Miss Heidi Sends Her Regrets

Our favorite Heidi chronicle these days is fairly innocent. It seems those letters of apology from Fleiss to her Benedict Canyon neighbors for media gridlock were written on “Trumpeting Angels” stationery by local designers Iris Parker and Valerie McIntosh.

“It’s our No. 1 seller,” says Parker. “We’re going to send her a note pad to write on during the trial.”

Did Heidi buy her Pompadour Papers at Fred Segal on Melrose, Missouri Traders in Hollywood, or Heather Bloom Bodywear in Pasadena? Who can say? Her selection, says McIntosh, proves Heidi to be a woman of great, if offbeat, style. Some of Pompadour’s designs feature skulls and crossbones, prompting a friend to suggest that the designers “do some cute stuff like kitty cats.”

“I said, ‘Oh, no. We don’t do sweet,’ ” says Parker.

Just ask Heidi.

The Teeny-Tiny Women: Actress Michelle Pfeiffer may look like her honey-gold sensuous self on the cover of September’s Vanity Fair. Inside, however, is another story. On Page 165, la Pfeiffer perches on a Gargantuan rocking chair prop at the beach, looking defiantly babyish and decidedly surreal. “I was a real tomboy,” goes the quote floating over her head. “I wasn’t a terribly feminine little girl.” Flip to Page 404 in the September Harper’s Bazaar and there it is again-- the big chair motif. In one of those artfully awkward poses, this Miss looks like she just fell out of her high chair and, kerplop, into a “mint-green mohair dress, about $735, Liza Bruce.” We weren’t sure what it meant. But Mr. Inside Out explained: “It’s the diminution of women.” Ah . . .

Sharing the Wealth: Thursday night, Connie Kennedy took 30 adolescents shopping for back-to-school clothes. That alone would qualify her for sainthood in our eyes. But last year, Kennedy’s New York organization--Back To School Clothes For Kids--dressed nearly 600 impoverished students.

A 1986 photo essay on destitute children horrified Kennedy into action. She raised $900 from friends and family to clothe 10 homeless children. Today, contributors--often parents shopping for their own children’s school clothing--get a “data sheet” with style and color preferences, and size for children under 14. Teen-agers shop for themselves, with gentle direction from volunteers and social workers. “One kid tried to buy 10 pairs of boxer shorts. We had to talk him down to four.” For more information, call (914) 576-6053.

What We Did on Our Summer Vacation: Speaking of back-to-school shopping, isn’t it great to get it all done by the end of August and buy everything half-price? Perhaps we’ll do that sometime. Till then, here are a few tips learned the hard way: 1) The Esprit store in West Hollywood is a spacious and tranquil oasis filled with unfailingly helpful salespeople and fall children’s clothes that manage to be whimsical, sturdy and stylish all at once. Although we were told a boys’ line is being tested in the Aspen, Colo., store, right now, it’s a girls-only sort of place. Sale merchandise (what little we didn’t hog) is scattered throughout the department. 2) Check out the red-edged pages in Petaluma-based Biobottoms’ most recent delivery, (800) 766-1254. Fast. Summer items are half-price, with varying availability in choice of sizes and styles. Best buys include $9 leggings, $6 T-shirts and $11 dresses.

Stock Market Maven: News that the Donna Karan Corp. will sell a 43% stake to the public in an initial public offering (IPO), prompted us to call our broker. Except we don’t have one. So we tried a firm that specializes in big, screaming newspaper ads. Donna who? said a trader. Perhaps a company with a Beverly Hills office might have a designer-friendly staff. Donna who? We explained; he sneered. “Women are too smart to buy a stock just because they like a certain designer. They’d rather get as much money as they can in their own name in case their husbands split.” Wouldn’t we rather have a nice IRA, instead? Not really.

Flea Market Mavens: Starting this weekend, there’s more to the Hollywood Sunday Marketplace than fruits and vegetables. Beginning at 8 a.m. will be the first Hollywood Vintage Clothing Marketplace. “There’s a great tradition in Hollywood of fabulous personal style,” said former designer Richard Kennedy, who has pulled together the event in conjunction with the Community Redevelopment Agency and the Public Spaces Project. Clothing will range from the 1860s to the 1970s. Admission to the event, which goes till 3 p.m., is $2. 1620 N. Las Palmas, (310) 785-0778.