Julie K.L. Dam, Some Like It Haute

Some Like It Haute

Julie K.L. Dam

Warner, Feb 2006, $22.95

ISBN: 0446533408

Texas expatriate Alex Simons writes fashion articles for the London-based The Weekly. Currently she covers Fashion Week in Paris with it's Tuesday it's Chanel. However, she makes an unbecoming entrance when her face and the left breast of six foot Latvian model Kayarina collide in a catwalk incident that makes the news. Humiliated, Alex wants to hide, but her editor tells her to write it up and get back to covering the shows.

Alex attends the debut gala of designer Luis-Heinz, whose talent has everyone salivating. She tries to interview the brilliant recluse, but he refuses to talk to the media. Instead American consultant Nick Snow, the anti-fashion centerfold hunk, distracts her. The New Yorker is in town as a reality TV show star trying to obtain dates with models. When she learns why he is in town, Alex distrusts him, even though he dumped the six foot models for her. However, when Heinz vanishes, Alex begins a quest to find him, hoping to be compensated with one of his magical designs.

This lighthearted satire is fun to read starting with the boob accident and never losing one Manolo step along the way, in spite of some strange seemingly out of the fashion mainstream sidebars, like the appearance of the French teacher and the hunt for Heinz. The storyline never takes itself seriously, using the cast (except Nick) to portray the graveyard dead seriousness of the industry; for instance Alex uses Excel to dress properly. As the glaring exception Nick is a big dark stain on a white blouse. Fans of fashionable chick lit tales will enjoy this flippant reverence to fashion.