ORANGE COUNTY STYLE : Portraits of Style : ELIZABETH TIERNEY

For the accomplished woman, style speaks of more than the clothes she wears. Fashion, for her, is at most a secondary matter, to be grandly explored or blithely ignored, depending on the greater tasks at hand. True style, she knows, is merely an effect, never a cause.

In these pages, even Orange County women discuss their personal images. For most, it was a first--time topic because all have devoted much of their time and energy to other areas--from interpreting the law to running major businesses and from raising funds for charities to planning cities and educating future leaders.

In the course of fulfilling a personal destiny, each of these formidable women has established a look of her own, a distinctive statement that embodies the style and substance of her life.

“I want to look like me,” says Elizabeth Tierney, “not like some magazine ad or store mannequin.”

Indisputably, the 44-year-old philanthropist from Santa Ana Heights has created an imaginative, inimitable style.

“When a woman isn’t pursuing a career, it’s hard for her to be taken seriously,” says Tierney, who works tirelessly as a volunteer but approaches fashion with a sense of whimsy.

Tierney has devoted hundreds of hours to the Orange County Historical and Cultural Foundation, serving as its president for one year. She sits on the board of the Orangewood Children’s Home and is education chairman of the Orange County Performing Arts Center. She also heads a scholarship fund-raising committee for UC Irvine.

She and her husband, Tom, are affiliated with the anti-nuclear weapon group, Beyond War. Two years ago, they established a peace-studies chair at UC Irvine.

Despite the weightiness of her pursuits, Tierney’s fashion style can teeter on the brink of irreverence. “I like to put together things that are fun,” she says, recalling an ensemble of balloon pants and a plaid silk blouse that her husband dubbed her “Ali Baba” get-up.

In gowns, Tierney eschews to-there necklines, opting instead for the bare-shoulder look. “I like to show off my upper body because I work hard on it at the gym. I feel good about being in shape and strong.”

Her look is natural and gamin. “I had my hair cut short in Paris two years ago and I’ve worn it that way--with chunky earrings--ever since.” Her current favorite ear bobs are antique amethyst drops that once adorned a Tiffany lamp.

For her many daytime meetings she usually wears suits, often with a silk animal-print scarf.

Of her extensive community commitments, Tierney says: “I believe in the law of the echo--what goes out comes back tenfold.”

SHEILA PRELL SONENSHINE

One expects an appellate judge to dress judiciously. And, in the courtroom, Sheila Prell Sonenshine, 42, fits the image, favoring suits and tailored dresses.

But when doing extensive research in her chambers, out of view of all but her secretary, Sonenshine sometimes reports for work in sweats. That way, she can stop off at a gym between her Santa Ana chambers and her Irvine Cove home without changing clothes.

Exercise has become a way of life. “I work out twice daily,” she says, and claims that a vigorous fitness program changed her life and her body image.

Two years ago the 5-foot-4 mother of three went from a size 12 to a petite 4. “I started looking for things with belts,” she says. “If it was a size 4 and fit, I’d buy it and wish I could leave the label hanging out.”

Emphasizing her slim silhouette is a criterion in choosing gowns for the formal charity events she attends with husband Ygal. But she shuns basic black: “Black is a work color.”

A family-law attorney, Sonenshine became a Superior Court judge in 1981. The following year former Gov. Edmund G. Brown, Jr., appointed her to the state Courts of Appeal.

Although she decided at 7 to grow up to “become a good lawyer,” she readily acknowledges that her career is just one part of her life.

“I am a woman, a mother, a wife and a judge,” says Sonenshine. “It may sound strange not to say my family is first priority, but my whole life is my first priority.”

JUDY B. ROSENER

She has been called an iconoclast, often at the forefront of local controversy. But her appearance is anything but iconoclastic or controversial. Upon meeting Judy B. Rosener, 57, assistant dean of the UC Irvine School of Management, you are attempted to dust off such an old-fashioned phrase as “neat as a pin.”

From the small scarf that accents, rather than dramatizes, the muted tones of her suit, to her simple, elegant shoes, everything Rosener wears translates as precise, not harsh, feminine, not frilly. In short, consummately professional.

For Rosener, fashion is secondary. “Clothes are simply a backdrop,” to her university and community work, she explains. She is a longtime UCI faculty member, a KCET board member and a member of the prestigious national Women’s Forum, among dozens of other activities. Indeed, her involvements are so numerous it is difficult to believe she was a late bloomer.

Rosener became a community activist and organizer in the 1970s, when she had been married to her husband, Joe, for some 20 years, and her children were teen-agers. She served on the county Grand Jury and the state Coastal Commission, where she worked to save several miles of coastal views between Corona del Mar and Laguna Beach. She was 35 when she earned a master’s degree in political science from Cal State Fullerton, and 48 when she received a doctorate in government from the Claremont Graduate School in 1978.

Obvious displays of trendy fashion don’t suit her or her career, she says. Instead, she opts for understated elegance. “I try to convey respect by wearing dresses and suits. I rarely wear gold jewelry. I prefer silver.”

Rosener allows herself an occasional indulgence. “Sometimes, I take off from school and go to South Coast Plaza and walk around and shop. I would never have done that before.”

JUNE CATALANO

“You could say my style is minimalist,” says June Catalano, newly appointed executive director of planning and building safety for the city of Santa Ana.

When addressing her staff of 130, making presentations at City Council meetings or teaching land-use in UCI extension courses, Catalano likes to have presence. “But I don’t want to distract from what I’m saying,” she says.

So Catalano wears very conservative, tailored things. “And very little jewelry,” she says. “Only a Cartier tank watch and small earrings. And never perfume during the day. For me, it’s just not a business kind of thing.”

But Catalano does allow herself to turn heads when she attends a grand party with her husband, Ray.

“I like to wear black or white silk pants with tops--such as a beaded Italian sweater I found in a boutique in Rome.”

Elegance has its place and its limits. At home with her 14-month-old daughter, Elizabeth, Catalano, 41, pairs jeans with “anything.” Like a true planner, she says laughing, “I have even thought about wearing a raincoat when I feed the baby.”

During her service from 1981 to 1987 as director of community development for Laguna Beach, the city received awards for four consecutive years from the Orange County chapter of the American Planning Assn.--this year, for a zoning plan that allows artists to construct joint living and studio quarters in industrial areas.

While Catalano has a passion for “good looking” shoes--”especially heels by Charles Jourdan that are too high to be comfortable,”--her handbag choices are simple, utilitarian. “I like to carry a clutch handbag,” she says, “Or my old, worn briefcase that I’ve had for years.”

MARIE GRAY

“I’m not into a lot of glitter,” says Marie Gray, designer of classic, body-conscious clothing for St. John Knits, the $86-million Irvine-based clothing company that she co-founded with her husband 15 years ago.

For Gray, whose maiden name is Marie St. John, “classic” is the pinnacle of style. And the trim native of Belgrade, Yugoslavia, is the original St. John woman, figuratively as well as literally.

“A lot of my creativity for St. John comes from designing clothes for myself,” she says. “I like to be able to pull out a piece from any season and pair it with something that can make it look new.” Gray wears her designs exclusively as a sort of discipline. “When I’m in dire need, I always come up with a new design,” she explains.

But she tops off her wares with short, usually black fur wraps by Alixandre. “They’re wonderful for when we’re traveling--doing winter photo shoots around the country.”

For work at the plant, where she and her husband Bob, St. John’s chief executive officer, employ 1,500, Gray sticks to basics. “Seventy percent of the time I wear black dresses or three-piece ensembles, accented with a touch of white, cream or red,” she says.

Apart from earrings and gold necklaces, the only jewelry Gray wears to work is a Movado watch and a diamond-studded wedding band. “I don’t like big diamonds,” she says.

Even for a gala formal event, Gray thinks “the simplest line can be the most devastating. Occasionally, I’ll wear a dark look that shimmers. On other dressy occasions I’ll wear a long skirt with a simple sweater, great jewelry--and feel absolutely wonderful.”

KATHRYN THOMPSON

Some women in business take the “dress like a man, act like a man” approach, says Kathryn Thompson, 46, president of A&C; Properties, an Irvine-based real estate development firm whose sales, she says, exceeded $50 million last year. “I think it’s important to remain feminine.”

Even when dressed for a bid meeting with contractors on a dusty construction site, Thompson’s attire is strikingly feminine, her attention to detail flawless. The tips of her tobacco-brown Italian boots shine; a matching belt swags over a flared silk-linen skirt; her pave diamond ring flashes with rubies, sapphires and emeralds.

“I like to layer business clothing so it can go from day on into evening--to a political or business function,” says the Dallas-born Thompson, who, besides serving on the California Economic Development Corp., to which she was appointed by Gov. George Deukmejian, sits on the boards of UC Irvine Medical Center, the Orange County Performing Arts Center, the South Coast Repertory Theatre and the Orangewood Children’s Foundation.

“I love beautiful things,” says the mother of Kristen, 13. “I’m just as meticulous about the way I dress as I am about handling a project.”

Thompson oversees a staff that can range from 50 to 100 people, depending on the project, and currently has 2,300 residential units in development. Her organizational acumen is also evident in the way she organizes her closet.

“I have a Polaroid picture of each pair of my shoes glued to the end of its box,” she says, explaining that the shoes are grouped by color and divided into day and evening wear.

Thompson, who often chooses custom-made gowns by Gildas of Newport Beach for special evenings out, makes no apology about “going for more” when she dresses. “It’s riskier, more exciting. I’m a river-boat gambler at heart,” she says. “I like to go for the gusto. Sometimes I think to go for less is boring.”

RUTH DING

Though she left her native Canton, China, in the 1940s and has immersed herself in Orange County activities ever since, East meets West in the style and philosophy of Ruth Ding.

The former piano teacher was a pioneer volunteer for the Performing Arts Center and has been an active worker in its behalf. She became a board member in 1972, and currently is a director emeritus. She is also the founder of the Orange County Chinese Cultural Club.

The busy Newport Beach resident keeps her day wear strictly casual--pants with colorful tops and jackets.

But for festive evenings at the center, “I dress for elegance,” she says. Ding accessorizes flowing evening gowns with pieces from her collection of antique Chinese costumes. A black jacket is a favorite. “I love its drama, the colorful silk embroidery and silver edging.”

Heirloom jade, some of it Imperial quality, often adorns Ding’s neck when she welcomes a favorite musician to her home or on the rare occasions when she and her husband, Lock Gee, step out for a restaurant meal.

“I don’t feel it’s necessary to buy for the sake of having something new,” Ding says. “I wear my things over and over.” Her fashion philosophy: “It’s better to have a few really beautiful things that look lovely than many that do not.”