VALLEY VOGUE : Waving a White Flag : Fashion police call a truce as more women break a cardinal rule about post-Labor Day shoes. : Whether it be white patent leather or smooth kid, the <i> au courant </i> white shoe is being offered by such names as Isaac Mizrahi, Chanel and Gucci.
This September, fashion plates across America are donning dressy white pumps, quashing the long-held fashion rule that it’s considered the height of tackiness to wear white shoes after Labor Day. One Valley Vogue spy in the Big Apple reports that the Harper’s Bazaar editors are running around in white pumps, while their counterparts at Vogue have taken to Barbie doll-style white mules.
“White is certainly one of the hottest trends around for fall,” says Eileen Walker, a shoe buyer who reports that it is one of the top four biggest sellers at I. Magnin stores, including the Promenade Mall location. Whether it be white patent leather or smooth kid, the au courant white shoe is being offered by such names as Isaac Mizrahi, Chanel and Gucci, and it’s the perfect accompaniment to the equally trendy white A-line dress being offered by Calvin Klein and other designers this fall.
For some stores, white is not only a trend, it’s a way of doing business long-term. Take the White House in the Glendale Galleria, where merchandise year-round is, naturally, predominantly white. Manager Diana Marshall, fully aware of the white-hot trend, says she was amused to see how many stores in the mall featured all-white merchandise in their display windows.
Though the store offers a variety of cream and off-white items, Marshall says the current bestsellers are the matching sportswear tops and bottoms--in white.
TATTOO YOU: San Fernando Valley tattoo artists are warning teen-agers about the danger of the new luminescent pigment tattoos. These tattoos are invisible in regular light but glow vividly in the ultraviolet light of nightclubs and other subterranean digs. They are all the rage in San Francisco, but haven’t reached the same popularity here.
Kids who want to conceal the tattoo from their parents are particularly tempted to sport them.
But “the inks used have not been tested. We’re not sure if they are safe or even durable,” says Bonnie Parker, a tattoo artist at World Famous Emporium of Tattoos in Van Nuys, which has no plans to offer the luminescent pigments.
Meanwhile, there seems to be a resurgence of temporary tattooing among San Fernando Valley youth. Gurmeet Sawhney, manager at Aahs in Sherman Oaks, says the store almost discontinued the temporary tattoos because of slow sales earlier this year. But in the last month, among teen-age and adult customers, sales of the hearts, skulls and Harley-Davidson styles have picked up.
At prices ranging from $2.99 to $6, not only are the temp tattoos more affordable than real ones, they involve far less commitment on the part of the people who wear them. And when it comes to trends, the ability to walk away sometimes means everything. Just ask Johnny Depp, whose “Winona Forever” tattoo has undoubtedly outlived its truth and its beauty.
LITTLE-KNOWN CLAWS: Will Dragon Lady nails make a comeback? They’re on the cusp of a revival. Longer, more dramatic lengths--as much as three-quarters of an inch--are being touted by nail product manufacturers and manicurists as the ideal complement to the equally outrageous faux fur, rubber and plastic fall fashions.
“No excess is too much,” explains Susan Weiss-Fishmann, executive vice president/artistic director of OPI, a professional nail-product manufacturer in North Hollywood. As for professional women who usually feel that a longer nail would be out of place in their business environment, Weiss-Fishmann advises them to adopt a squared-off shape, making a slightly longer nail more practical.
Trends aside, many Valley manicurists maintain that most working women still shun the “Flo Jo” look, opting instead for nails that extend just beyond the nail bed by about an eighth of an inch.
“The younger girls always like the longer nails, but for women who type and work, it just isn’t very practical,” says Wanda Bernal, owner of The Nail Cottage in Granada Hills. It’s that kind of thinking--beauty before comfort--that will keep the rubber dress crowd in claws for the next few months.
