Heading for the Hats
Actress Delta Burke used to think she was overdressed for Los Angeles. But no longer. Last week she called Listen to report she had bought 25 hats from designer Eric Javits in New York. “It was a real quick, fun kind of shopping,” she says of the berets, wide brims and snoods she picked. “I just bought the hats, and now I have to make something up to go with them. Lately I want to dress up more.” Despite that admission, Burke doesn’t think her fashion sense has much in common with Suzanne Sugarbaker, the Southern belle she plays on TV’s “Designing Women.” “She’s always a tad frilly,” Burke scoffs. “She tries to be ladylike, but there’s always something askew.”
A Fitting Tribute
Actress Loni Anderson and “Moonlighting” designer Robert Turturice have already made their reservations for the evening of June 15. That’s when New York superstar designer Donna Karan will show her fall collection at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, to benefit the museum’s Modern and Contemporary Art Council. (Tickets, $35; reservations, (818) 763-1461.) The show is sponsored by Saks Fifth Avenue, and Karan will appear at the Beverly Hills Saks store to help shoppers the following day. Last time she appeared at the store, so many shoppers turned up that there was gridlock in the fitting rooms, and customers were disrobing right on the selling floor to try things on and get the designer’s approval. This time, says the store’s Patty Fox, a specially designed, enlarged fitting area has been arranged for the duration of Karan’s stay.
Prince Is a Pauper?
Those who like Princess Diana’s taste in clothes may want to stop by Saks Fifth Avenue, Beverly Hills, Thursday and Friday. That’s where Murray Arbeid, the London-based dress designer, will make a personal appearance with his poufy fall party dresses, one of which was recently worn by the Princess of Wales. The royal gown had a strapless black-velvet bodice, a flame-red taffeta skirt and a hemline that dipped up and down. And that, incidentally, is the kind of evening look for which Arbeid has been receiving raves. We don’t know what Diana paid for her dress, if anything, but Arbeid’s styles are known for price tags that even many commoners can afford. Is Prince Charles tightening the purse strings?
Heads of State
We bumped into Nancy Reagan’s hair dresser, Julius Bengtsson, and he said he was on his way to the economic summit in Italy. Not the sort of convention most men in his profession would attend. But he said he was traveling there with Mrs. Reagan, because her hair needs attention no matter what the occasion. By the way, he mentioned that he’ll go on with Mrs. Reagan to Stockholm, where she’ll promote her “Just Say No” anti-drug campaign, and he’ll visit his old neighborhood. (Bengtsson left his native Stockholm when he was 16, he says.) He’ll be carrying something in his suitcase that might surprise the First Lady, he tells us. It’s a braided hairpiece he wants her to try out. Will she or won’t she agree? We’ll be waiting.
Keep It Under Your Hat
“She glowed and shimmered like snowflakes.” That’s how Liza Minnelli’s stepmother, Lee, saw her on opening night last week at New York’s Carnegie Hall. Mother Minnelli says she told Liza to “get Halston out of retirement” to design her costumes for the big event. And that’s just what happened. The “snowflake” dress from Liza’s first act is a white, beaded mini, says Lee, who adds that she chatted up Halston after the show and gathered some gossip. Nothing definite yet, she says. But Halston told her he’s considering a comeback of his own later this year, Minnelli tells Listen.
Watch This
Muscling in on the action last weekend at Venice Beach were none other than the Swatch Watch people. They were in town for the Sunday celebration that made it official to call the Venice weightlifting pen “Muscle Beach Venice.” But they actually got the festivities rolling on Saturday when a party of local artists permanently turned the surface of 57 Venice Beach Pavilion tables into enormous timepieces. Not just any timepieces, mind you. These are meant to look like the company’s latest model, the Pop Swatch. Ticking right along, the company sponsored the men’s and women’s Masters and Open Bodybuilding Contests on Sunday and showed the crowd of 20,000 how to throw their weight around in new styles of Fungear clothing.
Glacial Facials
It pays to be polite, Laurie Gullion of the Arctic Barrens Expedition tours discovered. After a trek to the polar region with a partner and 18 explorers in tow, she sent thank you notes to the folks at Neutrogena. They had supplied her with free samples of their Norwegian Formula hand cream and Rainbath facial cleanser. She tells Listen that she’s now an official spokeswoman for the company, even though she doesn’t do things by the book. Here’s her beauty regimen for ice-cap explorers: Use Rainwater facial wash for your clothes and Norwegian Formula hand cream for your face.
