Donna Karan

NEW YORK -- Bras, which were erroneously reported burned during the women's liberation movement of the 1960s, are in the fashion news again. They are increasingly designed to serve more than a supporting role -- they are meant to be seen. Under suit jackets, for example, they are taking the place of blouses or sweaters.Donna Karan is one designer who is keenly aware of the development. At 44, she is old enough to have participated in the imaginary bra burnings, but actually she was never tempted.

Randy Fenoli at Betsy Robinson For years, he's helped brides pick the perfect dress for the big day. Now, television personality Randy Fenoli will be at Betsy Robinson's Bridal Collection helping women pick out the proper head-turning gown on their special day. The star of TLC's "Say Yes to the Dress," "Say Yes to the Dress: Big Bliss" and "Randy Knows Best" will also star in the upcoming "Randy to the Rescue. " Fenoli has tons of experience from his "day job" as Fashion Director at the famed Kleinfeld bridal salon.

Nicole Arrington moved from New York City to Baltimore three years ago, but still pines for her hometown's profusion of discount boutiques and storefronts where you can snatch up a DKNY sweater or top for a fraction of its original cost.Needless to say, Arrington, who works at the Swatch Store in the Gallery at Harborplace, has illuminated Charm City with unique, urban flair, nurtured in the city that never sleeps.For its part, the Baltimore Swatch Store celebrates seasonal spirit on Dec. 20 by inviting the public to bring in a new or nearly new toy for charity in exchange for a free gift from Swatch.

It was no doubt your first haircut -- that face-framing set of bangs. Probably trimmed by Mom using her sewing scissors; probably accompanied by pigtails or a pony. Well, it's time to go back to the future, girls. Break out the scissors (but hold the pigtails) because bangs are back. That sweet, innocent, girlish hair "do" is all the rage with some of Hollywood's hottest stars. Yes, that includes Catherine Zeta-Jones at the premiere of Intolerable Cruelty with new, totally tolerable bangs.

New York -- It's fall fashion week here. You can tell by the falling hemlines -- and the hype. Thousands of buyers, press, video crews and groupies have blown into town to see American designers showing their winter wear. Some of them are wearing the new knee-length, for now.That could change by the end of the week after they've seen everything from hot pants to father-of-the-bride morning coats masquerading as ballgowns.Fashion emperatrix Donna Karan cut the cutaway into everything from hip men's jackets to sweeping evening gowns for her DKNY show, which opened the week of fashion frenzy.

NEW YORK -- Could it be that the spirit of global harmony left over from the United Nations anniversary celebration here has touched the fashion industry?If American designers were miffed about foreign designers kicking off the American spring collections for 1996, they were too polite to grouse about it.Donna Karan, who traditionally opens Fashion Week with her pumped up DKNY extravaganza, showed a day behind Gianni Versace's debut of his Versus line. How do you say chutzpah in Italian?The Versace shindig was everything a fashion event should be. There were stars -- tousled Timothy Hutton and Patti Labelle.

The closest I ever came to perfection was the fit of a misses' size 8. I used to be able to pull a garment off the rack and walk out of the store. But nowadays, perfection has slipped away. Frequently, I'm flattered to get into a 6, occasionally even a 4; sometimes I still need an 8 in the shoulders, though the rest hangs like a garment bag. According to the fit of my time-tattered jeans, I haven't changed. But sizes have gone totally haywire.This fact was confirmed for me by fit model Debbie Sands, who comes close to being, literally, the perfect size 8. Ten top New York designers fit their clothes on her, and nine of them call her measurements the standard for their size 8. Her bust is 35 3/4 inches; waist, 27; and hips, 37 3/4 . Her measurements have not changed a fraction in 18 years.

NEW YORK -- With its shares expected to go on the market today, Donna Karan International Inc. has boosted the price range on its initial public offering by 8.7 percent because of investor demand.Buyers aren't fazed by recent weakness in the IPO market or the company's failed stock offer in 1993, analysts said.Karan raised its price to $25 a share from $23, in line with competitors Nautica Enterprises Inc. and Tommy Hilfiger Corp., based on 1996 earnings estimates."It's a very attractive offering and they will get it done," said Susan Hager, a retail analyst at Pioneering Management Corp.

bTCBaxter barred by governmentBaxter International, the world's largest hospital supply corporation, was barred yesterday from doing business with the federal government for up to one year.The suspension, which could cost the company more than $125 million, was imposed by the Veterans Affairs Department. The agency said the company in Deerfield, Ill., misled VA purchasing agents to fatten its government contracts.Car sales edge upwardSales of domestically built cars and light trucks rose just 3.6 percent in early August, compared with a weak year-earlier period, as dwindling dealer inventories caused some shoppers to postpone their purchases.

Names like Ralph Lauren and Donna Karan are just some of the many glamorous labels that turn up among the barely used evening gowns, accessories and wardrobe basics at the annual Best Dressed Sale at the Evergreen Carriage House.The event, sponsored by the Women's Board of Johns Hopkins Hospital, takes place Oct. 3-5 at 4545 N. Charles St. The sale is open today and tomorrow from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. On Oct. 5, hours are 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. with all remaining stock, except furs, at half price. For more information, call 955-9341.

NEW YORK - The Fashion Week tent has been taken down, the MAC makeup has all been washed off, and the models probably have gone back to eating again. OK, who are we kidding? Models? Food? But the rest of that is true - Fashion Week, where more than 100 designers showed their collections, ended on a high note Friday with power-players Donna Karan and Calvin Klein revealing their chic and sexy visions for spring. For much of the preceding week, the runways had been dominated by collections borne of a mish-mash of decades - the '50s recast in the '80s with a touch of flapper '20s influence.

When Kathy Keen, a library clerk at the Westminster branch of the Carroll County public library, searches for a historical era in her mind's eye, she sees it in costume. "That's the way I always remember periods of history, when people did certain things," she says. "I think what people were wearing and place it with the period."Keen, model-tall and in her late 40s, will herself be remembered for an extravagant flair for clothing. She "dresses unlike any librarian in the world," one friend says.

Perfectly suitedWomen lament that designer clothes are restricted to idealized body types, but men have their problems, too. What about the man who's 7-foot-plus, broad of shoulder and narrow of hip? He may be blessed with stature, but he's doomed at the suit racks. If his tastes run to impeccable style and he's NBA superstar Patrick Ewing, things are easier -- he's one of Donna Karan's long-time private clients.Now Ewing has been chosen as the image model for the new Donna Karan Made-to-Order Collection, a custom service being introduced in select stores like Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus this month.

NEW YORK -- When Ralph Lauren announced plans for an initial public offering on the morning he showed his fall collection here, the news highlighted the conflict between creativity and commerce that bedevils every artist. Now, the three best-known American designers -- Lauren, Donna Karan and Calvin Klein -- will be represented on the New York Stock Exchange.Even though Klein has yet to go public under his own name, with his logo on everything from underwear to pillowcases he's big business as well.

Nicole Arrington moved from New York City to Baltimore three years ago, but still pines for her hometown's profusion of discount boutiques and storefronts where you can snatch up a DKNY sweater or top for a fraction of its original cost.Needless to say, Arrington, who works at the Swatch Store in the Gallery at Harborplace, has illuminated Charm City with unique, urban flair, nurtured in the city that never sleeps.For its part, the Baltimore Swatch Store celebrates seasonal spirit on Dec. 20 by inviting the public to bring in a new or nearly new toy for charity in exchange for a free gift from Swatch.

Names like Ralph Lauren and Donna Karan are just some of the many glamorous labels that turn up among the barely used evening gowns, accessories and wardrobe basics at the annual Best Dressed Sale at the Evergreen Carriage House.The event, sponsored by the Women's Board of Johns Hopkins Hospital, takes place Oct. 3-5 at 4545 N. Charles St. The sale is open today and tomorrow from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. On Oct. 5, hours are 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. with all remaining stock, except furs, at half price. For more information, call 955-9341.

THE New York Times reports that hip-hop culture, the colorful amalgam of rap music, fashion and life style originally created by inner-city youngsters, is going mainstream.Last week saw the appearance on newsstands of Vibe magazine, a slick publication bankrolled by Time Inc. deftly aimed at the crossover market.The same week, the Times reported, Donna Karan and Calvin Klein "dressed models at the New York shows in Timberland boots and baggy, drop-crotched jeans; some models at Klein even wore their Calvins backward, a direct swipe of the style popularized less than a year ago by the junior high school rappers Kris Kross.

If you're bent on slipping into something comfortable for the holidays, consider a bodysuit with a long wrap skirt or evening pants."A bodysuit stays down, and it doesn't ride up, gap or wrinkle," says Patti Cohen, a vice president at Donna Karan. "That's the main reason for it. You put it on along with your stockings, and you're almost dressed.""It's the modern blouse of the '90s," designer Josie Natori says.Panne or smooth velvet, sheers, glittery knits and embroidered lace are the top holiday looks, according to Karen Bromley, speaking for the Intimate Apparel Council.

Names like Ralph Lauren and Donna Karan are just some of the many glamorous labels that turn up among the barely used evening gowns, accessories and wardrobe basics at the annual Best Dressed Sale at the Evergreen Carriage House.The event, sponsored by the Women's Board of Johns Hopkins Hospital, takes place Oct. 3-5 at 4545 N. Charles St. The sale is open Oct. 3 and Oct. 4 from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. On Oct. 5, hours are 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. with all remaining stock, except furs, at half price. For more information, call 955-9341.

Just a touch of starchThose hot Hollywood spouses, Bruce Willis and Demi Moore, are the new spokescouple for quintessential coolness. They'll be seen in September's glossiest magazines wearing Donna Karan clothes and attitude.We've seen her in clothes and out of them, but he's the real surprise in these advertorials. The die-hard bad boy of wrinkled T-shirts and scruffy jeans cleans up very well. A perfect white shirt is apparently what a guy needs to make the transition from macho hunk to matinee idol.