Versace

On June 20, 2007, LEE NOLA (nee Austin); beloved wife of the late Armand Z. Versace; devoted mother of Vincent O. Versace and his wife Margene; loving grandmother of Gerald and James Versace. Also survived by numerous nieces and nephews. Relatives and friends are invited to call at the SCHIMUNEK FUNERAL HOME OF BEL AIR, 610 W. MacPhail Road (at Rt. 24) on Friday, 3 to 5 and 7 to 9 PM where Funeral services will be held on Friday, at 10 AM. Interment Parkwood Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to: The Disabled American Veterans

On June 20, 2007, LEE NOLA (nee Austin); beloved wife of the late Armand Z. Versace; devoted mother of Vincent O. Versace and his wife Margene; loving grandmother of Gerald and James Versace. Also survived by numerous nieces and nephews. Relatives and friends are invited to call at the SCHIMUNEK FUNERAL HOME OF BEL AIR, 610 W. MacPhail Road (at Rt. 24) on Friday, 3 to 5 and 7 to 9 PM where Funeral services will be held on Saturday, at 10 AM. Interment Parkwood Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to: The Disabled American Veterans

SAN FRANCISCO -- His murder didn't have the immediate impact that John Lennon's had on the baby boomers in 1980. But as word spread that Gianni Versace had been gunned down, 20-somethings and Generation Xers knew an icon of their world had been shattered.Even now, youthful fans adorn the sidewalks outside shuttered Versace stores with candles, flowers, notes of grief. Last weekend, MTV drove the point home with an hour-long retrospective on Versace's life -- treatment reserved for major pop culture figures, not heads of couture houses.

DUBLIN, Ireland -- Henry VIII is coming back to the throne. And this time, he's bloody gorgeous. Showtime's epic 10-part miniseries The Tudors holds court beginning tonight at 10 with Jonathan Rhys Meyers cast as the unlikely lead. And much like Henry VIII, the show's producers can't disguise their ambitions - to produce a show that finally gets Showtime an HBO-style hit, popular both with the Emmy nobility and peasants alike. They've invested an unprecedented $38 million and have spent millions more promoting it. "We are hoping to be back here filming for another two, three, maybe four years, because the material we have to work with is so rich and there's so much story to tell.

MIAMI BEACH, Fla. -- Ending the most extensive criminal investigation in the city's history, Police Chief Richard Barreto said yesterday that spree killer Andrew Cunanan acted alone when he murdered fashion designer Gianni Versace.But Barreto said at a news conference that the motive for the July 15 killing may never be known."We can speculate about the motive being robbery, or Andrew Cunanan going out in a big way or revenge for some perceived act by Versace, but the real motive went down with the ship, so to speak, when Andrew Cunanan committed suicide" a week after the Versace killing, he said.

MIAMI -- Gianni Versace, a king of the fashion world whose flamboyant designs helped build a global empire, was killed yesterday on the steps of his palatial villa in chic South Beach.Police said they have a prime suspect in the case, Andrew Phillip Cunanan, one of the country's most wanted fugitives, who is already a suspect in four other slayings.Versace was shot twice in the head as he returned from an early morning walk to buy magazines.More than 12 hours later, Miami Beach police Chief Richard Barreto identified the suspect as Cunanan, 27, who was being sought in the slayings of four men from Minneapolis to New Jersey.

MIAMI BEACH, Fla. -- Ballistics tests show that Italian designer Gianni Versace and two other alleged victims of Andrew Phillip Cunanan were killed by the same .40-caliber handgun, the FBI announced yesterday.Meanwhile, the FBI said there is no evidence Cunanan ever visited Versace's South Beach mansion, debunking a report from a Brazilian woman claiming to have film of Cunanan from a party there July 13 -- the Sunday before the July 15 murder.The FBI also said it believes that Cunanan, 27, spent time in New York City between May 5 and May 8, in the midst of his alleged four-state, five-victim killing spree.

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.

On February 23, 2007, MARGARET F. (nee Penman) beloved wife of the late Gerald W. Lowry, devoted mother of Margene E. Versace, loving grandmother of Gerald and James Versace, dear sister of the late Jean Finney, Mary Ritzman, Ruth, Charles, Richard and Grace Penman. Also survived by numerous nieces and nephews. Relatives and friends are invited to call at the SCHIMUNEK FUNERAL HOME OF BEL AIR, INC., 610 W. MacPhail Road (at Route 24) on Sunday 2 to 5 and 7 to 9 P.M., where funeral services will be held on Monday at 11 A.M. Interment Parkwood Cemetery.

European trendies adapting good old American stylesMILAN - Forget that nonsense you've maybe heard about how European women wouldn't be caught dead wearing jeans on the street. Blue jeans almost always faded, as opposed to acid-washed or straight-from-the-store indigo and a snazzy, blazer-style jacket is the uniform of choice among shoppers of all ages in the Milan Galleria.And virtually every woman who isn't wearing jeans is wearing a short skirt and fishnet stockings.(Incidentally, the Rizzoli bookstore in the Galleria devotes an entire window to "Rossella," by Alexandra Ripley.

On February 23, 2007, MARGARET F. (nee Penman) beloved wife of the late Gerald W. Lowry, devoted mother of Margene E. Versace, loving grandmother of Gerald and James Versace, dear sister of the late Jean Finney, Mary Ritzman, Ruth, Charles, Richard and Grace Penman. Also survived by numerous nieces and nephews. Relatives and friends are invited to call at the SCHIMUNEK FUNERAL HOME OF BEL AIR, INC., 610 W. MacPhail Road (at Route 24) on Sunday 2 to 5 and 7 to 9 P.M., where funeral services will be held on Monday at 11 A.M. Interment Parkwood Cemetery.

ACTRESSES GET ALL THE BREAKS. If they follow the winds of fashion when getting dressed in the morning, they're congratulated for being so on-trend. If they break away from the trendy and do something different, they're avant-garde. Nowhere was that more obvious than at last week's Academy Awards. Gown after gorgeous gown on the red carpet either exemplified a trend or went against the grain -- and, for the most part, it all looked fabulous. "I thought it was in very good taste, fashion-wise, this Oscar season," says Avril Graham, executive fashion and beauty editor for Harper's Bazaar.

Three cheers for old school glamour. The lush fabrics, the classic tailoring. The jewels, the makeup, the hair! When celebrities find a way to bring back old Hollywood, and make it their own, it reminds us why we love to star-gaze in the first place. On the red carpet of last week's Academy Awards, actors and actresses combined style and beauty and grace, each in his or her own way. Elegance and romance ruled the night, but there were other trends that emerged. "The mermaid hemline was very in," said celebrity stylist Phillip Bloch, "very fitted all the way down and then flared out."

The prescription: a healthy bout of retail therapy in Glasgow, Scotland, a city ranked as Britain's lustiest shopping mecca outside London. It would be a weekend rage of clothes, cocktails and caloric indulgence. And then the dollar tanked, committing hari-kari at the brink of 2 to the pound (up from its usual wildly expensive rate of $1.60). Shopping -- or buying, at least -- was out. What remained was four crisp days to discover the where and why of the once-gritty city now dubbed City of Culture, City of Architecture and Design, Scotland's Capital of Cool.

In the worlds of fashion and entertainment, the name "Versace" has been front and center in recent years. We've seen the glorious gowns on stars from Britney Spears to Catherine Zeta-Jones. And who could forget the taped-down scarf dress at the 2000 Grammy Awards that some still think launched the superstardom of Jennifer Lopez? A&E Network attempts to demystify the Versaces this week on an installment of Famous Families in Biography. The episode, which airs tomorrow at 8 p.m., tells the story behind the label, from the birth of Gianni Versace in a poor Southern Italian city to his becoming an international household name.

In the annals of fashion, the hemline has been one of the surest indicators of social unrest. This much is true -- each time a hemline has risen drastically, the world has been filled with uncertainty, rebellion and the heady possibility of sweeping change. In the jazzy '20s, the newly empowered woman wore skirts at a shocking knee-length. And in the politically charged 1960s, hemlines dramatically raced up the leg and miniskirts became must-haves for any self-respecting, liberated woman.

The restructuring of two giant American companies will cost the Maryland economy 267 jobs over the next several months.Integrated Systems Solutions Corp., a unit of the International Business Machine Corp., will transfer its "Solution Center" in Bethesda to offices in Southbury, Conn., and Sterling Forest, N.Y. -- a move that will affect 190 workers, according to spokesman J.P. Versace.Separately, Sears, Roebuck & Co. plans to terminate 77 employees at its Hunt Valley home improvement installation operation by the beginning of next month as part of its plan to reduce its corporate-wide work force by 50,000.

Actor Johnny Alonso has thick skin. Again and again in the past five years, Alonso hopped into his SUV, put a classic Eartha Kitt album in his CD player and made the lonesome haul down Interstate 95 to Wilmington, N.C., to audition for producers of the WB teen drama Dawson's Creek. He was rejected 27 times. "It got to the point where I would just drive zombified. I had no idea where I was," Alonso said from John Steven, a favorite Fells Point tavern. "I've always wanted to entertain.