A Bush in BlassBarbara Bush and Bill...

A Bush in Blass

Barbara Bush and Bill Blass apparently have more than initials in common. Listen’s New York snoop was in Blass’ showroom the other day when the wife of the Republican front runner walked in, surrounded by Secret Service men. Is Bush buying clothes for the convention from Blass?, we asked the designer’s spokesman Tom Fallon. “She’s worn Blass clothes for many moons,” Fallon answered. “We never know where she will appear in them. Mrs. Reagan has bought clothes here too and doesn’t usually say where she’ll wear them.” Does this mean that Blass is a Republican?, we asked. “It only means he’s selling clothes,” Fallon said with a laugh.

Trumpeting Column

We’re thrilled. Trumpeter Herb Alpert has invented a perfume, and he has named it after us--or at least we’d like to think so. The new scent is called Listen, it’s $85 per one-half ounce and it’s probably the world’s first perfume with the same name as a gossip column. It’ll be sold by mail order starting in October. However, if you’re going to Alpert’s Hollywood Bowl concert tonight, you might just get a whiff. Listen hears that Listen samples, in the form of scented cards, will be given to female guests along with a rose. What’s next, a cologne called Dear Abby?

Baby With Past, Future

With expectant mother Demi Moore’s due date just around the corner, her friend Rita Rifkin had a baby shower for her and bought a little antique lace dress at Baby Boom Boom in Beverly Hills as a present. That’s because she knew that Moore and her actor husband Bruce Willis expect a girl. On her way out of the store, Rifkin explained the antique angle to the store’s co-owner, Leslie Bohn. “Demi likes things with a past.”

Pit Stop for a Hot Rod

Rod Stewart stopped into Fred Segal on Melrose recently and bought some essentials: white socks, white tank tops, white shirts. “He loves white,” menswear manager George Grimball tells us. Other purchases: polka-dot socks and tie and a pumpkin-colored Thierry Mugler blazer.

A Smokey Purple

It’s not the color (predominantly purple) that intrigues us. It’s the number: 40. That’s how many pairs of essentially disposable cuff links Smokey Robinson bought for his recent tour of the United States and Japan. In the course of his colorful binge at Rick Pallack in Sherman Oaks, Robinson also bought sterling silver cuff links trimmed with amethyst-colored enamel, eight purple ties, six purple handkerchiefs, a dozen pairs of socks in various hues of purple and a number of purple-striped dress shirts. Just what do “disposable” cuff links look like? (Robinson’s purchase included 20 purple, 6 pink and 14 assorted.) Pallack tells us they’re a silk-knot design (actually made out of nylon in Austria) that retail for all of $4 a pair.

Pretty in Stockings

“She looked sweet, just like a little secretary,” Listen hears about Molly Ringwald. The actress was clad in oversize eyeglasses, a big, big hair bow and flat-heel shoes to shop for ankle socks and--oh Molly!--body stockings at Fogal, the Beverly Hills hosiery boutique. Store owner Joan Wills adds that Ringwald did not select the store’s best-selling items--garter belts and stockings--during her expedition. There’s been a run on them, so to speak, since Susan Sarandon snapped hers for a scene in “Bull Durham,” the summer’s movie sizzler.

Justine Pulls Her Weight

“Family Ties” is out of production due to the writers’ strike, but the show’s Justine Bateman isn’t sitting still. We spotted her working her way through the express line of machines at Nautilus Aerobics Plus in Studio City. And unlike the dreamy, sometimes scatterbrained Mallory Keaton character she plays on NBC’s sitcom, Bateman seemed intently focused on her work. The result of her efforts, we noted, is a sinewy physique not always evident on the small screen.

Resale Detail

OK, so you might not look exactly like Linda Evans. You can dress like her, or Joan Collins, or a host of other celebrities, if you get to a certain fashion resale on time. For the event, Evans sent a flesh-tone gown with beaded shoulders, and Collins parted company with a green taffeta gown trimmed in ruffles, both by “Dynasty” costume designer Nolan Miller. Other star hand-me-overs include outfits from Susan Dey, Sally Field and Elizabeth Taylor. (The blue sequined evening pajamas by Halston come from her closet.) It’s all for a good cause. The Aug. 27 sale is sponsored by PATH (People Assisting the Homeless) and starts at 9 a.m. at the Place & Co. in Encino.