Beyond Skin Deep
Paulina Porizkova was in town recently and Listen dropped in on the super-model/actress/wife-of-Cars-star Rick Ocasek at her hotel bungalow. The face that keeps many fashion magazines afloat, thanks to all her Estee Lauder ads, acknowledges her good looks with a self-deprecating shrug: “It’s all in the genes. I was lucky.” Take a look at the new Estee Lauder makeup video and you’ll see that the gene pool runs deep: Paulina, her mother Anna and a young cousin are the make-over stars. Don’t look for the 25-minute, $20 “Private Lesson” tape at Blockbuster Video; it’s only at Estee Lauder cosmetic counters.
* STOP THE PRESSES: American Express, owner of LA Style, has named Annie Gilbar the new editor of the magazine. Founding editor Joie Davidow said she would step down after completing the December issue. Gilbar’s claims to fame include helping Victoria Principal write her fitness and beauty books as well as writing the “Penny Whistle” children’s books with Meredith Brokaw, the wife of NBC news anchor, Tom. She also had a stint as editor of Beverly Hills World, the lifestyle magazine that died in the early ‘80s. But that couldn’t possibly happen twice.
* WHO IS THAT UNMASKED MAN?: After lugging that heavy mask and cape around for hours on stage, what does Davis Gaines, the current “Phantom of the Opera,” want to change into? Lightweight L.A. clothes, according to Sherman Oaks retailer Rick Pallack. Gaines, a New York transplant, hooked up with Pallack to get his West Coast wardrobe together. The team settled on washed-silk suits and shirts, a wool-crepe blazer and suit, a tweed jacket, a white silk scarf (a must with the tux) and an assortment of de rigueur T-shirts in white, black and navy to wear under Italian suit jackets.
* THE A TEAM: Beverly Hills jewelry designer Arlene Altman is about to expand her empire. On Tuesday she opens an art gallery next to her Rodeo Collection boutique. The first exhibit is of Andy Warhol’s “Reigning Queens” including one-of-a-kind artist’s prints of living regents such as Queen Elizabeth. “Superstar,” a documentary about the late pop artist by Marilyn Lewis, will be screened and Altman will unveil her newest collection of jewelry.
