Three on a MatchDiane Merrick, whose tiny...
Three on a Match
Diane Merrick, whose tiny shop on Melrose lures lots of famous names, sold three of the same black wool tuxedo jackets with leather collars to three stars on the same day. Michael Hutchence of INXS bought one for his girlfriend; Melanie Griffith and Farrah Fawcett bought the same style. But don’t you look for the spiffy Emil Rutenberg top, because Merrick has no more. “I only ordered three and sold them all the first day.” And if you want to know where teen-queen singer Debbie Gibson gets those adorable, lace-trimmed Lycra bike shorts by Mambo, they’re at Merrick’s place too.
Cher and Cher Alike
The way we hear the story, almost everybody failed to recognize Cher when she shopped at Shauna Stein in the Beverly Center last week. The star’s disguise included straight hair, dark green sunglasses, baggy black pants and a black sweater. Baggy pants are definitely not the Cher thing, so she ordered only a tuxedo jacket (with tails) and ignored the ample trousers that go with it. She had to order a pair of black suede boot-shoes because the store didn’t have her size in stock. But she did go home with a few purchases: two V-neck, mohair cardigans and two pairs of small drop earrings. Esther Makes a Splash
Esther Williams is back in the swim; she’s designing bathing suits for Excelsior, the Los Angeles-based company. It’s a missy line (for “mature” figures), and it will be in stores just before Christmas to tempt resort vacationers. It was 40 years ago that Williams starred in all those MGM movies where she spent most of her time splashing around the pool. But she still holds the title as Hollywood’s legendary bathing beauty. As for her fashion designer credentials, she recently explained, “I designed many of the suits I wore in my films.”
Check the Spelling
Be on the lookout for Candy Spelling in one or both of the following: a vintage, hand-painted tuxedo jacket trimmed with rosettes; a rubber “telephone” handbag, decorated with a receiver, dial and cord. Candy and husband Aaron Spelling picked out the unusual items at Moselle in Century City, according to store owner Steven Robinson. He tells Listen the bag comes with a matching hat and belt--for those into coordinated communication.
A Model Novel
What’s life like for “the beautiful people living behind the pages of Vogue, GQ and L’Officiel?” We don’t know, but we’re going to find out because someone sent us a copy of the book that tells all. Brad Gooch, former male model and current prize-winning poet, has written a reportedly graphic first novel inspired by his stint with the Wilhelmina modeling agency, during which he posed for top photographers and was pictured in all the glossy magazines. Called “Scary Kisses,” it promises to unveil the “perversity and excess” of young men enmeshed in the fashion web in such cities as Paris, Milan and New York. The book is out Thursday.
Getting a Toehold
You’d think they were getting ready for a sock hop over on Rodeo Drive. At Fogal, the legwear boutique, Mimi Rogers stopped in--yes, she did have Tom Cruise with her--and picked up a batch of bobby socks in bright colors. Then Mary Tyler Moore did the same, but she preferred toned-down, neutral shades. Fogal owner Joan Wills says she can’t explain it. She’s more accustomed to purchases like one Raquel Welch recently made. Welch bought two dozen pairs of the store’s sheer-to-the-waist hosiery to wear with leotards on her new video.
Buttoning Up Nostalgia
New Yorkers nostalgic for home might want to check out the buttons on the waiters’ uniforms at that new restaurant Tribecca. (Not on Manhattan’s lower west side; this Tribecca’s in Beverly Hills.) But back to the buttons. They look like mini versions of the Statue of Liberty that clip onto a waiter’s shirt. And they can be had by non-waiters too--for a price. Linda McDowell tells us she designed the statues as part of her latest Click-Its button collection. (There are theater masks and a man-in-the-moon too.) They’ll all be available this fall at Chameleon in West Hollywood and Max Studio in Santa Monica.
Natives Are Restless
Once a year, New York’s Bloomingdale’s store turns itself into another country, promoting costumes and crafts of some exotic place such as India, Egypt, Peru or Poland. These “country promotions” are high spots for locals, who often buy quaint, handmade items to display at home, as if they had traveled to the country of origin themselves. But guess what? This spring’s “country” is California. Yes, folks, our costumes and crafts, our wet suits and surfboards, our pottery, poetry and T-shirts have been culled by Bloomingdale’s troop of buyers and will be displayed in the huge, Manhattan flagship store as if from some island paradise. Marvin S. Traub, chairman of Bloomingdale’s, will fly here to announce this coup Wednesday to the local press at a breakfast in the Music Center’s El Dorado room. We’ll wear native costume.
Singing the Blues
Music buffs missed a stargazing session of the esoteric sort when John Hiatt, the bluesy singer-songwriter, and T-Bone Burnett, the rock-singer-turned-producer, stopped in at Clacton and Frinton. Hiatt bought a pleated-back jacket and a pair of black gabardine pants. Burnett took home a black linen suit he had to special order. “He’s very tall,” explains the shop’s John Noble.
