Which celebrity search party would list the...

Which celebrity search party would list the Vicente Foods market as a hot spot for star gazing? Certainly not Listen, who sometimes strolls those well-trodden aisles. Yet in the course of a week, we have spied not only Angela Lansbury, pushing her own shopping cart out to the parking lot, but the other Ronald Reagan (Ron Jr.) as well, catching a ride on the back of his shopping cart, which carried more cans of cat food than we’ve ever seen in one shopper’s basket. As for marketing apparel, Lansbury chose a blue blazer to wear over her skirt and blouse. Reagan sported a crisp, short-sleeve white shirt and khaki shorts.

Last week Listen got a call from Barbara Eden as she sat watching her locks fall to the floor at Michaeljohn Salon in Beverly Hills. It seems that her new role in the stage production of “South Pacific” prompted the snipping. John Isaacs “decided to cut it so I can wash it on stage, and to color it a little darker blond. He thought it would have more depth,” said Eden, who will belt out “I’m Gonna Wash that Man Right Out of My Hair” every night in the tour that also stars Robert Goulet. Issacs refers to Eden’s new hairdo as short, layered and feminine--a style that can look both World War II and today. But he also told Listen that short hair isn’t what first comes to mind when he thinks of Barbara Eden. “I always remember her with the ponytail and bangs,” he said of TV’s one-time Jeannie.

Maria Shriver turned up shopping at Bobi Leonard Interiors in Santa Monica recently. Owner Leonard tells Listen that Shriver’s new hubby, Arnold Schwarzenegger, stood at the door (“Everybody gawks at him”) while the co-host of “CBS Morning News” picked out four pairs of extra-wide decorative hair combs, several faux- jewel hair clips and a pair of fluorescent palm tree earrings. Shriver assured Leonard that at least one pair of the combs would be a gift for her grandmother, Rose Kennedy.

A bracelet that stores suntan lotion is the latest novelty from that land of endless summers, Orange County. A Laguna Hills-based firm called Soladyne Pacific is introducing a colorful plastic bracelet that holds one ounce of waterproof suntan lotion--SPF 2, 6 or 15. This “Handytan” bracelet in white, aqua, hot pink and yellow is the latest in a series of plastics ventures by businessmen John Marsden and Edward Harrigan. Company vice president Harrigan tells Listen that Handytan will sell at various drug and surf shops-- but with no refills for this $4.99 bangle. Market research shows people don’t like refills, Harrigan says. “We asked: ‘Can you name any product in your life that you refill?’ The only thing we came up with was gas tanks.”

Fashion with a punch: Bidermann Industries threw Daniel Hechter’s menswear into the ring this week with a show of his holiday collection at Gleason’s Gym in Manhattan. Former champs Joe Frazier and Jake LaMotta were there, but didn’t pull any punches. They commentated a bout featuring two neophyte boxers, after which the male models took to the ring. Neither champ wore Hechter’s clothes at the event, but Bidermann’s Mary Ann Wheaton explained why: “Can you imagine trying to fit those two?” Frazier confided to Listen that he wears a Size 52 jacket.

Debbie Reynolds has proof she’s kept her petite figure. She’s just been named spokeswoman for the petite divisions of Leslie Fay Cos. Reynolds will show off her filmic figure at personal appearances and will commentate fashion shows across America this fall and spring. Reynolds, who is 5-feet, 1 1/2-inches tall, wears a Size 6 petite, says Sara O’Donnell, Leslie Fay’s PR spokesperson.

Mary McFadden’s pleated gowns don’t come cheap, but would you believe $3 million for one of her designs? That’s what actor Ned Beatty paid for a dress donated by McFadden, which he purchased for his wife at a fund-raiser for the Kentucky Opera in Louisville recently. Lucky for Beatty, the $3 million was paid in play money he won at the charity gambling tables at the Opera’s Geranium Ball. McFadden, who was also in Kentucky for the benefit and for the Hard Scuffle Steeplechase, attracted more attention at the Louisville Athletic Club than she did at the ball. McFadden decided to take a steam bath in the buff. “The steam room turned out to be co-ed,” McFadden told Listen. “The attendant was very upset.”

Why aren’t Christie Brinkley, Cheryl Tiegs and Lauren Hutton--a few years north of 30--all washed up as models? Because, according to a letter from Lisa Sinko of Dudley-Anderson-Yutzy, the trend nowadays is to use more “mature” female models. In recognition of the trend, Ford Modeling Agency has joined with the Dove Beauty Bar makers to launch the “Dove Classic Model Discovery,” a contest open to women over 30. The Grand Prize winner receives a one-year modeling contract with Ford and a designer wardrobe. Entry forms and details will be available in the July issue of Family Circle, on newsstands this week. The Ford agency has a division strictly for models over 25, but not over the hill.

Carolina Herrera called Listen to tell us she is now--officially--the designer of Caroline Kennedy’s wedding dress. Herrera couldn’t reveal any details yet. She says Kennedy is preparing her own statement about what she’ll wear when she says “I do” to Ed Schlossberg this summer.

‘At last you’ve come to your senses,” joked John Weitz, who received the Career Achievement Award at the Seventh Annual Cutty Sark Menswear Awards in New York. U.S. designer Robert Stock also had some winning news to relate at the benefit on behalf of Save the Theatres Inc. His wife, model Nancy McTague, is expecting a baby in January. Other winners included European designer Valentino, sportswear designer Willi Smith, “most promising designer” Roger Baugh, accessories designer Susan Horton and student designer Hector Hernandez of F.I.T. in New York.

When Stevie Wonder steps on stage during his summer pop tour, his jewelry will include an “electrical sunrise” and a collage/brooch that’s called “In Square Circle.” That’s how L.A. jewelry designer Michiko Robinson describes the pieces she created for Wonder at the behest of Valeri Adams, Wonder’s sister-in-law, and Calvin Hardaway, Wonder’s brother and personal assistant. The electrical sunrise (“It looks like the sun; there’s a lot of red and gold in it with an aurora borealis overcast.”) is one of Robinson’s “Zen rocks” or collages resembling miniature Japanese Zen-rock gardens. “In Square Circle,” she says, with its rhinestone cluster of aurora borealis and red and amber crystal “looks more like a chandelier.” While these pieces were created expressly for Wonder’s summer tour, Robinson designs several collections for the public, priced from $5 to $200 and sold at such stores as Capezio Dance Shoe Co. in Hollywood.

Winner of the California Designer Award won’t be announced until Sept. 25--giving contenders a good three months to sweat. Listen hears from California Mart fashion director Yvette Crosby that finalists are Leon Max, Nancy Heller, Bonnie Strauss, Carole Little, Christine Albers, David Hayes, Dennis Goldsmith, Estevez, Gene Ewing and Jessica McClintock. (Last year’s winner was McClintock.) The 3-year-old award, which is judged by fashion retailers and press, is presented by the California Mart and the Costume Council of the L.A. County Museum of Art.

The “Face of the ‘80s” looks a lot like California: The first male model search under that heading ended earlier this month with a California winner, as well as two top runners-up from the Golden State. Richard Popejoy, 21, of Monte Sereno in Northern California, took the top slot. The 6-feet, 1-inch hazel-eyed hunk told Listen he thinks his personality clinched it: “I’m more of a guy you’d meet on the street and talk to,” he said. “They wanted somebody who was real.” Popejoy was applying for a job in an auto-parts store last summer when the owner told him he should model. He lost 40 pounds, started modeling and entered the “Face of the ‘80s” regional contest in San Francisco--but lost. Popejoy later re-entered the Seattle competition with the desired result. First runner-up nationally was UC Berkeley student Kevin Lake, 22, (who beat Popejoy in the San Francisco contest). Second runner-up was Daniel Gauthier, 22, a student at San Diego State. Other runners-up were Jon Coggins of Atlanta and Lee Connally of San Antonio. Popejoy wins a $50,000, two-year modeling contract with Ford Modeling Agency. The contest was co-sponsored by Ford, Gillette and Gentleman’s Quarterly magazine.

Also under “packaging is everything”--Germaine Monteil is selling a new mirrored compact filled with tinted makeup sun block (suggested retail, $12). The “Soleil Creme Compact,” with an SPF 18, is designed for those “extra-vulnerable, line-prone facial areas,” company officials tell Listen. That includes skin around eyes, mouth and ridges of the ears. Listen doesn’t often worry about those places. But we’ll start.