Sequined Simon

The Television Show: “Carly in Concert: My Romance,” HBO April 15, 10 p.m.

The Look: Glued at the hip to a grand piano, Simon sings old torch songs such as “Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered” in glittery evening dresses before a live audience. Her dress style is as soulless as her singing style in this concert.

The Plan: Wardrobe stylist Paulette Shelton claims the vamp look for Simon was chosen by a committee--herself, Simon and video director Kathy Dougherty. Shelton came to the planning meeting with preliminary sketches and Simon came armed with pages torn from fashion magazines. Eventually three dress styles were chosen.

A floor-length, sequined, black slip dress was used for the opening segment. It was designed by Robert Rupley, a hot young designer in New York, and it was so incredibly tight that Shelton had to customize it with an indecent slit from hemline to panty line.

Simon went another round in a thigh-length, equally tight black satin dress from Eva Chun, a California evening-wear designer, that has a 6-inch fringe of beads at the hemline. Over it Simon flung a hand-painted, Douglas Ferguson designed mesh scarf, which slithered and slid around her shoulders.

The finale dress was wine-colored silk taffeta-- a knee-length, full-skirted ruffled affair (pictured here). In white it would look like a wedding cake.

The Stores: The Rupley and Chun dresses were selected from the designers’ New York showrooms and the wine taffeta confection was custom-made. Eva Chun dresses are available locally at I. Magnin. For the shoes and accessories, Shelton combed the counters of New York’s Bergdorf Goodman, Saks Fifth Avenue and Henri Bendel.

The Payoff: Even though Simon dons silks and satins for this show, her shaggy blond Lhasa apso hairdo speaks volumes about her past. She should have included a good hairdresser in the wardrobe committee meetings.