Kristy McNichol is spending time between films...

Kristy McNichol is spending time between films learning to snip and style at Giuseppe Franco--a hair salon on Canon Drive in Beverly Hills. Owner Franco says he’s McNichol’s buddy--and former roommate--(“purely platonic, she’s like my baby sister”) of four years. He tells Listen the two met about seven years ago when he managed the Henri Bendel hair salon in Manhattan. Franco, who treats the tresses of such personalities as Mickey Rourke, Rod Stewart, Tony Danza, Rob Lowe, Marianne and Kenny Rogers and Frank and Moon Zappa, says he’s now turning his talents to training McNichol. She’s putting in six or seven hours, three or four days a week in order to get her cosmetology license, he says. Does she get preferential treatment? No way, Franco asserts. “She’s doing what any other normal hairdresser’s assistant would do, and that’s work. She can’t be cutting clients’ hair, she’s just training. She comes here because she’s bored between movies, but she’s still very much working on her films. This is just a hobby for her. In between times, instead of just hanging out like other people would, she’s making herself useful. She’s doing what she’s told to do. She has to stick to the dress code, come in on time, and she’s not allowed to use the phone, just like all my other staff. If I ask her to do a shampoo for me, she does. She doesn’t talk back to me.”

Ron Reagan, who seems to move through town unrecognized by most people (despite his place in the country’s First Family and his television exposure as a member of the press and in ads), was shopping for shirts, neckties and trousers at Clackton & Frinton on La Cienega Boulevard. And he managed to remain--unrecognized. When he paid for his purchases, we hear from Michael Anderson of the shop, one of the salesmen noticed his signature and jokingly said: “Now we can tell people Ron Reagan shops here,” still not knowing he was talking to the Ron Reagan. Anderson says another customer did happen to know the celebrity shopper and later informed the store’s staff of just who they’d been taking care of. Anderson adds that everyone did recognize rock ‘n’ roll legend Little Richard when he came into the store the same day and happened to purchase the same olive-green cotton slacks that Reagan selected.

Joan Rivers apparently doesn’t just want to be wittier than Johnny, she also wants to be more chic. We hear from Amen Wardy, the upscale boutique owner in Newport Beach, that Rivers has elected him to “personally coordinate her TV wardrobe.” When “The Late Show Starring Joan Rivers” debuts Oct. 9 on Channel 11, Wardy says Rivers will battle Johnny in a black-and-white silk Valentino dress with embroidered cuffs and collar, accessorized with black enamel and diamond jewels by David Webb. Wardy spent an entire day with Rivers this week selecting outfits from his shop for upcoming shows, and adds that her p.m. comedy look will definitely not be chopped liver. The shop carries only top-name, top-price designer styles from all over the world.

You’d have to go some to dress more outrageously than David Lee Roth or Grace Jones--or virtually any rock star appearing at the recent MTV Awards. But comedian Bob (the Bobcat) Goldthwait did just that, arriving on stage dressed like Prince in the film “Under the Cherry Moon”: gaucho hat, boots, tight black bell-bottoms and bare-midriff top. But, er, uh, Bobcat’s more than a few pounds overweight, which made his imitation of Prince all the more hilarious. By the way, Jones showed up in a black bat-wing headdress that was nearly as wide as she is tall, and Roth wore what appeared to be a pair of blue-and-white, polka-dot boxer shorts over his spangled evening pants.

When Listen heard that Dustin Hoffman bought five pairs of panty hose and two pairs of ladies’ slipper socks at the Fogal hosiery store in Beverly Hills we had to wonder whether there’s a “Tootsie II” in the works. But it turned out Hoffman was buying birthday presents for his wife. Store owner Joan Wills says Hoffman did mention that he might borrow the slipper socks once in a while. She didn’t ask for his autograph. But she saved a doodle he drew on a scratch pad while he was waiting for his packages. “I put it up on the store wall,” Wills reports.

If tall men have the advantage, Bob Stern of Cleveland isn’t the man to admit it. The 5-foot-2 president of Short Sizes Inc., a clothing manufacturer for men under 5 feet, 8 inches, is touting the glamour of diminutive size by sponsoring a contest to name the 10 best-dressed short men in America. “There are lots of short guys out there who could fit the picture, like Paul Simon and Dudley Moore,” Stern told Listen over the phone. And that wasn’t supposed to be a hint: “Those names may or may not be on the list.” The object of the contest is to list up to 10 names of famous men--under 5 foot, 8 inches--who fill the best-dressed bill. The first contestant whose list matches at least five of Stern’s names will win a $500 wardrobe from his new Short Sizes catalogue. Need we say that the winner had better not be tall and lanky? To give it a whirl, write Best Dressed List, c/o Short Sizes Inc., 5385 Warrensville Center Road, Cleveland, Ohio 44137. The winner will be announced Oct. 22.

First it was Ireland, then Scandinavia, now Italy. That’s the route Spiegel’s international catalogues have taken, and the latest in their foreign-flavor promotions salutes the land of Michelangelo and Missoni with 59 pages of imports, ranging from clothing to household items. Some are on the affordable side, some are definitely fodder for the Santa-and-reindeer brigade. If you’re low on lira, you can spring for something small, like a silk tie ($25) or a set of three marble-like candlesticks ($29.95). Or, on the high end, a man’s khaki trench coat ($295) or a sectional leather sofa ($1,999).