The Red Door Is Set to Swing Shut
Elizabeth Arden is closing six of its skin care salons--the Red Door in Beverly Hills among them. Arden spokesperson Susan Arnot said the Rodeo Drive address will probably close by the end of the year. Company President Joseph Ronchetti cites “unfavorable return on investments” as the reason. Only the New York City and Chevy Chase Red Doors will remain open, as well as the Maine Chance Spa in Phoenix.
TOWERING T’S: Akeem Olajuwon, the 7-foot-tall center for the Houston Rockets, was out looking for some sport clothes recently. You can imagine the fit problems. He found a tank top to fit his lanky frame at the Woodland Hills Camp Beverly Hills store. If you see him, don’t tell him his black, scoop neck tank top is actually a tank dress .
HEARTS AND FLOWERS: Among the memorable sights in “The Two Jakes” is a certain poppy-shaped pendant Meg Tilly wears. Los Angeles jeweler Lee Brevard, who designed the $20,000 gold-and-amethyst flower, says it’s one of a kind and now in the hands of either Jack Nicholson or Harvey Keitel. But Brevard’s latest retail collection does include the $400 gold heart-shaped earrings he designed and Nicole Kidman wore in “Days of Thunder.” For more details on which stars wear which Brevard originals, ask him. He’s at Neiman Marcus, Beverly Hills today.
SCAASI KNOWS KNEES: Arnold Scaasi has been in Santa Barbara this week, offering advice on what to wear to galas. He likes very long gowns or “short, snappy dresses” that end a couple of inches above the knee, he says. Except for his leading lady client, Barbara Bush: Her skirts extend right to the knee. He’s at Santa Barbara’s new Paseo Nuevo Mall today, dispensing other fashion tips while spritzing Nordstrom shoppers with his signature fragrance. Other stores in the new mall include the Broadway, the Gap, Gary Paul, the Limited and Compagnie Internationale Express, Mondi, Secret Rendezvous, Sweats and Surf, Victoria’s Secret and Wet Seal.
FILING THE LUNCH HOUR: Power lunches are being replaced with power manicures in Chicago, where trend-setting women executives are stopping by the Ivan Noel Salon to mix business with pampering. They and their lunch date conduct business side by side while having their nails filed and polished. Afterward, they dine on a catered lunch, for a total cost of $18 each ($13 for the manicure, $5 for the lunch). Private rooms are available for duos engaged in ultra-confidential conversations.
TREND RESISTANT: Steve Edwards, host of “AM Los Angeles” has relaxed his dress style. It started in June when Edwards participated in a fashion show segment for AM. The mustard-colored, washed silk bush jacket he wore was such a hit with the show’s producers that they persuaded him to lighten up on his gray and navy routine. A 5 1/2-hour shopping spree at Rick Pallack in Sherman Oaks netted him a new 60-piece wardrobe. “It’s taken me years to update his wardrobe,” says Pallack, who provides Edwards clothes for the show. “It was just this year I got him in double-breasted suits and sport coats.”
BY ANOTHER NAME: The oh-so-swell jewelry store on Montana Avenue in Santa Monica called Kathryn Post has been renamed Byzantine. All the jewelry designers represented in the store are still there save one, Kathryn Post. She packed up her zircons and her name and moved in to Fred Segal Melrose.
