Grab Bags
Lately Hollywood's women have been in a holding pattern. Weary of totes and cumbersome bowling-style bags, stars including Minnie Driver, Jamie Lee Curtis and Sarah Jessica Parker are embracing '40s-style clutches but with a crucial new twist: roominess. "They're not tiny, which is why they've become popular again," says designer Larisa Barrera, who created the flower-beaded clutch Tracy Pollan carried to an awards show last year. "You can put your cell phone in them, not just a lipstick." Which actress Hilary Shepard-Turner can appreciate. "I have a great clutch that's just big enough," she says. Soft or structured, made of leather, denim or satin and often crystal-studded, today's minipurses aren't for after dark only. "They're being used for daytime as well," says a spokeswoman for Celine, makers of the silver purse Iman carried to a recent do. "If you're wearing a plain outfit and you have a great small clutch with beading, it can really add a little pizzazz." True, "little" remains the operative word. "You may not be able to fit your makeup, your keys and your wallet [in one]," the Celine rep adds. "If you're carrying a clutch, you have to pare down." But you'll have elegance in the bag.
with Robyn Flans in Los Angeles
behind the seams
To ensure Jennifer Lopez's comfort when getting her mug painted, her makeup artist Matthew Vanleeuwen recently gifted the star with a made-to-measure chair with "J.Lo" emblazoned on the back. The beauty doctor was loath to keep making the 5'6" Lopez sit on books, so he ordered up the $700 director-style chair with a cushion seat, low arms and a high foot stand. The flattered singer couldn't have been more pleased and instantly ordered a carrying case for her foldable throne-to-go....
Rene Russo, Ashley Judd and Cindy Crawford are among the stars who will score a nifty cadeau, Tod's limited-edition two-tone moccasins, when they attend a splashy Tod's party on March 15 at L.A. hot spot Moomba. The fab $325 footwear, created to celebrate the company's remodeled Rodeo Drive digs, will go on sale to the public for a short time later this spring...
Slipping into Decades, the L.A. vintage clothing boutique, was Lisa Marie Presley with a special wardrobe consultant in tow: Anna Sui. The designer scoped the racks for her pal and gave Presley the thumbs up on a ca. 1960 Pucci handbag and a cropped patchwork leather jacket....
Sarah Michelle Gellar may have been filming Scooby-Doo recently, but no way did she let herself go to the dogs beautywise. TV's Buffy buffed up off the film's Australia set with a luxurious one-hour aromatherapy massage at the Dome Retreat, a day spa at the Brisbane Marriott hotel....
Dish: Intent on keeping her style secrets to herself, Courtney Love, I hear, recently made a stylist sign a multi-page gag order before he could work his sartorial magic on her.
what! was she thinking?
"Fun and fantasy" were on the mind of Extra's Leeza Gibbons when she donned big hair, a Bisou-Bisou mesh halter and Eduardo Lucero's sheer coat for the Soul Train Music Awards. The result, says L.A. stylist Kim Bowen, was plain scary: "She looks like the bride of the Creature from the Black Lagoon!" Still, since Gibbons presented an award with singer Erykah Badu, who wore what resembled a ripped garment bag, says a Gibbons rep, "she was quite understated, given the environment."
winner's circle
Who needs Starbucks when there's Geena Davis in an espresso-colored halter dress? The star and her nylon Pamela Dennis creation proved quite the eye-opener at a gala benefit last week. No Wonder, says Dennis: "She has the perfect body for my clothes."
Side Show
Venus Williams might be doing it to stay cool. But when nonathletes wear outfits with scooped-out sides, you know it's heat they're seeking. "The side is a very beautiful part of the body," says designer Marc Bouwer, who has created cutouts for Toni Braxton and Heidi Klum. "It's been ignored." Distraction is the reason V.I.P.'s Natalie Raitano likes her scooped-out Anthony Franco jumpsuit: "If they're looking at my stomach, I figure they won't look at my big butt."
presto change-o
Perhaps it was spring fever. Or maybe cabin fever. Whatever. Model Christy Turlington was compelled after a recent photo shoot to ask on-site VS Sassoon editorial director Peter Gray for an impromptu clip job on her medium-length brown locks. Manhattan hair designer John Sahag applauds the impulse but not the results. "It looks too tidy," he says, noting that the trendiest cuts are "messy, short or layered." Still, he adds, the beauteous Turlington "looks good in anything."
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