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We Goofed: Vera & Vera

  • While we've only heard from one reader who spotted our Vera Maxwell mistake in Alligators... we can't believe we made such a dumb mistake and we want to correct it. We confused two designers, both named Vera, and the woman we wanted to identify in our book is Vera Neumann (see page 182 in the hardback edition). Vera Maxwell was also a design legend, with a career spanning fifty years, but it is Neumann whose screen prints appeared on everything from dresses to napkins and tablecloths.

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Striking Gator Gold...in Auckland, New Zealand

Alligator_2 We just had to share a recent email from a magazine editor in New Zealand who is so passionate about vintage that she recently took a copy of Alligators with her when she traveled in the U.S. But it's the find she made after returning home that we are celebrating here:

"This is totally silly, since I've never met you, but thought you might like to see this alligator (crocodile?) bag I bought this week in a hospice shop in NZ. It's the first alligator bag I've ever seen in NZ, and is just stunning. Apart from the handle it's in almost mint condition, as if it's never been used. I bought it for $75 (about US $50) and still can't believe my luck."

Thanks, Christine, and if we ever make it to NZ we want you as a thrift-shop guide! And, FYI, this particular type of gator skin is called "hornback" but we know there are more knowledgeable gator/croc folks out there...other info is welcomed.

September 05, 2007 in shopping, Travel, vintage products | | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

All That Glitters...in Seattle

If you are anywhere near Seattle this weekend (Nov. 4th & 5th), get yourself to the 23rd annual Goodwill Glitter Sale, at 1400 South Lane Street (206-329-1000). We usually try to avoid mob scenes, but we wish we could be in line at 9 am Saturday, when they open the doors.

This event is so crazy that you have to take a number and wait your turn for a shot at the jewelry counter, and the other offerings, selected from donations over the past year, include ball gowns  & tuxedos, shoes, cocktail dresses, purses and wraps....anything you could possibly need for the holiday season. And not only do you have the chance to grab a wonderful piece at a reasonable price, but proceeds support Goodwill's job training and education programs.

Hours are: Saturday, 9-6; Sunday, 11-4, and the store is about a five-minute drive from the  heart of downtown. One more little detail worth noting: Customers must wear slips, bodysuits or swimsuits when trying on clothes. This is not the day to throw modesty out the window.

p.s. If you live in the Seattle area, but are traveling this weekend, you will have another shot at goodies the very next weekend (Nov. 11 & 12). Goodwill will have a vintage booth at the Antiques & Collectibles Show, Puyallup Fairgrounds.

November 03, 2006 in Current Affairs, shopping, Travel, vintage events | | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Where Is Hooti Couture?

  • WE ARE ON HOLIDAY/WINTER BREAK! HOOTI IS CLOSED UNTIL FRIDAY, JANUARY 20, 2012.

    Late Winter/Spring 2012 Hours: Wednesday-Sunday, 11-8.

    How the heck do you get to Brooklyn? It's easy. You'll find Hooti at:

    321 Flatbush Avenue (at Seventh Avenue)

    Closest neighborhoods: Park Slope, Prospect Heights

    Best subway lines: B & Q trains (exit at Seventh Avenue and you'll find Hooti across the street)

    Phone: 718-857-1977

Find Your Way to Hooti!

What Is Alligators...?

  • Alligators, Old Mink & New Money, One Woman's Adventures in Vintage Clothing was written by sisters Alison and Melissa Houtte and is available in the U.S. and Canada in both hardback (top; William Morrow/Harper Collins) and paperback (Avon Trade). You can also buy the UK edition (Orion Publishing) in hardback in England, Australia, New Zealand, Scotland and Wales. Orion's paperback edition (below) is also now on sale.

    Orionpbcover_3

Alligators & the Media

  • Woman's Day, March 2007 issue; Heat magazine, UK Feb. 3-9, 2007, and many reviews and touts from 2005/2006, when our book was first published: People magazine ("charming memoir"); New York Post (3 1/2 star review); Women's Wear Daily; New York Times; OK magazine; TimeOut New York; All Things Considered, NPR (Jan. 15; you can hear it at npr.org); Glamour (British edition, "a must for all vintage die-hards"); InStyle, (British edition, "a charming journey"); Madison magazine (Australia); Body & Soul magazine; and Newsday, Associated Press, Chicago Tribune, Miami Herald, South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Dallas Morning News, Miami New Times, San Francisco Chronicle, San Jose Mercury, The Scotsman (Glasgow, Scotland), Pacific Sun and Sacramento Bee

Amazon

Clothes Quotes

  • A batch of vintage classics, with thanks to Hester Hull of Birmingham, Michigan:

    “Nothing is thought rare which is not new, and follow’d; yet we know that what was worn some 20 years ago comes into grace again.”—Francis Beumont

    "The purse is the mirror of the soul.”—Anna Quindlen, 1987

    “When in doubt, wear red.”—Bill Blass, 1982

    “These gems have life in them: their colors speak, say what words fail of.”—George Eliot

    “And she always took the clothes created for her one step further by adding something of her own, some small personal detail which enhanced the whole.”—Givenchy on Audrey Hepburn

    “Large handbags to carry all the family’s ration books were also practical rather than fashionable accessories.”—Carol Harris in Women Under Fire in World War II

    “Skirts couldn’t get any shorter and remain legal.”—Amy Greene, 1970

    If you adore her, you must adorn her. There lies the secret of a happy marriage.”—Anne Fogarty, 1959

    Just make sure no one has exactly the same dress I do. I want all mine to be original and no fat little women hopping around in the same dress.”—Jacqueline Kennedy

    “When a man says he likes a woman in a skirt, I tell him to try one.”—Katharine Hepburn

    "A woman’s dress should be like a barbed wire fence: serving its purpose without obstructing the view.”—Sophia Loren

    “Each day Beryl would appear in the yard, looking as if she had stepped off the pages of Vogue. Silk shirt, perfectly cut jodhpurs, shining leather boots, little kid leather gloves. A broadbrimmed hat and leather whip tucked under her arm completed the ensemble. It was first class all the way with Beryl. That was all she knew. ‘ Tell them to bring the horses around, will you sweetie?’ she would say when she was ready.”—Mary S. Lovell in the biography of Beryl Markham (first woman to fly the Atlantic east to west), Straight on’ Til Morning

    “Just to flirt again---in a skirt again/ There’s no romance when you dance/ Cheek to cheek and pants to pants /Oh for an old fashioned dress!”—Irving Berlin.