Now That’s More Like It
With a song in our heart, lots of cash and a two-hour metered space outside Canter’s, we headed for the new Council Thrift store, five doors up from the old one, in the heart of the suddenly hip Fairfax District. Unfortunately, most of the clothes inside reminded us of Mom’s closet during her Orbach’s phase.
But then the inevitable thrift-shop weirdness began. An ordinary-looking woman suddenly disrobed, a tall blonde glided cheerfully between racks of unloved Leslie Fay coordinates on roller-blades, the latter bringing a hissing reprimand from an annoyed salesclerk. Nudity, yes, roller-blading, nyet.
What we bought: a vintage malachite lapel pin ($12) and a white counted cross-stitched tablecloth ($12).
What we left: a long-sleeved Missoni dress ($30) that cried out for a long-legged, waif-like owner in possession of 6-inch platforms. A miniature sterling silver pendant in the shape of a banjo ($25, “but I’ll give it to you for $12”).
Out on the sidewalk, a Russian woman told our fortune for $5. “Even though you look like a happy voman,” she said in a vaguely Transylvanian accent, “your heart has been broken--tvice!”
She was right. There’s the Chanel in the closet we still can’t squeeze into and the Perfect Purse we’d spotted on a woman in the produce section at Ralph’s. “I don’t think they have them at Neiman’s anymore,” said the woman apologetically, “but I’ll sell you mine.”
A used purse? Like, no thank you.
Future Schmatta: There’s a hint of “Dynasty” in the red wedding gown actress Kim Cattrall wears in ABC’s wonderfully twisted soap opera “Wild Palms” (starting Sunday night). That’s the idea, says writer Bruce Wagner (“Force Majeure”). “Even though people look great, there’s a spiritual emptiness in the melange of retro styles.” Designed by Judianna Makovsky the show’s costumes are a pastiche of the past--Edwardian collars and poodle skirts. “It’s like Hockney without the jokes,” says Wagner.
Go East, Young Man: We knew apparel manufacturers at the California Mart were so distressed about rampant urban decay downtown that they’d threatened to move to the Westside. But isn’t Singapore just a little too far?
Singapore has fast become a hot destination for American apparel manufacturers seeking cheap labor and easy access to major textile suppliers in Asia. This week, David Morse, a general partner in the L.A.-based California Mart and chief executive of Mart Management International (MMI), is attempting to lure even more California apparel executives to the Far East. MMI, along with two Singapore-based investors, plan to open a $34-million fashion center known as TradeMart Singapore in mid-August.
“We want them to think of the TradeMart as a home away from home,” says Morse. The building will house 300 permanent fashion showrooms and incorporate a 14-story warehouse. In L.A., manufacturers sell from their showrooms in the California Mart and ship from private warehouses elsewhere. This will be the only fashion building of its kind to allow apparel makers to sell and ship from one location.
Traveling to the Beat of a Different Drum: No wonder Linda Ronstadt has resorted to wearing shapeless muumuus these days. The singer, or any other woman who might want to squeeze her Size-14 self into, say, a Claude Montana suit, is pretty much out of luck. We scoured the designer section at Nordstrom in search of the right ensemble. Donna Karan, Krizia, Claude Montana, Ralph Lauren . . . it all looked yummy and expensive. But where were the Big American Girl sizes?
“Oh, we keep those in the back,” chirped a salesclerk, disappearing into a place where hideous, double-digit dress sizes are hidden from the sensitive eyes of impossibly thin shoppers. (Like the woman who loudly moaned: “They’re making the Size 4s so big these days I have to wear a 2!”)
In the end, we found the right suit in a Size 12. It looks, gasp, just fine, gasp, if you zip up the skirt halfway, gasp, and lie on the bed to button the jacket.
Wonder where Linda gets those things?
Pick a Card Like baseball trading cards, Klub Kid Kards! feature portraits and bios of night-life devotees. “I want to emulate Zsa Zsa Gabor!” Paige insists, “and I’m a self-proclaimed ‘Green Acres’ addict.” The cards are an outgrowth of New York’s club scene, which serves as a backdrop this week for Style Summit ‘93, a convention of club-clothing designers (including L.A.’s Chava, Miss Kitty and Lollipop), entrepreneurs and musicians hosted by Christian Francis Roth, Todd Oldham and Liza Bruce.
