Feast for Eye and Palate Rescues Diabetes Fund-Raiser
Each year, as part of their respective major fund-raising galas, the Los Angeles and Orange County chapters of the American Diabetes Assn. simultaneously sponsor a movie premiere. Past premieres have included “City Heat,” starring Burt Reynolds, and “Two of a Kind,” with Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta. (The latter seemed to go directly from the premiere to the airplanes.)
Plans changed this year.
“Turned out the movie we’d scheduled was going to have to be completely re-edited,” said Bunny Pero, chairman of a luncheon last week at the Hotel Meridien in Newport Beach. “Meanwhile, we were banking on making $60,000 again this year, and we’d already doled out our research grants.”
Things were not quite so bleak as they seemed: In a gesture of Franco-American goodwill, the haute couture salon of the Paris-based House of Nina Ricci mounted the first Southern California showing of its winter collection; the Air France-owned Hotel Meridien underwrote a lobster luncheon, as lovely as any at this sort of affair in recent memory, and Seagram’s Classic Wine Co. donated Mumm’s Champagne.
Ricci Spring Show
“We’ll make about $10,000 today,” continued Pero, who was fighting a case of laryngitis, “and that will help. And we hope to have Nina Ricci back for a spring show.”
(In developments Monday, the Los Angeles chapter successfully negotiated for the premiere of a Woody Allen film with Mia Farrow in February; according to Pero, the Orange County chapter has yet to decide whether that fund-raising enterprise will be a joint one.)
Nearly 250 supporters of the association attended the luncheon, which began with freshly shelled pea soup and ended with a raspberry creme soda-filled chocolate cup, with the letters “NR”--for Nina Ricci--spelled out in chocolate on the dessert plate.
The production, which replicated the original unveiling in Paris--right down to the Parisian models, two of whom, interestingly enough, are American-born--came to Newport Beach from Japan and will continue its tour in Houston and Boston. Princess Sophie de Wurttemberg, director of the Nina Ricci salon, affectionately referred to the traveling show as the “Ricci circus.”
Japanese Women Taller
De Wurttemberg brought back interesting news from Tokyo, where the House of Ricci has a boutique: The new generation of Japanese women is taller.
“Much taller,” de Wurttemberg said. “It used to be a tradition that the little girls had to kneel down all the time, and I think that gave them crooked legs. They don’t do that so much anymore. So now they have straight legs.”
The Stuttgart-born de Wurttemberg, granddaughter of Tsar Ferdinand of Bulgaria, described the Ricci style as “classic elegance, but classic without being boring, without being old-fashioned or ‘madame’-looking.”
Daywear found tweeds and flannels, wool and satin crepe. Colors and textures were combined in surprising ways: A tunic and skirt in red wool crepe were set off, for instance, with a purple cowl trimmed with ostrich feathers. Fur showed up as trim for scarves; fur at the cuffs, though apparently part of the jacket sleeve, was actually attached to suede gloves.
‘Fur Is Gorgeous’
“All that fur is gorgeous,” guest Michael Perkins noted. “My problem is, where do you wear that stuff in California? Maybe fly to San Francisco for the weekend? I mean, can you see wearing those suits in downtown Newport to go to Albertsons?” she said.
Evening wear, often showing Indian influences, featured velvet, jersey and satin; brocades and faille, moire and grosgrain looked to yesteryear. The eye was automatically drawn to the hats--feathered toques and embroidered or dyed fox berets--many of which featured huge jeweled pendants. (The pendants were made specially for the show. “But I can order them,” assured de Wurttemberg.) Asymmetrical earrings were a hit.
Among the highlights of the collection was an ensemble comprising a blue silk crepe evening coat worn over an embroidered apricot muslin top and sky-blue silk crepe skirt.
“It’s a dream,” de Wurttemberg agreed. “Of course, dreams have a dream price.”
$17,000 Night Outfit
The dress, sans coat, may be yours for $14,000--yes, dollars, not francs; the coat is a paltry $3,000 more. According to the princess, prices are based solely on the amount of fabric and other materials required, and how many hours of work. “Design has nothing to do with it,” she insisted. (Haute couture must be ordered through the salon in Paris.)
The final eight gowns provided an unusual close to the show.
Five were enormous taffeta dresses with appliques; two were lame with gold-embroidered bodices and skirts paneled with fruit motifs, notably grape and pineapple. The last item was a wedding gown.
The crowd never got past the first five.
“What was that--Omar the Tentmaker?” one guest asked.
“Looks like the bridesmaids were pregnant,” Barbara Gothard said.
Many guests questioned the wisdom of buying a dress that would make any wearer look fat; Emma Jane Riley foresaw still other problems with the oversize gowns.
Curious About Ricci
“Now when you want to wear one of those last taffeta ones,” said Riley, wife of county Board of Supervisors Chairman Thomas Riley, “you get a room in the hotel, then you change into your dress. You couldn’t possibly get in the car with it on.”
Everybody was curious to see what the Ricci circus brings for spring.
Sherry Johnston was co-chairman of the luncheon, also enjoyed by Meridien general manager Tony Vanacore.
