We used to pity the poor reporters...

We used to pity the poor reporters who cover Inauguration Day events. We figured they stood up, morning through night, peering in on the best-groomed, best-dressed people in the nation and feeling ... well, second best.

But it just ain’t so. We’ve received a note from Normal A. Lee of Clairol/Bristol-Myers, in which we’re told that “by popular demand,” the “fresh-up” lounge hosted by that firm will again serve the men and women of the press. The lounge, Lee says, “offers and oasis during the hectic Inauguration schedule,” where men and women reporters can get quick haircuts, hair sets, comb-outs, makeup jobs, foot massages, shaves and (don’t forget this one) “refreshments appropriate to the time of day.” All free of charge, of course. We also learned that the lounge, staffed by “well-known” hair stylists and cosmetics experts, was used by more than 1,000 media people during the 1984 political conventions in Dallas and San Francisco and also on the last Inauguration Day in Washington.

What is Stefanie Powers doing on the cover of Sears, Roebuck spring catalogue? Hugging a tiger cub, as a matter of fact. The store made Powers the cover girl because “market research showed that she’d be a positive image for our customers, and because we’re giving our catalogue a safari slant this spring,” a store spokesperson who asked not to be identified says. Powers wears a khaki shirt on the cover. Inside she poses in a plethora of jungle-colored jump suits, bush-jacket-style dresses and suits and pith helmets from the store. Powers didn’t design the clothes she wears, but her section of the catalogue comes just before one that features super-model Cheryl Tiegs, who does have her own label, available only through the store. We got “no comment” on whether Sears is contributing financially to Powers’ pet--the William Holden Wildlife Center in Africa.

As Mary Richards, the newsroom yuppie, Mary Tyler Moore would never have dressed like that. But on Saturday afternoon, as Mrs. S. Robert Levine, Moore showed her true fashion colors. Listen spotted her at Pierre Deux on Rodeo Drive, looking younger than springtime and obviously in search of some items for her nest. She flung off her sumptuous white fur coat to reveal skin-tight black leather pants. A store representative said that she bought desk accessories.

The ballots are cast. The tension is mounting. And the announcement is drawing near. Monday night is when the California Mart presents its Marty award to an outstanding West Coast menswear designer. The nominees are: Mel Matsui for Code Blue Japan, Geoff Williams for Pour Le Sport, Mike Alesko for International News, Patti Eakin for Union Bay, Michael Tomson for Gotcha Sportswear, Du T. Quachs for Basic Elements and Joe Depietro for Rescue. Listen for the winners.

Ronald and Nancy Reagan, who share the Inaugural limelight with the Super Bowl on Sunday, may be receiving a special gift from the San Francisco 49ers Saturday; matching his and her 49er nightshirt football jerseys. Nancy Reagan’s jersey, which contains a (borrowed) Adolfo label sewn inside, has “Nancy” and a big gold star on front. Her husband’s nightshirt simply says “Gipper I,” according to Lori Kish, the Bay Area 49ers fan and Reagan supporter who dreamed up the gift. Besides getting the team to send the shirts, Kish talked the team members, the coach and the 49ers’ owner into autographing a helmet for the President. It’s engraved with “One More for the Gipper, Ronald Wilson Reagan, Super Bowl XIX, Jan. 20, 1985.” Kish, a Bay Area businesswoman who worked as a Republican fund-praiser this year in the capacity of assistant to financier David Murdock (chairman of the Presidential Trust), thought up the idea after she was invited to attend the Inauguration. “I want the 49ers to win, and Reagan always calls the winning locker room,” she explained. “When I decided to go to the Inaugural, I called my friend R.C. (Alley Oop) Owens, the executive assistant of the 49ers, and said, ‘Let’s have some fun.” Kish added that she didn’t expect any trouble getting the shirts and helmet to the Reagans. A contact she worked with during the campaign has arranged for her to deliver the gift to the White House.

If you’re glued to the tube during the Inaugural, you may spot Sally Struthers strutting about D.C. in a full-length, Blackglama mink coat.

We hate to disillusion you, but she doesn’t own it. Her good friend and former colleague, Ron Rifkin, told us that he loaned her the coat for the festivities.

Rifkin, you may recall, used to play evil Dr. Lantry on “Falcon Crest.” He has since followed his father’s advice and left acting for pelts, opening a West Coast branch of daddy’s East Coast firm, called Ronlee-Morbel. He says a lot of acting friends frequently drop by--and we’ll bet we know why.

Can the man who has photographed everyone from Joan Collins to Tom Selleck make a fashion video show super enough for Ted Turner’s Superstation? We’ve asked ourselves the same question several times, since style shooter Dick Zimmerman himself screened his “Images” fashion video pilot for us. (The first airing will be at 7:05 p.m., PST Saturday on WTBS.) We do give the photographer-turned-video director E for effort. He rounded up several videos already produced by Norma Kamali, Willi Smith, Eletra Casadei, TD 4 and other design talents and “re-edited them,” as he pointed out to us, to fit the new show’s fashion magazine-like format. The interview snippets with Cyndi Lauper, John Forsythe and Boy George were worth checking out. But on the whole, there’s better music on MTV and better fashion news on “Style With Elsa Klensch,” a regular on Turner’s Cable News Network.

This may not qualify for the annals of “Life Styles of the Rich and Famous,” but did you know that rock stars, as a general rule, are finicky about their hair? That’s what Angelo di Biase, a hair and makeup artist at Umberto in Beverly Hills, says. “It’s their crowning glory,” Di Biase says. “They put more emphasis on their hair than anyone else in the world.” Bi Biase, who tended the locks of Duran Duran during their tour last year, also worked with the fastidious Mick Jagger on his new movie, “Running Out of Luck.” Di Biase (who also plays the on-screen hairdresser) says that Jagger, playing a down-and-out rock star, wanted him at his side at all times to make sure his lips were perfectly outlined. For one scene, Jagger wearing a white tux, has his hair slicked back into a tiny ponytail. “It was very Karl Lagerfeld, and it was beautiful,” Di Biase says.