Model Sporting Spirits--in Triplicate
Oh, those wacky caption writers at Sports Illustrated. No pun is too strained, no entendre too double for the magazine’s annual swimsuit issue, which went on sale this week. Our favorite blurb accompanies a shot of bountiful model Stacey Williams, wearing nothing but a sopping wet T-shirt: Waiting for a warm breeze to get that pesky dampness out, Stacey stands out in an after-swim dress by Michael Kors . . . .
Well, what do you expect?
What we didn’t expect was the eerie tripletness of the cover’s winsome threesome. An alien--or anyone unfamiliar with the current crop of calendar girls--might think that Rachel Hunter, Elle Macpherson and Kathy Ireland are one and the same, in their matching black bikinis, honey-blond hair and honey-blond skin. (And can someone tell us the difference between Vendela and Rebecca Romijn?)
The real winner in Sports Illustrated’s annual hoopla could be the sexy Mossimo bikini worn by Ireland in the cover shot. Underwired and lined with fiberfill, they don’t call it the 3-D suit for nothing. Look for it at a beach near you--without Kathy Ireland, of course.
Everybody Must Get Styled: That was Bob Dylan exiting JonValdi last week wearing a super-cool patent leather trench coat. The singer--stylist in tow--turned up at the Melrose Avenue store to scout apparel for his Japan tour. “This jacket has a really good vibe,” he said, sounding pleased.
Apparently, so did a velvet, six-button tuxedo jacket and a painted pin-striped suit. Dylan liked the patent leather trench so much he wore it out the door. “He was like a blur,” said the store’s Jonathan Meizler. “ . . . He had the Afro thing--kind of flat on top--happening. He was . . . Bob.” An hour and several garments later, Bob was gone.
Manifest Destiny: Jose Eber closed his Beverly Center salon last week and moved its 20-member staff to the palatial shop at Two Rodeo. Consolidating in L.A. fits into Eber’s three-year plan to open salons elsewhere. There’s already a Jose in Houston. To come this year: Washington, D.C., and Las Vegas. “I know some people think it’s tacky,” said Eber, referring to L.A.’s new home-away-from-home, “but with all the lights and stuff, we Europeans love it.”
Eber expects to launch other salons in Scottsdale, Ariz.; Atlanta; Miami, and San Francisco. Although he still coifs Elizabeth Taylor, Eber’s expansion mode and his volunteer work with battered women leaves him little time for anything but consultations.
“For a long time I thought I’d rather stay an artistic person, let someone else do the business part. But now I’m doing both and enjoying it, surprisingly.”
Fully Furnished: The tiny new French costume jewelry store Bijoux-Bijoux got some surprise attention from an unusual place. Costume designers from “Star Trek: The Next Generation” expressed interest in its custom pieces, particularly the eccentric, futuristic necklaces designer-owner Alexis Minard (rhymes with Picard ) does in metal and crystal.
Earthlings might like other items, namely the miniature chair, candelabrum and Versailles chandelier brooches and pins ($60 to $230) Parisians are so mad for right now. Jewelry with a home-decor motif is especially appropriate here, because the store is on the western end of Melrose Avenue, in the furniture district.
Support Group: Ten Hollywood costume designers are getting a well-deserved pat on the back. They are nominees for the first Re-Style L.A. Costume Designer of the Year awards, announced at a news conference late last week at the Bel-Age Hotel. Re-Style L.A., you’ll recall, was created by members of the local fashion and beauty industry after the riots. The group, which provides high school students with college scholarships in the arts, will hold its gala benefit March 18 at the Universal Amphitheatre.
“Since this is the first year they’ve been given, the awards are for a body of work rather than one specific project,” said Costume Designers Guild President Robert Turturice. This might explain why the Academy Award nominees for Best Costume Design, announced Wednesday, don’t match--or even overlap--the honorees nominated by Re-Style L.A. Also, Oscars frequently go to designers outside the United States who aren’t guild members.
For film, the nominees are Milena Canonero, Ruth Carter, Richard Horning, Bob Ringwood and Albert Wolsky. In television, the nominees are Robert Blackman, Jean-Pierre Dorleac, Bill Hargate, Brad Loman and Bob Mackie.
Love Shack: Mr. Inside Out knows the way to our heart. Skip the Godiva. Gimme shelter. As in real estate. Being in escrow is our idea of a particularly blissful way to spend Valentine’s Day. Plenty of local merchants, however, would have us settle for more sentimental expressions of love. Bridging the gap between the practical and the romantic are T-shirts, pins and an earthquake-ready candy-striped nightshirt emblazoned with our favorite cartoon hunk, Pepe Le Pew, sold at the Warner Bros. Studio Stores. L’amour.
