INSIDE OUT / NOTES FROM THE STYLE FRONT : On Page 46 . . . Designer Sandwich Bags!

Just a day after Sears said it was burying its catalogue, socialite designer Carolyne Roehm announced the birth of hers. And on Wednesday, The Catalogue finally arrived. We might have mistaken it for J. Crew’s, what with all those red, white and blue separates. But quotations scattered across the pages from Napoleon, Harry Truman and Eleanor Roosevelt (“I have spent many years of my life in opposition, and I rather like the role”) told us differently. Our favorite item is on Page 46. Designer sandwich bags! Imprinted with Roehm’s signature blue carnation print and filled with cotton balls and swabs, the clear, zip-lock bags are a steal--$15 for 50 large, $6 for 50 small. How could we resist? Keeping Up Appearances: An Oscar appetizer was served up Thursday by Rodeo Drive merchant king and Oscar fashion consultant Fred Hayman, as models paraded for the media in gowns by Bob Mackie, Todd Oldham, Gianni Versace, Karl Lagerfeld and Yves St. Laurent at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. A weary-sounding Hayman admitted that the gowns might not make it to The Big Night. “I can’t predict what anyone will wear. I do know that this year there are a lot of international nominees who are already spoken for. But we will stay open on the Sunday before the show for alterations or changes.” What about grunge? “It would be a concern,” Hayman sighed, if it were to rear its slothful head at the Academy Awards ceremony March 29. “They can do whatever they want to, but to me, there is a certain obligation to give the audience what they expect, and that’s glamour.” Video Vixen: The latest finishing touch for rock ‘n’ roll glamour hair is . . . bee’s wax. “It really looks great,” said a hair and makeup person, smearing the stuff on a young woman’s do for a music video shoot last week. Apparently, there’s nothing like bee’s wax for making your hair shine for the cameras, and--even better for grungeophiles-- you won’t be able to get it out for days. The only drawback, cautions our video insider, is that the super-attractive wax-caked hair is easily mistaken by nature’s critters for a nest. They’re Just Jealous: The mostly male, mostly nerdy audience at a weekend screening of “Visions of Light,” the documentary about cinematographers, let loose a chorus of boos during a trailer for Kenneth Branagh’s “Much Ado About Nothing.” Prompting their disgust? The mere visage of that attractive but (we think) underrated thespian Keanu Reeves. The Last Laugh: Boy George doesn’t suffer cosmetics fools gladly. In a recent interview with Newsday, the singer, who’s resurfaced with the theme from “The Crying Game,” complained that “Virgin records wanted me to stop wearing lipstick. That was the big issue. I couldn’t make them understand that a full face without lips looks kind of weird.” Tell us about it. Without a double layer of M.A.C. Paramount, we feel like crying. Gentlemen Genes: Robert Bly’s blubbering blob of masculinity may have emitted his last whimper. There’s a new guy on the media block. And he’s a Gentleman. The Gentleman is the subject of a lengthy and dull-witted effort in Forbes’ just-out style supplement, FYI. Writers Christopher Buckley and Geoffrey Norman use a tired Spy-like graphic to compare Old-Style Gentlemen (“Second Wife: Nancy Reagan”) to the New-Style Gentlemen (“Second Wife: Jane Fonda”). While most of the comparisons are no more or less lame than that, a few are too tasteless to mention in a family newspaper. Meanwhile, New York Times fashion reporter-turned-Esquire senior editor Woody Hochswender has just signed off on a stand-alone magazine called Esquire Gentleman. Due out March 23, Hochswender’s take on the modern Gentleman is shrouded in mystery. “It’s like no men’s magazine you’ve ever seen,” promises a spokeswoman at Hearst Publications in New York. “Let’s just say it’s very cutting edge. “ On the cover of the original gentleman’s guide, GQ, a kinder, gentler Clint Eastwood offers a big, toothy smile. Perhaps he overheard himself described as looking “every which way the gentleman, in a wool-tweed sport coat by Cerruti 1881 Couture, $550.” Blass Action: To assure its customers that all is still right with the world at Robinson’s, Beverly Hills, oops, make that Robinsons-May, the store trotted out debonair designer Bill Blass for a guest appearance Thursday--not for a fashion show, but “on behalf of” his line of “home textiles” (that’s sheets to you and me) for Springmaid. Invitees to the first event since the stores’ merger included members of the County Museum’s Costume Council, the Fashion Group and Beverly Hills-area customers, all of whom were served a tea by Rococo and departed with gifts of Chanel cosmetics and Godiva chocolates. The intended message? “We still believe in better merchandise,” said Robinsons-May’s Jim Watterson. True, but when asked if Blass’ pricey dress collection is available, Watterson said he’d have to get back to us on that. In Closing: Late-night guy and desk bongoist extraordinaire Dave Letterman digressed for what seemed like an eternity Wednesday night to discuss the wonders of the Home Shopping Club. (Where have you been, Dave?) Letterman was fascinated by one ring studded with millions of rhinestones. But what really got to him was the lingo. “When the guy says goodby to the caller, it’s not ‘bye-bye.’ No. It’s ‘buh-BYE, buh-BYE!’ ” Buh-bye.