Sue Wong

Only a very small piece of the fashion pie is glamorous. Models, runway shows and stores are pretty, and you can be, too, once you buy that new outfit. The rest of it, the bulk of it, is much like dressing rooms--ugly, sparsely furnished and poorly lit. Still, many people are quite willing to drive to the unlandscaped areas of town to toil in an office permeated with the acrid smell of fabric dye.

Leave it to Sue Wong to top off a fashion week filled with street-wear and lingerie with a glittering 1920s production number. For the first time in six years, Wong skipped the runways and instead presented her fall collection at an extravagant masquerade party at her 1926 villa in Los Feliz.

TWO black-clad women crouch uncomfortably beneath a silver lighting reflector, angling the morning glow onto a glittery chiffon dress. "Give me a seductive smile," says the director to the model, who affects the perfect cocktail-hour allure here in a cactus garden. "Now chin up just a little bit. Hold it -- go!" Since sunrise, Sue Wong has directed an eight-person team assigned to capture the vintage glamour of her namesake line of beaded cocktail dresses and ball gowns.

SOME fashion designers launch home decor collections with a few pillows and bedspreads. Sue Wong filled a sprawling mansion with dozens of her exotic, vintage-inspired designs and in the process, demonstrated how well her fashion design sensibilities translate into home furnishings. Had she more time, Wong would have designed every item of furniture or fabric inside her palatial Los Feliz estate.

Leave it to Sue Wong to top off a fashion week filled with street-wear and lingerie with a glittering 1920s production number. For the first time in six years, Wong skipped the runways and instead presented her fall collection at an extravagant masquerade party at her 1926 villa in Los Feliz.

SOME fashion designers launch home decor collections with a few pillows and bedspreads. Sue Wong filled a sprawling mansion with dozens of her exotic, vintage-inspired designs and in the process, demonstrated how well her fashion design sensibilities translate into home furnishings. Had she more time, Wong would have designed every item of furniture or fabric inside her palatial Los Feliz estate.

Nordstrom Inc. is stepping into the bridal business for the first time in the company's 109-year history. Over the next six weeks the upscale retailer is opening 14 bridal salons nationwide, including in its store in Canoga Park. This might not be a big season for weddings, but it's one of the most popular times to get engaged, and the chain has gotten an indication that a move into the bridal area could boost business. In a pilot test at nine stores in March, Nordstrom experienced a 30% boost in new customers to the store, company spokeswoman Brooke White said.

My partner and I have a home in Maui. We go six to eight times a year. It's in a place called Kipahulu. There are famous sacred pools there. Charles Lindbergh is buried in Kipahulu, at Palapala Hoomau Church. Recently I went with my best friends, artists Koji Takei and Jayme Odgers. The most interesting thing was connecting with Taoist master Alfred Huang. He wrote the definitive new translation of the I Ching. He hung out with us. It was transformative.

The designer lineup for L.A.'s Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week at Smashbox Studios has been announced, and along with past headliners Louis Verdad, Eduardo Lucero, Sue Wong, Oligo Tissew and Kevan Hall, several newcomers have been added to the schedule of 20 shows, happening in Culver City on Oct. 16 to 20. The biggest name is St. John, signaling its continued pursuit of a younger, fresher image.

Nordstrom has been hearing wedding bells for years, doing brisk business in wedding gowns, tuxedos and accessories for the "big day. " But now, the Seattle-based retailer is fine-tuning its nuptial offerings with the Wedding Suite, a new in-store bridal shop featuring a trend-right selection of gowns, bridesmaid dresses and accessories including clutches, shoes, jewelry and veils in a dedicated area of the store. "Our customer wanted something that was just for her," said Fanya Chandler, national stylist director for Nordstrom, "that felt more like a bridal boutique ?

TWO black-clad women crouch uncomfortably beneath a silver lighting reflector, angling the morning glow onto a glittery chiffon dress. "Give me a seductive smile," says the director to the model, who affects the perfect cocktail-hour allure here in a cactus garden. "Now chin up just a little bit. Hold it -- go!" Since sunrise, Sue Wong has directed an eight-person team assigned to capture the vintage glamour of her namesake line of beaded cocktail dresses and ball gowns.

My partner and I have a home in Maui. We go six to eight times a year. It's in a place called Kipahulu. There are famous sacred pools there. Charles Lindbergh is buried in Kipahulu, at Palapala Hoomau Church. Recently I went with my best friends, artists Koji Takei and Jayme Odgers. The most interesting thing was connecting with Taoist master Alfred Huang. He wrote the definitive new translation of the I Ching. He hung out with us. It was transformative.

Only a very small piece of the fashion pie is glamorous. Models, runway shows and stores are pretty, and you can be, too, once you buy that new outfit. The rest of it, the bulk of it, is much like dressing rooms--ugly, sparsely furnished and poorly lit. Still, many people are quite willing to drive to the unlandscaped areas of town to toil in an office permeated with the acrid smell of fabric dye.

Art openings may be the best venues for playing the peacock. "You can indulge in fancy dress-up, and my motto is always anything goes," said performance artist Ann Magnuson, who wore a frothy Sue Wong confection last week to the opening of the exhibition of "Guts" at the Fahey/Klein Gallery. The show of 25 raw photographs by Tim Palen, co-president of marketing at Lionsgate, drew a vast crowd as eclectic as an aquarium.

Prof. Henry Higgins' cry of "Why can't a woman be more like a man?" echoed in Los Angeles last weekend as menswear styles for women, many of them English-inspired, cavorted in three fall fashion forecasts. Along with dandified pin-stripe and tweed suits--often combined with vests and fedoras--designers embraced motorcycle chic and '40s-style Hollywood glamour.