Saleswoman

The Prince George's school board launched a new probe of schools CEO Andre J. Hornsby last night after his girlfriend left an education software company she worked for after its inquiry into the handling of a $40,000 commission paid in a recent sale to the county. LeapFrog SchoolHouse announced yesterday that it is no longer employing Sienna Owens, who was living with Hornsby when he approved the $1 million purchase in June, and another saleswoman, Debora Adam, who was assigned to the sale.

M. Belle Holt has gone from riches to rags, and she couldn't be happier.After 30 years of selling Gucci and Armani at Miller Bros. in Baltimore, Ms. Holt is turning "trash into cash" at the Rescue Mission store in Westminster. These days, the only designer labels she sees are faded and dangling from a discarded dress.Ms. Holt, 71, once the sales leader at the expensive North Charles Street shop, is now the purveyor of donated castoffs at a store that draws the needy and the persnickety to Westminster.

Verna Catherine Miller, who spent 53 years at the old Hutzler's department store selling dresses, died of heart disease July 31 at Gilchrist Hospice Care. The former Patterson Park area resident was 91. Born in a Luzerne Avenue rowhouse, where she lived for more than 80 years, she attended St. Elizabeth of Hungary Parochial School and attended the old Seton High School on Charles Street. When her father died in 1934, she left school to help support her mother and four younger siblings.

MIAMI BEACH, Fla. - She's slouched way down like a kid bored in class, nearly sliding right onto the floor.This plopped-on-the-sofa posture is surprisingly bourgeois for Diane von Furstenberg - princess, world traveler, '70s wrap-dress creator and bearer of one of the most recognized names on the planet.This is her very last chat - done, kaput, finito - on a wearying two-week jaunt to promote her autobiography, "Diane: A Signature Life," released this month. And she's been back to her hotel just long enough to change into a white cotton Jil Sander shirt ("It's tailored like a man's, but it's cut for a woman")

In mid-January, my boyfriend, Rob, and I went to a jeweler in Towson to find a watch for him. Being a particular fellow, he spent over an hour trying on watches while I struggled to maintain interest. We then took a walk around the mall so he could mull over his choices, and by the time we returned I was ready for some Me time. I pointed to a canary-ish ring in the case and asked to try it on. Rob and I had discussed engagement rings before. I knew I wanted a solitaire, preferably canary, with a thin band.

KAREN C. ALBRIGHT looks like just another Saturday shopper at Owings Mills Town Center, dressed in sweater and jeans, her hair pulled back in a ponytail. In many stores, the salesclerks don't give her a second look. A familiar problem for Albright, and for many shoppers."People think customer service can be traded off because of the lack of time," says Albright, the president of K.C.A. Enterprise, a retail management service which employs secret shoppers to visit malls, evaluating store service at the request of management.

Cathy, the real Cathy, liked her unitard until she took her coat off.Then Cathy, the cartoon Cathy, said, "AACK!" and fainted in the dressing room."I'm sorry to say the unitard is the look for fall," says cartoonist Cathy Guisewite, who lives in Los Angeles, during a phone interview.Last week, Guisewite did a series of cartoons on fall fashions, which she ridicules as unsuited to the real woman, personified by her slightly chubby alter-ego cartoon Cathy. In one panel, Cathy is trying on a micro mini skirt.

I secretly dread trying on swimsuits because I have a flat chest and heavy thighs.When I went shopping recently, the saleswoman insisted I try on a padded top to "fill me out."I left the store empty-handed. Any ideas about enhancing my bust without padding. Any ideas?There are ways to use design to your advantage. Look for suits with draping or shirring across the chest. Both give a natural roundness. Bold patterns or prints are also effective. A brilliantly colored, eye-catching pattern on the bust will visually build it up and give the illusion of fullness.

Helen F. Lingelbach, a native of Baltimore and former shoe saleswoman, died Tuesday at the Greater Baltimore Medical Center of complications from a broken hip.She was 80 and lived on Birmingham Road in Parkville.A mass of Christian burial for Mrs. Lingelbach was being offered today at St. Mary of the Assumption Roman Catholic Church, 5500 York Road.A resident of Govans for many years, she retired in 1980 after working about 26 years at the G.H. Gorsuch and Sons store on 20th Street near Charles.

Ellinor D. Levering, a Ruxton resident for many years, died Saturday at the Greater Baltimore Medical Center of an ulcer.Miss Levering, who was 74 and lived on Locust Road, retired about 20 years ago after driving students to and from the Roland Park Country School in a station wagon for about 10 years.Earlier, she was a saleswoman for Bond Brothers Photographers and Lycett Inc., the Charles Street stationers.Born in Baltimore and reared in Baltimore and Easton, she was a graduate of the Greenwood School and made her debut at the Bachelors Cotillon.