Haute Tots : Designer Eveningwear Is Look of Choice for Socially Correct Youngsters

Dressing in miniature versions of adult eveningwear, be it Hollywood flash or contemporary chic, is getting to be a habit for the youngest black-tie ticket holders and patrons of the arts.

Socially correct parents are putting splendid fabrics, couture shapes and styled-up details on their pint-sized companions. Barbara Dozier, wife of songwriter Lamont Dozier, says she buys three “magnificent” outfits a year, ranging in price from $300 to $600, for each of her two preteen boys, Beau and Paris.

“If a child wants to emulate you, it’s the ultimate compliment,” she says.

For some families, dressing the part also means developing a special-occasion style.

“There’s a definite trend toward women turning their noses up at certain kids who don’t have ‘the look,’ ” says Debi Carlin-Boyle, a free-lance commercial producer and mother of two.

For fall, designers and manufacturers are paying more attention than ever to children’s formal attire. Italian designer Gianni Versace styles junior tuxedos, priced from $200 at Belli Bambini on Melrose Avenue. At the Bill Whitten shop down the street, the small collection of teen idol-influenced suits and dresses for girls designed by Edna Young starts at $400.

Los Angeles-based Monkey Wear, shows sophisticated vintage looks--brocade vests for boys and sheer chiffon skirts for girls, from $20 to $50 at Bullock’s.

Newcomers to the trend include New York’s Izzy, offering brilliantly colored, interchangeable pieces for boys and girls, from $75 at Fred Segal.

Not to be outdone, La Petite Affair, a Bay Area manufacturer, is introducing a select number of girls’ pieces in time for the 1991 opera season. The collection, of Austrian velvets encrusted with semi-precious stones, is priced from $300 to $900 at Nordstrom.

Such extravagance is intended, says the designer Audrey Knight, for those times when “parents are very dressed and their kids are under-dressed.”