‘Carefree’ Tuxedo

Music-man Michael Feinstein pays sartorial homage to Fred Astaire in his show “Michael Feinstein in Concert,” which opens Tuesday at the Wilshire Theatre. Director Chris Chadman says Feinstein’s second-act tuxedo is an almost exact duplicate of an unusual outfit worn by Astaire in the 1938 musical film “Carefree.” It consists of a black dinner jacket, dove-gray trousers, a white pique vest and a black-and-white print tie. Chadman, who directed the hit on Broadway, says he showed Feinstein an old photo of Astaire in this outfit, and Feinstein liked it so much he had it copied exactly. Well, almost exactly. Feinstein doesn’t wear white spats, as did Astaire.

Weight Loss Suits Her

Now that Oprah Winfrey has shed 67 pounds and is a svelte Size 8, what does she wear? Carolyn Mahboubi, owner of the Gianni Versace boutique in Beverly Hills, called to tell us that Winfrey is wearing Italian couture on TV. After following the talk-show hostess around the screen for an hour last week, Mahboubi proclaimed that Winfrey was dressed in a green wool Versace suit that is identical to one in her boutique. Jennifer Aubrey-Jacobs, Winfrey’s wardrobe consultant and stylist, confirmed from Chicago that the star was indeed on the screen in green Versace last week.

Fashionable Dining

During his week in Los Angeles, Roman designer Valentino lunched daily--Saturday through Thursday (but not Sunday)--at the definitive Beverly Hills lunch place: the Bistro Garden. Restaurateur Kurt Niklas said the Italian fashion kingpin forsook a choice indoor table (with a view outdoors) each time, preferring to dine al fresco with his entourage, which usually numbered six or seven. And what Southland delicacies did Val enjoy? He tried a bit of everything, Niklas said. One day it was a mushroom omelet; another, sea bass, and, finally, the chicken quesadilla. A bottle of Evian (sans bubbles) was always ordered for the table and the meals ended with espresso.

Walking Tall

What do you do with a Size 17 pair of shoes that have just been in cement? Ask Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. He slipped into a special pair of high-tops and into a slab of cement recently during a publicity stunt to celebrate a three-year contract with L.A. Gear. After delivering an extremely brief speech in the parking lot of the Forum (“One small step for man, one giant footprint for L.A. Gear”), the Laker ace was off and running to another appointment. On his way out, he gave the shoes to a little boy who asked what he planned to do with them.

Addressing the Situation

Fred Hayman, of Giorgio fame, has finally selected the name of his new, untitled fragrance. And you’ll be happy to know it’s not a name at all, but a number: 273. Yes, Hayman apparently understood that we’re all tired of adjectival emotions on the labels of our scents. Do we really want to smell of uninhibited, eternal, passion? Wouldn’t we rather reek of one even and two odd numbers? Our informal survey says yes. So 273, which happens to be the address of Hayman’s Rodeo Drive shop, sounds like a brilliant choice to us. The perfume will be launched on Jan. 16 at a party in Beverly Hills and will be sold only at Fred Hayman’s Giorgio shop and by direct mail.

Carr in Driver’s Seat

More Hayman/Hollywood dish. We hear from Hayman aide Katie Sweet that Allen Carr will direct the Academy Award telecast this year and that Carr has asked Fred Hayman’s Giorgio shop to provide clothes for some presenters and nominees.

He Wins by a Nose

Just when you thought you’d sniffed it all comes Ali, the new fragrance for men from Muhammad Ali. Touted as a “warm, spicy blend of scents with woody overtones and a hint of musk,” the new cologne is positioned for “the man who lives to win.” It costs $35 for 3.7 ounces.

Watch This

Listen caught sight of actress Valeria Golino, who wore little more than a circus acrobat’s outfit for her last movie, “Pee-wee’s Big Adventure.” In a matter of minutes she tried on and purchased a vintage Bulova watch with an alligator band (at Bullocks Wilshire) and a pair of small and delicate leather boots (at Ecru on Melrose). The boots were a sharp change from the industrial-strength oxfords Golino was wearing on her big (shopping) adventure.

It’s Nothing to Sleeve At

Ray Liotta has a dress style all his own. For a recent day around town, the man who played Eugene in “Dominick and Eugene” outfitted himself in a sweat shirt with cut-off sleeves (remember them?), black jeans and a pale blue bandanna, tied Bruce Springsteen style, around his forehead. His beard was vintage--several days in the making.

Well Seasoned

Richard Gere’s hair has turned salt-and-pepper gray, says our New York correspondent, who spotted the actor this week at a Greenwich Village eatery called Il Cantinori. Gere wore a burgundy turtleneck and blue jeans to lunch with a blond companion, we’re told, and their table was just across from one occupied by Lauren Hutton and a friend. Hutton’s hair “has a wonderful new look too,” our reporter says. “It’s a short, fluffy, fly-away bob.” John Oates, of Hall and Oates musical fame, was in the same place at the same time. He too wore jeans with a black leather jacket.

Flower Power

Jumping the gun a bit, singer/entrepreneur Olivia Newton-John presented flowers to the new Tournament of Roses Queen, Charmaine Shryock, and her court earlier this week. Very special flowers, we might add. They were strewn all over the clothes that Newton-John and her partner, Pat Farrar, have designed for their Koala Blue holiday collection. Each of the seven women, who will reign at the Rose Bowl on Jan. 2, was given a lace petticoat, brightly colored skirt, white cotton blouse embroidered with flowers and a flowery hand-knit cotton cardigan. When the girls asked Olivia Newton-John for her autograph, she wrote it on Koala Blue T-shirts.

Her Lips Are Tied

So you’ve always wanted to know how an Hermes tie is made? Then wrangle an invitation to Francine Bardo’s “power breakfast” Dec. 9, when Bardo (the Hermes shop’s general manager) will present a demonstration complete with visual aids, straight from Paris. “We sell tens of thousands of ties each year,” Bardo tells Listen. To whom? we asked. “I can’t drop names, but there are customers who come in each time we get a new shipment and they buy 50 ties at a shot. For some of these men, we have to order the ties custom-made from Paris, because they need a special size.” Listen had never heard of special-size ties, so we inquired further. “Some of our clients are very tall or very large, requiring longer and larger ties,” Bardo explained. The average Hermes tie is $85, she added. But custom Hermes ties are $185. “Just the other day a client ordered 50 custom ties at $185 each,” Bardo says. “He happens to be extremely tall and a bit portly.” We asked who the customer might be, but Bardo’s lips were sealed.

Setting a New Marc

Perry Ellis designer and vice president Patricia Pastor has resigned. She will be replaced, as of Monday, by hotshot New York designer Marc Jacobs. Pastor had been with the firm for 12 years, since before Ellis died.

Who Is Gloria?

She’s an older woman, very attractive and a totally silent type. In fact, she’s the dream doll of L.A.’s Robert Filoso, one of the top mannequin designers and manufacturers in the United States. Gloria is “the world’s first older woman mannequin,” Filoso says. She’s “somewhere between 42 and 48” and has “the style and panache to wear a full range of top-designer clothes as only a woman of her age can.” Filoso will unveil Gloria at the upcoming National Assn. of Display Industries trade show in New York on Dec. 3.