HEAVY METAL : Designers and celebrities have made hardware easy to wear. Chains, studs and zippers are being detected in some unlikely places. In ripping red or biker black, hell-for-leather or durable denim, jackets, belts and vests are getting an attitude. Strike while the iron is haute.

“Women who wouldn’t wear studs because they think only hard-rock people wear them are getting the mind set that it’s fashionable, it’s sophisticated,” says Cynthia Degen, spokeswoman for Jakeez’ in Fashion Island Newport Beach.

Now women are coming to Jakeez’ and plunking down $1,152 for the same black leather motorcycle jacket with gold nail heads and topaz crystals that Elizabeth Taylor wore on Johnny Carson’s farewell show.

Randolph Duke used the backs of silver snaps to adorn the collar and pocket flaps of his hip-length black wool blazer ($695), a hit at Jakeez’.

“The snap backs are the main attraction,” Degen says. “People get such a kick out of the blazer because it’s making a play on something so basic, so utilitarian.”

Designers are finding all kinds of imaginative ways to use metal fasteners.

“We’re seeing lots of silver and gold studs and zippers on the sleeves and yokes of jackets, up the side of a skirt and on form-fitting Lycra dresses,” says Glenda Heitz, district manager of Cache stores in Southern California. “We’ve even seen after-five suiting with studded jackets.”

For evening sparkle, studs replace sequins on a black gabardine suit with fitted zip-up jacket ($400) at Cache in Brea Mall and South Coast Plaza, Costa Mesa.

“Most studded clothing comes in black to show off the ornamentation,” Heitz says. Red is also hot for studs: Cache’s red cocktail suit with sculpted neckline has silver studs on sheer insets of the jacket’s front and back ($355).

For a kind of Chanel-meets-Harley-Davidson chic, Cache has black or red wool crepe suits with gold chain accents along the pocket flaps, cuffs and collar ($400). Those more interested in cultivating a Madonna/dominatrix persona may opt for Cache’s harder-edged black and gold lace bustier with gold studs on the cups ($180) or a heavily studded belt with crystal-pave Harley buckle (220).

“People like something embellished,” Heitz says. “It has an attitude.”

The metal ware used for these creations comes in all shapes and sizes, from small diamond studs and nail heads to chunky silver and gold bars. Some studs are hammered for texture, others have shiny finishes. Often they’re mixed with mirrors, crystals and rhinestones for added sparkle.

Small gold bars adorn the sweetheart neck and long sleeves of a black cotton Lycra catsuit ($298) at B. Magness in Newport Beach, while gold Xs decorate the shoulders and front of an olive-toned wool blazer ($385) with matching pants ($175).

Metal can gussy up even ordinary denim. A simple denim jacket at B. Magness becomes a showpiece thanks to the gold studs and crystals covering every inch of its yoke ($415).

What’s behind metal’s magnetic appeal? Barbara Magness, store owner, suggests that all these studs have something to do with the economy.

“When there’s a recession, people want some fun in their lives, so there’s more novelty clothes,” she says.

No one has to tell that to Maureen Jenkins, owner of Champagne stores in San Clemente, Huntington Beach and Irvine.

“Everything has something on it,” Jenkins says. “Even belts and hand bags are really glitzed up.”

Metal embellishments are all over the stores’ silk suits, sweaters, blouses and leather jackets. Belts are covered with studs and stones or metal plates. Jenkins shows off one white blouse trimmed in an abstract pattern of pewter studs ($112).

“Metal makes it look different so it’s not just another white blouse,” she says.

Metal also befits more exotic outfits such as Champagne’s metallic blue leather suit with silver studs along the sleeves and front ($602).

Although one could dress head to toe in studded clothes and accessories, Jenkins suggests mixing the embellished pieces with unadorned garments.

“You can go overboard with it,” she says. “You have to know the limit.”

Go too far, and one can end up looking like the kind of bondage queens in Madonna’s “Sex” book. Says Magness, who favors garments with just a touch of metal accents:

“We’re not into whips and chains.”