A Nancy Drew Without Clues

THE CASE OF THE SHOP THAT THOUGHT IT WAS A CARTOON: With the custom-painted vacuum cleaner, the whimsical throw rugs and the relentless cheeriness of the place, you might think somebody resurrected “Pee-Wee’s Playhouse” and dropped it into a mall. Or re-created a Betsey Johnson store, minus all the sex-bomb clothes.

In fact you’ve entered the Real Nancy Drew, a new shop in Century City Shopping Center. A sign immediately clears up the most obvious assumption:

This Nancy Drew is not the mystery girl in the little blue books. She did, however, read all of them. Her favorite was “The Hidden Staircase.”

But that’s about as sedate as things get. The store’s T-shirts and lamps, belts and doorstops, jackets and greeting cards all get the same slightly crazed monumentally colorful treatment.

Drew is a 43-year-old Michigan artist and mother of three who designs greeting cards, furniture, clothing and a syndicated cartoon (“A Fine Line”).

The Century City shop, which opened in October, is Drew’s sixth in the nation. Goods range from 60-cent postcards (“Cat Woman Never Paid Retail for Anything”) to $18 T-shirts (“Sisters Since Birth. Best Friends Forever”--pictured below--is the store’s best-selling item). Full-room commissions, in which everything bears Drew’s cockeyed, primitive style, are also available.

According to Drew’s husband, attorney Sherman Drew, his wife and her products are not unlike Gertrude, one of the characters in “A Fine Line”: “Born to Stir the Pot, Rock the Boat and Punish the World for Not Paying Attention.”

NEW ARRIVALS: Danskin is now making maternity workout wear that will be available in stores in June, 1992. But don’t look for oversize T-shirts that are worn with leggings. Danskin is bringing out bare, midriff-style outfits composed of bike pants and bra tops.