Spring Collection
Jean Paul Gaultier won the fashion Oscar for designing the best spring collection in Paris, at ceremonies held in the opera house Wednesday night. And, as previously noted here, the House of Chanel did not participate in the event. For those who care, here’s the reason why. The ceremonies were televised in France with the usual breaks for commercials. Two minutes and forty seconds of commercial air time were snapped up by Yves Saint Laurent. When Chanel got wind of this and tried to buy the same amount of time, there was no time left for them to buy. It’s Party Time
Our pick for most intriguing invitation of the month is one Neiman-Marcus sent us for a party at the store next week. Guests are supposed to RSVP to the mysterious “Miss Time” and expect to meet “a minimalist” that evening. Oh yes, there will be other honorees present, including fashion designer James Galanos, architect Frank Gehry, culinary artist Wolfgang Puck, photographer Matthew Rolston and interior designer Nick Berman, all selected for their own “timeless designs.” But the guest of honor is . . . a watch. It’s the new Omega Art that the company’s president, Jacques Irniger himself, will show off to everyone there.
A Call to Arms
Michelle and Janis Savitt, the sister team who won a Coty Award for their jewelry designs, say there’s actually such a thing as miniskirt jewelry. The right stuff to accompany short skirts are big earrings and “armloads of bangles and bracelets,” said Michelle during an appearance at Torie Steele. “It’s a nice balance because your hands are near the hem of the skirt.” The sisters recommend their tubular, satin-finish bangles set with semiprecious stones--they suggest wearing six bangles at a time--and two-inch diameter hoop earrings paved inside and out with diamonds. One believer, singer Valerie Simpson of Ashford and Simpson, already bought the earrings. Price tag: $8,000.
Cutting Out of Rodeo
Donna Mills, Dustin Hoffman, Cristina Ferrari and Allyce Beasley aren’t getting their hair cut on Rodeo Drive anymore. Not since the Allen Edwards salon left Rodeo behind. Listen hears from the owner of the celebrity snip-shop that he has taken his star clientele and moved to Camden Drive. As for why he changed locales, longtime Beverly Hills businessman Edwards explains: “Camden reminds me of what Rodeo was like eight years ago. It’s a lot less touristy, and I have the feeling I’m part of a neighborhood again.”
Costumes in the Limelight
It was “Beauty and the Beast” rubbing shoulders with “Mame” at a cocktail party and costume fashion show at the Broadway, where guests gathered to salute the recent Women in Film festival. After the champagne and hors d’oeuvres came a 50-minute show featuring celluloid fashions, such as Erica Phillips suits for Burt Lancaster and Kirk Douglas in “Tough Guys,” Theodora Van Runkle’s prom dress for Kathleen Turner in “Peggy Sue Got Married,” Sharon Day’s spacesuits for “Other World” and Jacqueline Saint Anne’s outfits for “Pippi Longstocking.” Now, if that doesn’t give you some ideas for what to be this Halloween, what ever will?
Witch Is Which?
Just how does the withered old hag in “Princess Bride” look when she’s out shopping? “Punked out,” Vicki LaMere says of the actress Carol Kane. Kane, who co-stars in the current fantasy flick, visited LaMere’s Melrose Avenue jewelry shop wearing high-cut, lace-up shoes and a peasant skirt for a “casually funky” effect, the designer says. She left with a pair of enormous rhinestone hoops, LaMere says.
Jog and Bear It
Listen can hardly wait to go jogging about in our new, $39.95 Cal Shoe, emblazoned with the name of a certain well-known Northern California university and featuring a picture of Oski, UC Berkeley’s bear mascot. Apparently, you’re never too old to be a cheerleader.
Following the Royal Scent
Times have changed in merrie olde London. Where once “Lady Di” used to pop in and pick up her own perfume at the David Owen fragrance shop, these days Princess Diana sends around one of her ladies-in-waiting. Listen hears from perfumer/proprietor Owen that the princess was “an early patron of the shop” when he opened his doors close to 10 years ago. He still has only two scents to chose from, Isis for women and Osiris for men. And just what does the royal nose whiff when the lid has been lifted? White rose and a bit of bird of paradise among other things, Owen tells us. And he adds that we can get a whiff for ourselves Friday in Beverly Hills. He’s introducing both Isis and Osiris at I. Magnin that day, the only other store outside Owen’s London shop where the scents will be sold.
Whole Crew Got Tied Up
Too bad they didn’t turn the camera around and film the crew of “Sledge Hammer,” the TV sitcom, on a recent Tacky Tie Day. For once the show’s leading man, David Rasche, came close to losing his self-claimed title as the worst-dressed man on television. Listen hears from a spokesperson for the show that production staffers came to work dressed in the awful-looking neckwear. Cardboard cutouts, thrift-shop rejects wired with blinking lights and, for the star, an “obnoxious” maroon-and-gray gen-u-ine antique. They were filming an episode titled “The Last of the Red Hot Vampires,” so the standout was a noose one production worker wore around his neck all day.
Appearance of Success
Bill Paxton is used to looking icky. He had blue hair in the “The Terminator,” a silver tooth in “Streets of Fire” and an extreme flattop in “Weird Science.” And he doesn’t look much better in his latest film, “Near Dark,” in which he plays a vampire with a poolroom pallor and an otherwise grimy appearance. “The look is road dirt--like you’ve been on the road for 50 years,” Paxton explains to Listen. The 32-year-old actor says the strange appearances he’s adopted are just part of proving himself as an actor. Besides, he gets to look decent in his next part--a romantic, scrubbed-face role in “Pass the Ammo,” out next year.
A Range of Western Wear
We’ll say this much for the Lone Ranger, a.k.a. Clayton Moore: The man knows how to dress. He turned out for a Western-theme bash the other night wearing the hat, suit--the requisite cowboy works--in powder blue. Moore was attending a pre-rodeo do that Connie Stevens hosted to get people riled up about the Windfeather Cowboys and Indians Rodeo next weekend at Gardena’s Ascot Stadium. In a party post-mortem with Andrew Pincus, who helped plan the whole thing, Listen compared notes on how different stars read the party invitation, which called for California-casual dress. Anne Miller went the cowboys-and-Indians route, draping herself in turquoise-and-silver jewelry and a Navajo scarf. But Jon Voight thought of more modern preppies and put on cords and a crew-neck sweater.
