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FASHION / SENSE OF STYLE : Agents Provocateurs : Guess Ads Give Rebel Juliette Lewis--and Friends--a Cause

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TIMES FASHION EDITOR

A new series of Guess jeans TV spots introduce rebel starlet Juliette (will she ever live down those cornrows at the Academy Awards?) Lewis as the new Guess Jeans girl. The mini film noir dramas also feature Harry Dean Stanton, Peter Horton and Traci Lords, coiffed and made up to be a dead ringer for ‘40s star Lizbeth Scott. Lewis, working as an operative for private eye Stanton, struts in a shrunken satin shirt and white jeans, but clothes are really beside the point. The school of provocative commercials as art manque, where Calvin Klein is headmaster, continues to attract attention and, with a little luck, provide material for Bob Dole to criticize. It’s all kind of perfect for the outlaw image Lewis works hard to maintain.

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Wonder Drug?: If even some of the claims about melatonin were true, it would be this year’s most popular Valentine’s Day candy.

“The Melatonin Miracle” was a sensational enough name for the book that boasts the hormone can retard the aging process. But publisher Simon & Schuster added an even more attention-getting subtitle: “Nature’s Age-Reversing, Disease-Fighting, Sex-Enhancing Hormone.”

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It’s the sex-enhancing part that grabbed your attention, right? Well, the current issue of Mirabella reports that one of the book’s authors admits the melatonin-sex connection is a stretch. Dr. William Regelson does believe melatonin can increase longevity. If you live a few extra years, he explains, you can have sex longer. “It’s an indirect effect,” he says.

Following that logic, melatonin could have taste-enhancing properties. The longer you live, the more time you have to develop great personal style.

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Beauty Tip: “You look ridiculous,” the she-devil said. My face was covered with Fresh Sea Plant Mask, and I looked perfectly normal, if my name were Swamp Thing. “Only actresses in ‘30s comedies look charming plastered with facial masks the color and texture of finger paints,” I explained.

The angel of grooming understands that I spend 10 minutes covered from forehead to collarbone in green slime in the hope that when it is scrubbed off I’ll look rested, refreshed, revitalized. A lot to expect from a 2-ounce jar that sells for $15.50 and yields six to eight applications. But Fresh Sea Plant Mask does leave my face bright, clear and smooth, feeling toned. It is the creation of Mariana Chicet, whose skin-care salon on West 3rd Street in West Hollywood is a favorite of Teri Hatcher and her husband, Jon Tenney, and Dean Cain. Models Linda Evangelista and Gabrielle Reece order their masks by phone, dialing (800) 995-4490.

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It’s a Cruel, Thin World: Anyone who began a serious New Year’s diet should be hitting a frustrating plateau about now. The easy water weight is gone and low-fat food boredom has set in. Remembering overeaters’ rationalization No. 22 (Ben and Jerry donate so much money to good causes, it’s noble to support them) you decide to bring the kings of high butterfat content back into your life. But before designating ice cream as a major food group, think of spring’s hip-hugging jeans, clingy matte jersey dresses, midriff-baring tops and itty-bitty skirts as the rewards of a weight-loss program. Why don’t designers create styles that look good on plumper women? Why can’t you upgrade to first class with 19,075 frequent-flier miles? Why isn’t the IRS more understanding? Why does Cybill Shepherd insist on singing on her TV show? It’s so hard to explain some circumstances we naively wish could be different.

* Sense of Style appears Thursdays in Life & Style.

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