Packing for a trip to New York?...
Packing for a trip to New York? Actress Anne Archer has a few tips on dressing like an Upper West Side trendy. That’s the sort of woman she plays in the movie “Fatal Attraction,” also starring Glenn Close and Michael Douglas, now being shot on those painfully chic streets. The key, we’re told by Archer’s costumer, Ellen Marojnick, is this: “Never put together an outfit with just one designer’s clothes.” To avoid such fashion fatalities, Marojnick drapes Archer in baggy khaki shorts by British designer Katherine Hamnett and a conservative classic sweater by Ralph Lauren, or an oversize denim shirt by French designer Ball, with trousers by New York’s own Agnes B. And for evening, a fitted black suit with a little black bustier peeking out from underneath the jacket. Don’t say nobody told you.
Princess Stephanie of Monaco can’t be accused of having just one or two paltry interests in life. The fast-track princess has now designed a collection of leather jackets--adding this to a trail of her other royal activities. In the past several months, Stephanie has embarked on a recording career, done some fashion modeling and designed a collection of swimsuits. Recently, she was spotted wearing a two-tone haircut, in a Paris shop that sells her designer leathers. The jackets, for men and women, sell for 1,980 francs, or about $300. So what’s next, Steph?
Anne Jeffreys was in a red Valentino suit, Rhonda Fleming Mann wore Adolfo, Constance Towers Gavin looked a vision in gray and Mary Jones was decidedly cheerful in red by Chanel. That’s the word from Marcia Israel, who tossed a little in-store party for friends and customers to celebrate the rebirth of her flagship Judy’s shop, which opened in Century City last Friday afternoon. Israel says the old store was “completely torn up, gutted and rebuilt into a diagonal structure” with lunar decor. But you won’t need a road map to find the new spot. It still occupies the same corner space it’s had for years in the updated, uptown mall.
How to tell a girl Mercedes from a boy? The female kind comes with a name--”Duchess,” according to the people at Carat in Beverly Hills. This car dealership is selling the limited-edition Mercedes-Benz 560 SL, which has been customized for women. Designed by Frederic Duchatalet, the “Duchess” is pearly white inside and out, with leather trim and dashboard cover. It contains such fashion necessities as a jewel box, makeup, a compartment for perfume of the customer’s choice and a hinged table fitted with a Cartier Agenda and pen. Hermes scarf, handkerchiefs and sunglasses are stuffed in the glove compartment. In fact, these femmes fatale Mercedes--10 in all--come with just about everything except a modest price tag: $96,000.
Is this another cog in the wheel of questionable taste that has swept up so many fashion and fragrance ads of late? Or is Irma Shorell helping to undo the Puritan shackles that got us where we are today? Either way, Shorell has launched a prenatal skin-care line, Birthright, and the advertisement photo--a nude pregnant woman--isn’t one to go unnoticed. If ads got ratings like movies, this one would be a PG.
The Chicago Bears’ Jim McMahon started it all at the 1986 Super Bowl, when he wore various Adidas headbands around his neck, each bearing the name of a favorite charity. Now Adidas is taking McMahon’s idea to the limit, mass marketing headbands packaged with permanent markers, so ordinary jocks can “customize” their bands with whatever messages they choose to write. This could get chancy, depending on the wearer’s frame of mind. But while McMahon is out of football action because of injuries, he’s still getting credit for this idea. The player’s photo and signature appear on the bubble-blister-packed items, which indicates that Adidas is playing fair.
Mayor Tom Bradley has been rubbing elbows with movie stars again, this time on the dance floor. Listen hears from Kip Morrison, spokeswoman for the Bob Gail Orchestra, that Bradley, Connie Stevens, Milton Berle and Ruta Lee were all cutting a rug at a holiday party in Beverly Hills. We haven’t seen the mayor dance, but we bet he’s a kick.
Until this week, we’d never heard of a party being held in order to give folks invitations to another party. But here’s the new twist: The consul general of Australia sent us an engraved invitation to a bash in the Empire Room of New York’s Waldorf Astoria hotel on Jan. 8, on which occasion the consul general will present designers Donna Karan and Oscar de la Renta with their invitations to attend the Australian Bicentennial Celebration at the Sydney Opera House on Jan. 31. We are happy for Donna and Oscar, but we’ve sent the consul general our regrets. It’s just too convoluted for us to consider.
We’re dying to know what Marlene Dietrich and Nancy Reagan will wear on Jan. 12, at the Council of Fashion Designers of America awards in New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art. The First Lady is honorary chairman of the splashy black-tie event, and la Dietrich will pick up the Lifetime Achievement Award, as will designer Bill Blass. Others to be honored at the CFDA soiree for their “Outstanding Contribution to Fashion in 1986” are: designers Geoffrey Beene, David Cameron, Donna Karan, Christian Lacroix and Ralph Lauren along with model Dalma Callado, WWD exec Etta Froio, TV fashion caster Elsa Klensch and Elle magazine.
