Haute ‘Honeymoon’

THE MOVIE: “Honeymoon in Vegas.”

THE SETUP: Jack Singer (Nicholas Cage) and Betsy Nolan (Sarah Jessica Parker, pictured) elope to Las Vegas, where an Elvis Presley impersonators’ convention is taking place. But in a game of poker, Jack loses Betsy to big-time gambler Tommy Korman (James Caan). She has to spend the weekend with him in Hawaii.

THE DESIGNER: Julie Weiss (“F/X,” “Tequila Sunrise,” “Steel Magnolias,” “The Freshman”).

QUOTED: “You’d be surprised how many Elvis impersonators’ things are around. There are a lot of people singing ‘Don’t be cruel,’ ” Weiss says.

THE LOOK: Broadly sketched fashion caricatures enhance the absurdity of the plot. For example, no school teacher in the history of education, even with a body like Parker’s, ever poured herself into skin-huggers like these. Never mind that the sucked-in mini-dress is nothing new and gets tiresome after a while. Weiss can be excused since Parker wears them so incredibly well.

On the men’s side of the wardrobe closet, James Caan eclipses a sea of Elvis wanna-bes with his silver-dollar shiny suits. Among them: a black silk-Jacquard stripe, a white silk and a silver silk worn with a gold tie, in case the money metaphor hadn’t sunk in. His wardrobe is a textbook example of clothes that are totally in sync with character. For the slippery Caan, Weiss chooses expensively tacky suits, the kind that remind you of stores in hotel lobbies. In a city of neon, she says she wanted Caan’s wardrobe to be its own set of lights. In Hawaii, she pushes the right buttons too, dressing him in Hawaiian shirts, but not the typical. His depicts a decaying Roman garden, and he wears it with tacky white slacks and purple suede slip-ons.

THE OVERLOOKED: With so much fashion stimuli, someone had to lose out, and in this case it’s Cage, a not exactly memorable blur of khaki.

DRUM ROLL PLEASE: The denouement finds Cage sky diving with a team of 15 flying Elvises, all dressed alike as in a Busby Berkeley chorus. Each one wears a late-Elvis white polyester jumpsuit. But unlike the Elvis original, this version is decorated with dozens of pin-dot lights that activate during the jump. Not to be overlooked are the Elvises in all shapes, sizes and skin tones. Their outfits are variations on the jumpsuit theme, some bearing Mexican embroidery, Western fringe, Indian turbans, lame and sequins.

TRY THIS AT HOME: Parker’s long, clingy white knit wedding dress, with scooped-out back, as an alternative to puffs, ruffles and lace.

THE SOURCES: Weiss designed the light-up Elvis suits, while other Elvis looks came from various L. A. costume rental houses and other sources.

Many of Parker’s dresses were from Charles Gallay (including the wedding dress) and the Azzedine Alaia shop. Weiss designed Caan’s silver suit and purchased others from stores she won’t identify beyond their locations--Rodeo Drive and Las Vegas hotel lobby men’s stores.