Clothing

Representing Bermuda at the Athens Olympics last year, Cabinet minister Dale Butler bowed to tradition and dressed formally. Like many other men, he wore a shirt, a tie and a jacket. Unlike other men, he also wore knee socks and short pants. The ensemble was a hit with the ladies, Butler said, but as he was leaving a reception there, he encountered a Saudi prince in the elevator.

"Chestuh, Chestuh, Chestuh Drescher! Awright, awrady!" Fran Drescher is racing home to Malibu, her itsy-bitsy Pomeranian dog next to her, exercising his canine cords. Drescher is tense enough awrady! In six days the Everygal she plays on "The Nanny" gets hitched to Everygal's dreamboat: the suave, sexy, sophisticated Brit with Big Bucks who, obviously, isn't Everyman. But, hey, this is TV and "The Nanny" is pure farcical fantasy. And here's another F-word for ya: fashion.

Sometimes it's a subtle nudge to consider another designer. At other times, the voice is more matter of fact, explaining why a certain style doesn't pair with a venue. This Marchesa? The beading may be too much. Do you want to try Jenny Packham? Reem Acra? A beaded belt might not work with this gown. That other gown was pretty, but it was too old. This is better. Are you going to wear a veil? Maybe a hair clip instead? The advice comes to those brides-to-be who shop (and stop to listen)

It was like an Oscar flashback with all the Giorgio Armani gowns, Harry Winston bling and Veronica Lake waves on the red carpet Sunday. Then there was a Sharon Stone Gap turtleneck moment, when Helen Hunt revealed that her navy blue gown was from none other than cheap chic retailer H&M. (Apparently it was a custom job; Hunt worked closely with H&M designers exchanging sketches, fabrics and samples, according to the retailer.) PHOTOS: Oscars 2013 best dressed on the red carpet Back to Armani, though.

While mega-shouldered 1980s power suits are mercifully dead, and '70s gaudy disco looks lie dormant, Summer of Love-inspired 1960s fashions endure to this day. In small pockets of Malibu, a few stores are triumphantly dressing customers around theworld who want to look like rich, but tasteful, hippies. The current spectrum of retro-1960s styles brings this fashionable aspiration within reach of most women, allowing them to boomerang through barriers of time, space and lifestyle.

Sportswear maker Mike Rodriguez finessed his way past security at last year's Los Angeles County Fair in Pomona to press a T-shirt and hat emblazoned with his Mojado Brothers company logo on comedian Paul Rodriguez. "At first, I thought 'Who are you calling mojado? ' I felt insulted," said the Latino comedian and actor in describing his reaction to the term, whose literal translation is wet, but also means the pejorative "wetback" in Spanish slang.

Bob Mackie wedding gowns. What a concept. The master of strategically placed sequins, turning his hand to veils of illusion. It was a must-see event, when Mackie's orange-blossom special roared through the bridal salon at Bullocks Wilshire. The man has a talent for tapping into women's pre-adolescent, closet fantasies. He touches that moment, sometime between the first Barbie doll and the first car date, when visions of strapless, glitter gowns trimmed in marabou sear themselves onto a young girl's subconscious.

JC Penney is opening a store today in the Huntington Center that will cater to people who have trouble getting dressed. Easy Dressing Fashions, the first of its kind in the Penney chain, will offer fashionable clothes with Velcro fasteners easily used by people with arthritis and others with limited movement. The store was developed as a result of successful catalogue sales of the items first introduced in 1984.

California schoolchildren just received a bit more sun protection. Gov. Gray Davis last week signed a bill, SB 310, requiring schools to allow children to wear sun-protective clothing, including certain styles of hats, outdoors. Hats had been banned to discourage affiliation with gangs. California has the highest incidence of melanoma diagnoses and deaths in the country. Studies have linked development of the skin disease to sunburn in childhood. The bill will go into effect Jan. 1.