Taylor, Tiffany: Swanky Collaboration

It’s going to be a classy act. Elizabeth Taylor and Tiffany & Co. teaming up to host a book party for Carole Bayer Sager’s first novel, “Extravagant Gestures.” Sure to be there Monday evening at the Beverly Hills Tiffany boutique-- Carole’s husband Burt Bacharach. Lucky girl. On all scores.

By the time you read this, Heinrich Thyssen-Bornemisza and Tita Barker will be Mr. and Mrs. The Duchess of Marlborough was Tita’s matron of honor, and Henry Ford was best man for Heinie. Tita’s 5-year-old son Borja was the ring bearer.

The couple’s honeymoon destination is unknown. They said they wouldn’t know where they were heading until they boarded his plane. The big wedding celebration will take place Sept. 20 at Daylesforth, the bridegroom’s estate near Oxford, England, and the site of today’s wedding.

The USC Marching Band and a slew of lively majorettes will be out on the Music Center Plaza acting as a greeting committee for the Oct. 5 family get-together being planned by the Music Center’s recently formed Entertainment Council. Watch for a full evening with refreshments served in the Pavilion’s Foyer, supper in the Grand Hall followed by a Joffrey Ballet performance of “The Taming of the Shrew.”

Doing the big thinking on this one are council party chairman Ginny Mancini plus committee members Shakira Caine, Bettina Chandler, Wendy Goldberg, Joanne Kozberg, Nancy Livingston, Dareth Newley, Lynda Palevsky, Joanna Poitier, Marianne Rogers, Jeanette Sassoon, Jane Semel, Terry Stanfill, Kathryn Sugerman, Patsy Tisch, Felisa Vanoff, Nancy Vreeland, Esther Wachtell, Maggie Wetzel, Stacey Winkler and Lili Zanuck. Talk about a powerhouse committee. Whew!

The only casualty at Tuesday night’s Fashion Group of L.A. tribute to the late designer Rudi Gernreich was the dessert, the last triumphant note in Parties Plus’ black and white menu. The evening was running late and the 400 or so guests dining under a Regal Rents tent were urged to move into the Wiltern Theatre for the spectacular retrospective--Gernreich’s couture and knit collections on live models plus film clips and Bella Lewitzky dancers in Gernreich-designed costumes. The coffee cups were left empty and the dessert, already on individual plates, was still in the cooking tent. As the crowd moved along into the theater, June Miller, cuisine chairman, was wringing her hands. And Parties Plus co-owner Julie Loshin reported that executive chef Robert Willson shed a tear or two as 400 desserts hit the garbage pails.

Everything else went along swimmingly. The speeches by Mayor Tom Bradley, who was introduced by Barbara Trister (the mayor stayed ‘til the very end), Lenore Benson, executive director of the Fashion Group International, and tribute chairman Marylou Luther; the champagne reception in the Wiltern’s lobby where Stella Hanania, former couture designer for I. Magnin, New York art dealer Irving Blum, L.A. art dealer and former model Pat Faure, Gernreich’s main model Peggy Moffit, designer Gus Tassell with his sister Rebecca Welles and Sandy Chrysler with her brother Larry Chrysler stood in little conversational clusters.

Giorgio’s Fred Hayman was a sponsor. He donated the table favors (Giorgio fragrances) and ordered Dom Perignon for his guests, among them Frances and Happy Franklin, Bobbi and Jack Elliot and Keith Keiffer. Some sponsors--Bullock’s Allen Questrom, Herb and Norma Fink, Bullocks Wilshire’s Jerome Nemiro--were in New York on business. But others--Robinson’s Michael Gould and his wife Karen, Vidal and Jeanette Sassoon, the Broadway’s Michael Hecht, the May Co.’s Judith Hofer were around. And there were enough of Gernreich’s friends, fans and associates to make the evening a loving reunion. In among them were designer Patti Cappalli and her husband Larry Taylor, a Sassoon veep; Jacques Faure who designed the program book; Sak’s Fifth Ave.’s Patricia Fox, Conde Nast’s Margaret Thalken, UCLA’s Oreste F. Pucciani, Estee Lauder’s Phil Greibe and Ida Stewart, Hilary Mandel, Aida and Doug Behrend, Lee Hogan Cass, Peggy Ward with Jim Morrison, Marina Than, Neiman-Marcus’ Dale Shumate, Luis Estevez with Frances Bergen, Bullock’s Jack and Persis McCarley, Lea Romonek with Mark C. Bloom, swimsuit designer Anne Cole, Judy Farris, Bob Harris, Dennis and Jolie Frank, Dolores Nemiro and Dr. and Mrs. Hal Millstone.

Proceeds from the benefit will help the Fashion Group Foundation establish a Gernreich design scholarship.

The Social Scramble: Lunching at the Bistro--Coca Cola Bottling Co. of Los Angeles chairman Jack Atwood and Lucy Boswell discussing fund-raisers (she’s chairman of the board for the Child Guidance Clinic); the Colleagues’ Lupe Hinckle giving Henry Eversole Jr. tips on Puerto Vallarta; Matilda Barnett and Dona Powell exchanging gossip.

Cyd Charisse and her husband Tony Martin, Arlene Dahl and her husband Mark Rosen, an Elizabeth Arden veep, and Ginger Rogers are some of the lucky ones cruising the Mediterranean aboard the Island Princess over the next few weeks. When Ginger boards the ship she’ll be carrying some reels of her films, which she’ll share with the rest of the passengers during a Ginger Rogers festival.

Helga Orfila, wife of Alejandro Orfila, former Argentina Ambassador and former head of the Office of American States, was in town looking for a location for an L.A. branch of her Washington boutique, showing a collection of stunning jewelry and doing a lot of socializing. Mrs. Vincente Minnelli gave a luncheon for her at the Bistro Garden. Mrs. Tuck Trainer and Mrs. Herbert Hutner hosted teas at their homes. Seen at one or all of these events--Marianne Rogers, Ginny Mancini, Rosemarie Stack, Beverly Morsey, Mrs. Lloyd Hand, Eva Gabor, Jean Smith, Harriet Deutsch, Frances Bergen, Giney Milner and a raft of other fashionables.

Red Letter Days: Thursday, when his pals celebrate Ed (“Here’s Johnny”) McMahon’s 35th year in television with a black-tie supper party at the Bistro Garden. The hosts are Ed’s wife Victoria, Ginny and Bob Newhart, Mary Ann Mobley and Gary Collins. And the party begins right after Ed finishes taping his first “Star Search” television show with Newhart as his guest star.

Aug. 25 for a Day in the Country celebrating the opening of Napa Valley’s Meadowood Resort and the opening of the new clubhouse and conference center. The day benefits the American Institute of Wine and Food and includes a “picnic extraordinaire” and a treasure hunt for caviar and other goodies.

Sept. 5 when the Hiroko Koshina Boutique opens at the Rodeo Collection and the designer presents her fall/winter collection in the garden. At $35 per person it’s a benefit for the Venice Family Clinic.

Aug. 27 when Tony Bennett opens at the Westwood Playhouse. And while guests sip champagne at the post-performance reception they’ll be able to view Bennett’s lithographs and paintings. Tony signs his works of art with his real name, Anthony Benedetto.

Sept. 9 when KCET celebrates its 21st anniversary with an “extraordinary banquet” at Madame Wu’s Garden prepared by the four top chefs from the Great Wall Sheraton Hotel in Peking. (On the night before, those same premier chefs will be warming up their woks for the Peking Self-Study University benefit at the restaurant.) Hosting the KCET party are Robert E. Wycoff, president of the KCET Associates, and Madame Sylvia Wu, a recently appointed member of the KCET board. The dinner committee includes Anne and William H. Kobin (he’s KCET’s president), Carol and John Connell, Ruth and Howard Koch, Beverly and Joseph N. Mitchell, Sally and Jim Stewart, Judy and Steaven K. Jones and the Robert E. Wycoffs.