Some Like It Haute [Hardcover]

Julie K.L. Dam (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 22, 2006

Alexandra Simons, a fashion correspondent for The Weekly magazine, thought she would never live down her very public, very literal run-in with a six-foot model at the Chanel haute couture show in Paris. Things only start looking up when she attends an avant-garde show at a trendy new dive and finds both a love interest and perhaps the hottest new designer in town! But are things too good to be true? Though Nick Snow, an American consultant working in Paris, makes Alex feel like a supermodel, she gets the feeling that he's hiding something from her. And Luis-Heinz, the Esperanto-speaking recluse of a fashion genius? He's nowhere to be found. Following her big scoop - and her heart - sends Alex on a wild goose chase through the streets of Paris and tests her definition of reality. In between playing detective and finding the perfect accessories for a stakeout, will our intrepid heroine finally get her story - and her man?

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Dam whisks the reader into a melee of runway drama, intrigue and snarkiness in her breathless, satiric debut, an air kiss to the fashion world. Alex Simons, former big-haired Texan, parlays her acquired fashion aperçu into articles for a respected London weekly, jetting to Paris each year to report on fashion week fabulousness. She's even made an Excel spreadsheet to organize her outfits by day—fantasy ensembles relayed in label-heavy detail. But she gets off on the wrong Louboutin-shod foot in a catwalk collision, landing front-and-center in the fashion media's hall of shame. But then she meets Nick Snow, the laid-back, khaki-clad American who thumbs his nose at the fashion world. Plus, her publicist friend has led her to the week's hottest scoop: a brilliant new designer, so shadowy he's vanished altogether. Will Alex surmount obstacles (some painfully contrived) to get the guy, the story and the shoes? Dam's swipes at the fashion world's myopia and absurdity (hors d'oeuvres laid out on reclining naked men) amuse when they don't feel shopworn. The plot hangs together by a thread, and the coquetry is forced ("I'm smart and shallow," Alex confides to Nick), but Dam has stitched a gossamer-light read with sumptuous material and gentle ribbing. (Feb.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From AudioFile

On assignment in France, Alex Simons, a fashion writer for a British weekly who organizes her clothes so that she never wears different designers at the same time, ends up front-page news on the tabloids after a couturier runway collision. Then when cornered by paparazzi, she meets Nick Snow. Sparks fly as Alex and Nick make their way in the fashion world. Carrington MacDuffie performs this fluff smoothly. She gives characters solid accents and shifts from one to the other seamlessly. Listeners who love fashion, or who are amused by silliness, will enjoy traveling to France and following the exploits of Nick and Alex. M.B.K. © AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Grand Central Publishing (February 22, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0446533408
• ISBN-13: 978-0446533409
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.8 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,241,047 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Born in Saigon, Vietnam, Julie K.L. Dam grew up in Dallas, Texas, where she first experimented with hairspray and learned the subtle difference between a mule and a slide. While studying American history and literature at Harvard, she was drawn to journalism by the prospect of getting to see movies and listen to CDs before anyone else did. After graduating in 1993, she moved to New York City to work for TIME magazine as a reporter and writer. During a 2 1/2-year stint in TIME's London office, she covered fashion and entertainment for the magazine; highlights included reporting on the death of Princess Diana and conducting an exclusive interview with Donatella Versace on the eve of her first solo show after her brother's murder. In 1999, she returned to New York to write and edit showbiz and fashion stories for PEOPLE magazine. Now PEOPLE's music and weddings senior editor, she has come to the realization that her greatest contribution to society, at least in volume, has been her tireless chronicling of Jessica Simpson's love life for the magazine. Her interests outside of work sound a lot like her work: fashion and pop culture, plus basketball (watching, not playing) and yoga (practicing, not watching). She lives on Manhattan's Upper West Side.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars complete waste of time, May 19, 2006

By 

Jan Jeannet "janjanjean" (Tallahassee, Florida) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Some Like It Haute (Hardcover)

this book is a complete waste of time ... the protagonist is dumb and not very likeable, the plot is ludicrous (when ESPERANTO is a major plot point, someone's trying too hard), and the fashion "details" are about what you could pick up reading your local newspaper. How many times can the author make dumb 80s-hairspray references? You will honestly lose count. And repeatedly pointing out that the heroine has a "great education" which she's wasting by being a fashion journalist? That's fairly insulting to people who enjoy fashion and think it's important, as well as being overly-reductive about the value of education. (Not to psychoanalyze too much, but since the author went to Harvard and is now working at PEOPLE magazine, maybe someone is insecure about her own life choices?)

There are plenty of great, smart, enjoyable fashiony chick-lit reads out there. Too bad this isn't one of them.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fun Escape from Reality!!, May 15, 2006

By 

JJ Stark (Cicero, IL USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Some Like It Haute (Hardcover)

It was a little early for "beach reads" when this book was originally released, but it should fit right in this summer. It's fun, light reading with characters who are mostly likable and a story that goes over the top just a little. Clearly not for the "fashion-illiterate", so if you don't know the difference between Chanel & Prada, or don't know who Michael Kors or Marc Jacobs are, you'll probably find this a little boring. But if you're a "fashionista" & enjoy a fashion-related "guilty pleasure" every now & then, this book is definitely for you!! Frequent name-drops of some of today's top designers & trendy celebrities can be found on nearly every page, which adds some fun (There's even a tongue in cheek reference to the "Hilton" sisters as our main character attends the same party as the "Sheraton Sisters"!). Designers from Prada to Chanel to YSL to Stella McCartney and so, so many more make such frequent appearances that it's almost like the designers & their clothes, shoes, handbags & accessories are supporting characters in the story! Definitely written with fashion-lovers in mind (what else would you expect from an editor from People mag?!) (WARNING! Do not attempt to read this book anywhere near the mall or while you have access to you computer & credit card!! Shopping is not recommended within 60 minutes of reading this book!!!)

If you need a break from deep, moving, emotional stories with characters you become emotionally invested in & attached to, you might want to give this one a try. It won't take you anytime to get through it & shouldn't give you much pause for thought!! It's a very light, fluffy, fun read that doesn't take much thought at all. Your only emotional involvement in the characters might be envy, as one might only dream of having a closet or clothing allowance like Alex's!!!

The last third of the book is definitely over the top with a pretty imaginative story that's just a little unbelievable - but if you can look past that and read it just for fun, you should find it entertaining. I appreciate the effort that Julie Dam made to write a story that's an escape from the "real world" of today. For just a little while each day, I was happy to put aside the trials & tribulatons that is my real life & enjoyed spending time with Alex & her friends in the City of Paris and the crazy, unrealistic world of fashion. Everyone needs a break and needs to have a little fun now & then - SOME LIKE IT HAUTE, if anything, will put a smile on your face, cause you to roll you eyes once or twice, and forget about being a grown up for just a little while!!! Isn't that what reading's all about after all?? Taking time out of each day just to relax & escape for a little while. This book definitely did that for me!!

I look forward to what else this author brings us & whether or not she's able to sustain the level, or whether she takes dive along the lines of Plum Sykes & Lauren Weisberger, who delivered very entertaining first-run novels, but seemed to lose themselves in their subsequent attempts! I'm crossing my fingers for future escapes from reality, into the imaginitive world of Julie Dam!!

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Weak story, even for chic lit., May 18, 2006

By 

K. Cirillo "lady bookworm" (Philadelphia, PA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Some Like It Haute (Hardcover)

I am all for an easy read now and again, something to take me away from the grind of the day to day, but "Some Like it Haute" was just lame. This commentary may seem harsh but I really did try to like to book and I made myself finish it. However, from Alex's whining about her mistakes in her predetermined outfit organization, to the fact that Paris is teeming with people from Texas, I overdosed in cheesiness. The plot thins more so when Alex hears of her love interests "big secret", bizarro at best.

All I can honestly say is that anyone who is interested in fashion and designers has the same amount of knowledge as Alex, who sadly has a career in writing about it. So many other good options out there for summer reads, bypass this one.