Hot Couture’s original incarnation was as San Antonio Rose-Vintage and Unusual Clothes in San Antonio, Texas. The hand-printed business cards featured --what else?-– a yellow rose in the top left-hand corner. Soon a wholesale route including Boulder, Santa Fe and San Francisco was established. Of all the places available, San Francisco was the most appealing. So, residency was established in Santa Rosa in 1976. For a while the selling venue was the Marin City Flea Market, now sadly gone. The rigors of set-up and break-down finally became too much, so a retail establishment in Santa Rosa called Goodies (as in oldies but goodies) was established. When a sub-lease situation in Santa Rosa’s Railroad Square Historic District became available, Goodies was sold and Hot Couture was established, in a space sub-leased from a natural fiber clothing store. Three years later, on Jan 1, 1983, Hot Couture moved to its current location. Through a combination of selling good condition 35-or-more-years old clothing and renting fully accessorized period costumes, Hot Couture, has managed to survive almost 24 years at the corner of Third and Wilson Streets in Santa Rosa.