When Vikki Carr needed some quick changes...

When Vikki Carr needed some quick changes for her new act in Atlantic City, the singer got on the phone with L.A. costume designer Pete Menefee. “A 40-second instrumental is when you’ve got to get out of something and into something else,” the singer, who divides homes these days between Beverly Hills and Mexico City, told Listen. Menefee, a frequent costumer for Shirley MacLaine, came through with a few simple pieces with a big price tag: $25,000. He made her a white, crystal-beaded broad-shouldered gown, plus a multicolored beaded graffiti jacket, camisole, a long skirt and a miniskirt. Carr, who opens at Trumps Castle July 21 in Atlantic City with Jack Jones, confides she’s not really a pro at wearing these bangled creations. She says she leaves a trail of beads as she walks, “like Hansel and Gretel. Everybody can tell where Vikki has been.”

You’ve got to say this for Whoopi Goldberg. She has quite a range in fashion tastes. The other day at the David Keys boutique in Los Angeles, Goldberg bought two evening dresses that couldn’t have less in common. One is black leather with a collar of leather spikes, to wear with spike-trimmed leather gloves, Listen hears from Lee Anderson of the store. The other is a one-shoulder silk taffeta gown dripping with taffeta flower petals. She must be going to some party.

From out of New York came a plea for a red leather suit with baggy pleated pants and a blouson jacket. The person who needed it was Mick Jagger. The man who had it was Sherman Oaks clothier Rick Pallack, who tells Listen: “I don’t usually have red leather suits in stock. It’s just not my image.” (His image, by the way, just won him his second Marty Award for outstanding West Coast menswear retailer.) He had been pondering what to do with the suit, which was ordered but never used for a television show, Pallack says, and the call from a Jagger aide “was the luckiest thing that ever happened to me.” Perhaps he was able to pass some of the luck on to Tony Danza when the TV star came in to buy his wedding tuxedo and “a few items for his trousseau,” which we are told included some double-breasted suits with matching accessories.

What’s hot in Malibu this summer is New Mexico. Listen hears from Judy Walker, owner of the Malibu handicrafts store Tops, that several celebs stopped in last week for pieces by Taos and Santa Fe artists. Larry Hagman ordered a hand-painted jewelry box by Taos artist Jim Wagner and a silver-and-leather cactus concho belt by Santa Fe artist Kit Carson. Ali MacGraw also came by, choosing a beaded necklace and silver Scottie-dog pin. And on Joni Mitchell’s recent trek in, the singer bought a silver flying saucer pin by Santa Fe artist Richard Morrow.

A downtown fashion retailer is trying to sweeten the bargain for shoppers just like the airlines do with frequent-flyer programs. Linda Menar, owner of the women’s career-dressing store Traditionally Suited, tells Listen that in lieu of sales, the store will reward frequent shoppers with gifts ranging from a $45 silk scarf, for those who spend $1,000, to a weekend for two at a Santa Barbara ranch for big spenders ($10,000). The gifts go to members of the store’s new Image program. Listen has only one question: How many wool suits does it take to reach $10,000? About 30, Menar says.

Best-looking shopping bags we’ve ever seen are in the gift shop at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, where the new Impressionist exhibit from the U.S.S.R. opened recently. The handles are silky soutache (mauve, blue or black), and the bags are glossy-stock, full-color reproductions of Matisse, Monet and Gauguin paintings featured in the current exhibit. Museum spokeswoman Pam Jenkinson calls them “art bags,” but Listen calls them essentials for any one who cares to carry the very best. They cost from $3 to $3.50.