Our own Mayor Tom Bradley was in...

Our own Mayor Tom Bradley was in Manhattan last week to accept the Men’s Fashion Assn.’s 1985 American Image Award in the category of politics. Listen asked the mayor--who dressed for the event in a black, peak-lapeled tuxedo by Amir, white fly-front formal shirt, box tie and black loafers, what he thinks his own personal fashion image is: “I dress to please myself. I’m comfortable with my own style.” Other winners included newscaster Sam Donaldson for communications, “Kramer vs. Kramer” star Justin Henry for contemporary, Yankees pitcher Phil Niekro for sports, and Willie Mays took the MFA’s Hall of Fame award. “Miami Vice” star Philip Michael Thomas, who won for television, tarnished his image a little, according to MFA’s Kevin Krier. Thomas called up the very afternoon of the event to say he couldn’t make it.

While the royal family of Monaco was busy partying it up in Los Angeles recently, Princess Stephanie couldn’t seem to get business off her mind. The young princess has opened her own French swimsuit company called Pool Position, and she proudly told Listen that her first collection of 20 suits has been bought by several stores in the United States, including Bullock’s, I. Magnin, Bloomingdale’s and Macy’s. They will arrive in stores next March. Stephanie shares business-and-design duties with her former Christian Dior compatriot Alix de la Comble, 30, who was also here for the weekend. At a cocktail party tossed by La Prairie, the Swiss cosmetics company, Stephanie and De la Comble both took the opportunity to show off their wares: Both wore Pool Position suits (turquoise for Stephanie, pink for Alix) with matching shirred Lycra miniskirts and velvet jackets. You could say it was tres shocking, but it was also definitely tres chic. It should also be noted that both young women toted tiny Chanel shoulder bags. “We do everything alike,” De la Comble said.

While Sting sings, Trudie shops. We hear from the folks at the Azzedine Alaia boutique in Beverly Hills that rock musician Sting’s friend Trudie Styler stopped in recently and bought herself a black skirt and bodysuit, a rose-colored bodysuit, a black wool jacket and a black leather belt. It seems Styler was feeling frisky that day. When someone in the store asked her about her superstar singer friend, Nadine Zanotti of the boutique says: “Trudie turned around and asked, ‘Who’s Sting?’ ”

Your chance to help dress up the White House while decking your own holiday tree is once again here, with the arrival of the 1985 White House Christmas Ornament. But don’t expect to find Santa Claus, Rudolph, angels or even a partridge in a pear tree. This year’s ornament, the fifth in a series, features those holiday favorites, James and Dolley Madison, silhouetted on gold-plated metal. According to the White House Historical Assn., Madison was the second President to celebrate Christmas in the White House (Thomas Jefferson was the first) although the first White House Christmas tree didn’t show up until 1889, when it was reportedly decorated with tinsel and popcorn by President Benjamin Harrison and his family. The James-and-Dolley ornament sells for $9.75 (postage included) from the White House Historical Assn., Department 3030, Washington, D.C. 20042. Proceeds from sales of the ornaments benefit the White House Historical Assn., which was founded during the term of John F. Kennedy. The association publishes historical and educational materials about the White House and funds its acquisition of historical furnishings and art objects.

Remember last month when we told you about the naked face being the latest trend in beauty? Well, little did we know that one of the country’s most important cosmetic companies was thinking the same thing. Clinique is now promoting the “perfect nude mouth . . . barely noticeable but in its own quiet way packing a lot of chic and glamour.” Or so they say. They’ve even invented two products to help you achieve the nothing-there look. You start with a “nude” lip pencil and finish with a lip gel called Lip Nectar, which comes in two colors: Perfect Nude and Nude Gold. As the folks at Clinique say: “All it takes is a mouth.”

James Taylor had no trouble finding the perfect birthday present for friend Joni Mitchell when he dropped into Tops, the Malibu gallery owned by actor Robert Walker and his wife Judy. They steered Taylor toward an item on Mitchell’s most-wanted list--a hand-woven wool-and-silk poncho. Although he was heading off to Mitchell’s birthday party, Taylor lingered long enough to do a bit of early Christmas shopping, which included a necklace of miniature kitchen utensils ( a “housewearable” by Philadelphia artist Peggy Johnson) and a St. Christopher’s medal for the Space Age by New Mexico artist Will Powers. Walker explains that the Powers-designed talisman “is a standard St. Christopher’s medal with a man on a rocket ship attached.” Taylor was not the only celebrity caller of the day. Jennifer Jones stopped by for a necklace of French antique brass beads and arrowhead charms, which she told Walker she plans to wear with her at-home uniform: Halston silk pajamas in either black or white.

‘The vaults have been opened today,” exclaimed Veronica Chambers, one of the guests at this week’s opening of Tallarico Inc. in Beverly Hills. And how right she was. The locals were out in force for the opening, flaunting their brightest and biggest baubles. One woman said she had hers “steamed” for the occasion. Others let their hands do the talking, waving their digits so that the light caught the glow of their rings. And everyone discussed carats, and we don’t mean the kind on dinner plates. But the mystery of the evening was a Lady Kalla, whose name appeared on the invitation. Even though no one wanted to admit it, the problem was that none of the socially connected guests had ever heard of this person. As it turned out, Lady Kalla isn’t a high-placed social lioness but a watch, which owner Don Tallarico describes as having 108 emerald-cut diamonds and a pave face. It’s made by Vacheron Constantin. Price tag: $400,000.

Tired of settling down with your daily newspaper only to find that Art Buchwald, Jim Murray, Erma Bombeck, Paul Conrad, Jack Smith and others have left printer’s ink all over you? You might want to consider “The Great American Sunday Newspaper Reading Glove,” which is actually two gloves of white nylon, printed with newspaper articles bearing headlines such as “How to Read a Newspaper in Public,” “More Than You Ever Wanted to Know About Ink” and “Where Sunday Smudge Is Most Likely to Strike.” (On that last score, the gloves warn that “the larger the circulation and greater the ratio of late news pages, the higher the smudge potential will be.”) The gloves, which are sold for $9.95 at Images Hallmark in Newport Beach, were developed by Mill Pond Associates in Dartmouth, Mass. According to the firm’s president, Charles Strauss, the company specializes in marketing products that are “very useful and enjoyable but not absolutely necessary.”

We hear from Beverly Hills fashion designer Miriam Parkes that Rhonda Fleming came by to see her when Parkes made a personal appearance at the Suite 101 boutique. And what did the red-haired actress buy? A dress Parkes named “Scarlet,” of course.