Did Someone Miss a Cue?

Sandra Bernhard was a little out of her element as emcee of last week’s Woolmark fashion designer awards in New York City. To lifetime achievement award winner Chip Tolbert of the Men’s Fashion Assn., Bernhard said, “I don’t know the winner so let’s get through this quickly.” She approved, however, of the committee’s choice of gal pal Madonna for dramatizing the versatility of menswear. The actress didn’t attend the ceremonies. But in a thank-you note read by Bernhard she wrote, “Sometimes, only wool has come between me and public nudity.”

* BACK STAGE: Italian designer Gianni Versace is the man dusting the glitter over Elton John these days. For John’s world tour, scheduled to hit the United States this fall, Versace created the set and all of the stage styles. He also designed all the commemorative loot, such as T-shirts and posters, and he did the cover of John’s new album “The One,” released last week.

* ACTIVE IMAGINATIONS: The New York Post reports that glam groupies are atwitter over the recent three-day shoot in Paris for George Michael’s “Too Funky” video. Those in the know say it contains a scene in which Guess model Shana Zedrick eyes Linda Evangelista seductively, then rips open her jacket to, as one source put it, “fondle a breastplate” that Evangelista is wearing. The $1-million video, co-directed by Michael and French designer Thierry Mugler, depicts a fashion show where backstage is like “the Marquis de Sade’s living room.” The single is from the “Red, Hot & Dance” album to benefit AIDS.

* HEAVY METAL FIXTURE: Riki Rachtman, host of MTV’s “Headbangers Ball” and owner of Hollywood clubs Cathouse and Bordello, has ventured into the rag business. When Rachtman was approached by a local manufacturer to license the name Cathouse, he agreed, provided he control the design. The result is a line of women’s swim wear with a decided street influence. The $40 to $70 Cathouse suits, with lace-up closures, short-short bottoms and cheerleader skirts, are available at Everything But Water and Diane’s.

* SEARS REDUX: When the riot-damaged Sears in Hollywood reopens in August, the 66,000-square-foot store will have undergone a face lift. The store will be 15% larger and have expanded men’s, women’s and children’s departments. It was one of three damaged in the riots (Boyle Heights and Baldwin Hills stores reopened after a few days) and was in the initial stages of a $1-million planned remodel. “The riots just speeded up the process,” says Sears’ Steve Ross.