherited a number of her clothes from that era, I felt that Alex's mom gave me a character to side with.
Take Some Like It Haute with you on the trip to Paris, or on your next trip to the City. Or read it with your mom. If you can relate to the fashion world, and if you remember the 80s, you'll have a good time with it.
Check out Julie K. L. Dam's blog at www.somelikeithaute.com
