I. Magnin’s Jack Miles in the Spotlight
The tall, stately Jack Miles, a bon vivant of fashion whose imprimatur of good taste has been sprinkled upon thousands of Los Angeles women, will be in the spotlight Sept. 17. He will be honored for 50 years of service and style and will accept the Mary Ann Magnin Award for fashion excellence from his own I. Magnin, where he is southern regional couture buyer. The occasion is being labeled “ParIs Verve!” And the co-recipient will be La Federation Francaise de la Couture du Pret-a-Porter des Couturiers et des Createurs de Mode.
It all takes place--where else?--at I. Magnin’s second floor at 3240 Wilshire Blvd., searching ground for some of the city’s best dressed and chatting ground with Miles. The chief accoutrement will be a formal fashion show of fall haute couture straight from the runways of Paris. That follows cocktails at 6 p.m.
Donna Karan received the award in 1986 for bringing a new spirit to American design; the House of Chanel received it in 1985 for fashion and beauty excellence.
COUTURE CLOSETS: Now that it’s almost officially fall, if heat stroke doesn’t intervene, the town’s chic will be shopping madly and sorting closets to be tip-top for all the upcoming meetings and benefits. Naturally, there’s a rash of social fashion benefits and luncheons:
For instance, the Keynote 88 Committee and Neiman-Marcus have invitations out for a “Wish Upon a Star” affair with Zandra Rhodes the morning of Sept. 17 at the Bistro Garden Pavilion. The women, headed by Ceil Moore and Sophie Masters, combine it all with English morning tea and the Los Angeles Pops Ensemble. . . .
Hard-working National Arts Assn. members, who give numerous scholarships to aspiring students in the visual and performing arts, have designed a premiere showing of top European designers presented by Torie Steele Boutique of Rodeo Drive on Sept. 16 at the Bistro Garden. Valentino, Krizia, Odicine, Bernard Perris and Jacqueline de Ribes top the list, plus furs from Fendi. Christine Fadel will be there to introduce her new board--Sherry Shelley, Suzanne Dillard, Bette Laucks, Betty Condon and Anne Bailey. . . .
Designer Michael Novarese headlines the Friends of Julia Ann Singer luncheon/fashion show next Thursday at the Beverly Hilton. Chairman Fay Kozberg and President Eva Baerwitz say that emotionally disturbed and learning-disabled young children and their families will benefit from proceeds. Chief aides include Esther Ball, Sari Eshman, Hildy Fell, Tillie Goldring, Evelyn Gurwitz, Lillian Lichtenfeld and Bib Lushing. . . .
Couturier Rubin Panis, whose gowns have been worn at plenty of White House events, is the coup Sept. 17 for Les Marraines of Children’s Home Society of California. He will star at their luncheon and show at the Stouffer Concourse Hotel, according to Anita Anderson of Santa Monica and Miriam Bauer and Betty Wimberly of Malibu.
HOLD THAT TIGER--That’s what everyone will want to do at Cartier’s Champagne preview touting the 100th anniversary of its involvement in the optical world Sept. 11 in Beverly Hills. Cartier is hosting a nationwide tour of its $500,000 jeweled eyewear collection, “Creative Visions,” from Cartier-Paris. And the fillip is that tiger--the exhibition of the tiger lorgnette from the Duchess of Windsor jewelry collection. Designed by Jeanne Toussaint under the direction of Louis Cartier, the eyepiece was originally crafted for the duchess in 1954, then reacquired by Cartier at the recent auction of the late duchess’s jewels in Geneva. The lorgnette is one of the many jeweled pieces from the Cartier “Great Cat Series.”Also on exhibit will be the Panther eyeglasses--$55,000 for gold, platinum, diamonds,emeralds and onyx.
GOLDEN WAVE: In a capsule, this is what Pepperdine University devotees will be celebrating Sept. 19-21 when they herald the university’s 50 years at their Golden Wave Weekend:
Pepperdine Associates, those who devoted $1,000, will glitter at a black-tie dinner, “On the Crest of a Golden Wave,” Sept. 29 at the Beverly Hilton.
The next morning the alumni board hosts coffee and Danish before the special university church service at Firestone Fieldhouse. President emeritus Howard A. White will deliver the sermon. At noon, the California barbecue will begin with mesquite-grilled chicken, smoked turkey and spit-roasted beef. There will be revelry all afternoon, including a palm tree contest and the mascot unveiling of “Willie the Wave,” sandwiched in between pie and ice cream, volleyball, pony rides, concerts, tennis, et al.
On Monday at the formal academic convocation celebrating “50 years of excellence,” Pepperdine alumnus J. Richard Chase, president of Wheaton College in Illinois, will deliver the keynote address before the 1 p.m. special faculty lectures.
PAST PERFECT: There was a lot of fanfare along Moraga Drive the other evening when Ruth and Tom Jones (he of Northrop) hosted their annual dinner party honoring President and Mrs. Reagan. . . . It was good food, good friends and good fun at Alice O’Neill Avery’s “Rancho Bar-b-que and Fandango” at Rancho Mission Viejo. The popular dynamo provided real Southern (California) hospitality with horseshoes, golf, trail rides, pinatas, dancing and tapas. . . . Jinny and Jim Cobey surrounded themselves with the best of friends for their 45th wedding anniversary fete at Valley Hunt Club--dinner and dancing. . . . Ruth Smalley hosted brunch and dancing at Big Canyon Country Club. . . . Frances Franklin, another fan of the Bistro Garden Pavilion, hosted luncheon to honor Nannell Levine as Saint Jude Woman of the Year.
