IN THE STORES

‘It’s nice to get out of the bedroom,” says Josie Natori who expanded her lingerie empire last year to include at-home wear. She soon found women wearing it out to dinner. Now they’re wearing it all day, at least in Beverly Hills. The uniform: bustier with glitz, leggings and a big, shirt-like jacket. The jackets--in everything from cotton organdy to gold lace ($440 to $1,800)--were the fast-sellers when Natori made a personal appearance at Fred Hayman.

As if to prove that tight financial times make for emotion-charged spending, a $435 gold bodysuit was the hottest seller when Donna Karan showed her fall collection at I. Magnin earlier this month. Hardly one of life’s necessities, she explained the gold’s gotta-have-it appeal: “It’s like a bathing suit to wear day or night. It holds you in, makes you shimmer. With black it looks like modern sculpture.” The store sold eight immediately after the show.