Gifts of the Gifted : This Season, Most Stars’ Favorite Stocking Stuffers Tend to Be P.C. and Tax-Free

What does Hollywood give itself for Christmas?

“Grief,” says a television development executive.

Maybe the rest of the year. But come December, the industry shows its sentimental--or as cynics would say, its opportunistic--side with a barrage of well-meaning gestures. From agency to client, from studio executive to star, from vendor to producer, the message is the same: Please remember me next year. Oh . . . and please know that I am conscious of my fellow man.

“There was a period when gift-giving was in the ascendancy--in the ‘80s,” says screenwriter Jerome Gary. “That was also the era of the flop-proof film. Now is the time of the appropriate gift.”

Most appropriate, judging by what’s been given the last two weeks, is a donation to a politically correct charity in the recipient’s name.

“You cannot possibly amass enough material to make people happy,” a veteran studio executive says. “It’s a law of physics and greed. So it’s best to make donations.”

Creative Artist Agency’s Michael Ovitz, for example, gave tickets to Bette Midler’s recent concerts at the Universal Amphitheatre, proceeds of which went to a handful of charities.

Others send out food baskets. (Wine is out--”too many 12-Steppers around,” notes another executive.)

“Creative people don’t send out a zillion Christmas presents,” harrumphs Gary. “They’re not that organized in the production of their lives. I’m not well organized enough to give a gift to someone I don’t care about.”

He did, however, send several tiger-shaped piggy banks from the Wildlife Foundation to executives at the studio that purchased his spec script, “Tiger, Tiger!” this year. “If there is a way to stick your tongue in your cheek and still promote yourself, why not?”

Why not, indeed. Just ask the handsome TV star who sent co-workers a boxed, bound and autographed edition of . . . his memoirs.

Ho ho ho.

Body Language: “I’d rather go naked than wear fur,” reads the quote on a new Sunset Boulevard billboard sponsored by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. But model Christy Turlington, in town this week for the billboard unveiling, told skin-care expert Ole Henriksen that she isn’t nearly as naked as she was in the original photograph. Turlington stopped by Henriksen’s West Hollywood salon before heading on to a Jamaican vacation with best pal Naomi Campbell.

How does the most beautiful woman in the world prepare her skin for a month in the sun?

“A light face peel and a special lymphatic drainage massage,” says Henriksen, who also tinted Turlington’s eyelashes. It seems the Maybelline girl doesn’t want to have to think about cosmetics away from the job.

“Even without a stitch of makeup, she has a swanlike beauty,” Henriksen says, “and such a sweet sense of humor. She is truly the nicest of the bunch.”

Cats in the Hats: The rain that forced the Museum of Contemporary Art to cancel the alfresco party portion of its Vija Celmins opening Saturday night also gave L.A.’s art crowd an excuse to show off some statement-making headgear.

Form, not surprisingly, superseded function. One lanky young woman, for example, loped from painting to painting wearing a pagoda-shaped paper lantern. More practical minds kept their pretty heads warm--if not entirely waterproof--in flowered wool bowlers and berets.

In the surprisingly homogenous throng, there was--at least--a smattering of African hats.

Architect Frank Gehry and sculptor Robert Graham went hatless, as did a balding gentleman whose new hair plugs echoed painter Celmins’ version of the Milky Way.

Gold Fingers: “Candice Bergen said she’d be by, and Christie Brinkley is supposed to stop by later. . . .” As L.A. jewelry designer Lee Brevard ticked off his list of celebrity clients, we found it hard to imagine a world where deserving women couldn’t afford to buy fabulous jewelry. There certainly weren’t any at Brevard’s recent trunk show at Neiman Marcus in Beverly Hills. Brevard showed us photos of Susan Sarandon, Elizabeth Taylor and Farah Fawcett in his things. He said he had planned to give Taylor a weightlifter’s belt for support when she wears all her Brevard jewelry, but thought twice. “I didn’t want her to be reminded of the back trouble she’s suffered,” he said.

Big Brother Is Watching: A local cable channel is making it easier for everyone to see who’s doing what this Christmas in Aspen, Colo. The station has set up a camera at the bottom of Aspen Mountain’s gondola, according to the Associated Press, for a view of those high-profilers using the high-speed lift.

Ivana Trump and her children, and another blond mom--Melanie Griffith--have been sighted. Bruce Willis, Demi Moore, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone are in town for the January opening there of Planet Hollywood.

But the celebs everyone’s waiting for--newlyweds Marla and Donald Trump--have yet to land. It was in Aspen, you’ll recall, that Ivana and Marla once exchanged words. Didn’t Ivana say the Donald would never marry Maples?

Fashion Press: Don’t miss Susan Orlean’s New Yorker piece on Bill Blass, King of the Road. Was getting left off New York Times maven Carrie Donovan’s recent “50 People Who Mattered Most” list the best thing to happen to this guy or what? Since the much-gossiped-about omission, Blass has turned up in W, the New Yorker and the New York Times Magazine. “No matter what anyone thinks,” Blass tells Orlean, “there’s a huge part of this country that still loves print dresses.”

So there.