Alligators, Old Mink and New Money: One Woman's Adventures in Vintage Clothing [Hardcover]

Alison Houtte (Author), Melissa Houtte (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

For fashion lovers, flea market fanatics and thrift store junkies, this book is the perfect find. Former fashion model Alison Houtte, with the help of her sister, journalist Melissa Houtte, offers an enthusiastic memoir of her family's obsession with fashion, her early days as a model and her second career as owner of Hooti Couture, a Brooklyn boutique specializing in vintage clothing. Houtte's chatty manner and anecdotal storytelling style give the book a quick pace, as she visits country auctions and estate sales looking for the perfect items for her loyal and eclectic clientele. Throughout, she weaves in shopping tips for amateurs and admits mistakes she's made through the years (like the time she priced a jacket by Bonnie Cashin, best known for dressing Ingrid Bergman, at a mere $150, compared with its true worth of $600). The simple line illustrations throughout are a nice touch, and a "Vintage Shopper's Guide" at the end reflects Houtte's extensive knowledge of the trade. Houtte's emphasis on personal style and emotional ties to clothing make this a book that many women;and men;will enjoy.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

By the time you've finished this true-life adventure in retail, vintage will become your middle name; leopard, your latest passion; and ex-model now-shop-owner Alison Houtte, your new best friend. At first glance, this narrative seems superficial--after all, it's about the fashion industry, shopping, and old clothes. Yet a deeper look is warranted. Although Alison, with the help of her journalist sister, details her career beginnings in Paris, its subsequent downs and ups, and her decision to launch a second career, it is, at the same time, filled with observations and reminiscences that make this a truly humane tale. There's Henry Williams, the homeless man who helps her with Hooti Couture. There are profiles of a number of the Brooklyn shoppers on Flatbush Avenue--and off. And there are labels to watch for--favorite places and best times to find merchandise. What's more, it's about friendships, customer relationships, happiness, business, and the art and joy of living. Barbara Jacobs
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow; Uncorrected Proof Copy edition (November 22, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060786671
• ISBN-13: 978-0060786670
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.8 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (32 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,245,809 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Book for fashion lovers but not only..., November 29, 2005

By 

Tola (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Alligators, Old Mink and New Money: One Woman's Adventures in Vintage Clothing (Hardcover)

Alison Houtte's passion is vintage clothes. From her early years, she has been surrounded by people who appreciate great style and amazing deals, which influenced her career choices. After spending a few years in Europe as a model and her big adventure with high fashion, Alison comes back and opens up a vintage store called Hooti Couture.

This captivating memoir puts vintage in a completely new light. Houtte's vintage is exciting, colorful, full of new ideas. Each piece of clothing has a different, interesting story. Each day is different both for Hooti's customers who never know what great piece they can find, and Alison, who meets a wide variety of people.

Reading Alligators , Old Mink and New Money is an exciting journey in the world of vintage fashion. It gets your attention from the very first pages. It simply pulls you in and makes you want to get up and go to the nearest vintage store and just enjoy new and amazing finds.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars nice, November 22, 2005

By 

Kimberley Wilson (VA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Alligators, Old Mink and New Money: One Woman's Adventures in Vintage Clothing (Hardcover)

Allison Houtte had a decent modeling career that left her with a head for style, happy memories and enough money to get into retail. She now owns a cute vintage shop in New York and this book is a memoir of how she got started and explains --- sort of ----how she runs her business.

The book is filled with vingettes about friends, customers and family; some sweet and some not so sweet. Many of her customers appear to be fascinating characters, others badly need some manners smacked into them.

I've never liked vintage stores. Most of the ones I've been to were smelly, with no service and after spending hours looking I rarely came away with anything worth buying but after reading Alligators, Old Mink and Money I've decided to give vintage another try. If I can find a shop where the customers and clothes are loved as passionately as Allison Houtte clearly does I'll be very happy.

Don't expect this book to tell you step by step how to run a clothing store. This is not a text book but it is a charming way diversion for the book loving fashionistas.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining and fun!, February 2, 2006

By 

Janice (Arlington, VA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Alligators, Old Mink and New Money: One Woman's Adventures in Vintage Clothing (Hardcover)

Alison Houtte's "Alligators, Old Mink and New Money : One Woman's Adventures in Vintage Clothing" provides an interesting and fun look at vintage clothes as well as shopping. At the beginning of the book, Houtte, a former model, wrote about how her mother influenced her fashion style as well as love for vintage clothes. Knowing that a modelling career would not last long, Houtte decided to open a store selling vintage items in Brooklyn, New York. Most of the book centered around her shopping and discovery of old clothes that people deemed as unvaluable. Houtte talked about how she developed relationships with her customers as well as learning the business of selling to people.

I thought this was an interesting and fun book that centered around one woman's love for vintage clothing. This was an easy to read book despite my lack of knowledge of vintage clothing and I liked the fact that the author added some guidelies for her readers if they decided to shop for vintage clothing. In addition, Houtte provided lots of family background as well as personal information which made this novel such an entertaining yet interesting one.