The Breck Girl--that serene and frequently blond...
The Breck Girl--that serene and frequently blond depiction of the American female--has peered from the back pages of magazines for over 40 years. About 200 women have appeared in the pastel portraits, including the future-famous Brooke Shields as a child; Kim Basinger, portraying a young bride; Cybill Shepherd, and Jaclyn Smith. And now Listen has learned the Breck Girl will be the subject of a January exhibit in New York’s Museum of American Illustration. The Society of Illustrators will sponsor the show, which will detail the history of this American ideal. Artists Charles Sheldon, Ralph William Williams and Robert Anderson have created the Breck portraits over the years. The first Breck Girl appeared in 1936--six years after Breck Shampoo was introduced.
Our vote for the most conspicuous Christmas gift of the year goes to the 21.05-carat, radiant-cut, yellow-diamond pair of cuff links now reposing at the new Harry Winston jewelry shop in the Beverly Hills Hotel. We cannot imagine who will plunk down the necessary $800,000 in order to give these decorative substitutes for sleeve buttons, but the shop’s Mary Robin Redd assures us there are interested parties in the wings. On a slightly less costly note, she tells Listen that the best-selling gift item in the shop is the Winston whistle. It’s a gold, police-style whistle decorated with onyx, lapis, mother of pearl, pave diamonds, rubies or pearls. Prices range from $2,900 to $5,500.
Talk about the big spin. We just got word there are $4,000 diamonds hidden in $55-size bottles of perfume. Not every perfume, and not all the bottles. It seems Maitland Philippe, the maker of Zarolia fragrances, dropped a few rocks into a few one-quarter-ounce bottles of the perfume as part of a promotional effort. There’s a 15% chance a bottle has a gem hidden inside, we’re told. The sizes of the stones range from one-quarter carat to a full carat, and they are only packed in the new, teardrop-shape flask with a frosted plume for a stopper, which the company is introducing this fall, spokeswoman Robin Simons says. Feeling lucky?
Diane Keaton, now in Los Angeles filming a United Artists comedy called “Baby Boom,” may again set off a fashion craze equal to the one she started with “Annie Hall.” Keaton plays the ultimate yuppie career woman in New York, whose life suddenly falls off course when she “inherits” a baby whose parents are gone. Listen hears from Shelley Kirkwood, our spy on the set, that Keaton’s career-girl garb is from some of the world’s top designers, including Giorgio Armani, Krizia, Matsuda, Donna Karan, Cerutti and Norma Kamali. Then the baby arrives and single-parent Keaton moves to the woods of Vermont, where she wears Ralph Lauren and L. L. Bean. Additional information for Keaton fans: This is the first film, we’re told, in which you can actually see the actress’ legs, which she’s kept covered in long skirts in previous flicks. And for those who care, the baby wears nothing but Baby Guess, Belli Bambini and the finest hand-knit Irish sweaters.
When Billy Dee Williams puts on his glasses these days, it’s with an eye toward business. The actor just joined Kenmark Optical Co. of Louisville to represent the firm’s new collection called Billy Dee’s Eyewear. The first group will include two sunglasses and several prescription styles, to be sold through opticians, boutiques and department stores early next year. According to a company spokesperson, Williams was chosen for his “enormous appeal among people of all ethnic backgrounds, among men and women and young people as well as old.” Take off your glasses, Billy, and take a bow.
Victoria Principal and Chastity Bono (daughter of Cher) are among those now wearing outfits from Jessica McClintock’s new couture collection of 65 styles that can be cut and sewn to a customer’s measurements. McClintock’s made-to-order fashion is on view in the designer’s new shop at Crystal Court, South Coast Plaza. It’s the San Francisco-based designer’s second free-standing shop, and a third is planned for New York next fall. We hear all this from McClintock representative Joan Kaiser, who says the custom-made frocks are priced from $900 to $3,500.
Nordstrom has found a way to turn buying a “designer” Christmas ornament into a good cause. Listen has learned the specialty store will donate all proceeds it makes from a collection of 18-karat gold-plated brass ornaments to Camp Ronald McDonald for Good Times, a camp for children with cancer. The ornament was designed by Robert Lee Morris for Donna Karan, and will sell for $75. The store promises the sales of such ornaments will be an annual event--with proceeds going to local charities. The bauble is sold in the Gifts to Go department at the Westside Pavilion and the Galleria at South Bay stores.
