White Shoes

THIS BEING Labor Day weekend, it will mark the last time my white bucks will appear in public this summer. By Tuesday they, and all white shoes, must go in the closet and remain there until Memorial Day. So goes the "no white shoes after Labor Day" rule, a dictum of fashion I have never fully understood but I nevertheless obey. Violating it would bring down the wrath of the forces of propriety, some living, and some still capable of controlling my behavior from the hereafter. Among the latter is Sally deButts Goodhue, the former society editor of The Sun, who died in June at the age of 83. In that role from 1967 to 1992, Sally decided whose wedding announcements made the pages of the Sunday paper and decreed which behavior was "proper" and which was not. I liked Sally and for a few years when I sat near her in the features department of the newspaper, I amused myself by eavesdropping as she grilled prospective brides and their mothers over the telephone on matters of lineage and etiquette.

A $5,300 reward is being offered for tips that lead to the homecoming of James White, an intellectually disabled 64-year-old man who left his Owings Mills assisted-living home a month ago. White, who is black, 5 feet 7 inches tall and 186 pounds, left his group home in the 9200 block of Leigh Choice Court on Feb. 26. White was last seen between 3:30 a.m. and 4 a.m., after which time staff found the front door open. White's sisters, Rosanna Miles of Rosedale and Addie Bagley of Baltimore, urged the public to provide police with any information.

I found her pacing on my front porch, distraught over yet another gaff that could endanger our community's social standards."What can we do? They're everywhere." Shoving a calendar in my face she sputtered, "White shoes! And it's not Memorial Day yet!"Yes, I had noticed more than a few pair of the pristine pumps in recent weeks. I had just assumed there was another sale at Pic-n-Pay."First there was that whole bell-bottom resurgence. Now this." She slumped into a chair. "Fashion anarchy in my lifetime."

The temperature was perfect -- a prize-winning 75 degrees most of the day. It was the ideal recipe for stylish springtime dressing, and the race-goers at yesterday's 132nd Preakness Stakes didn't miss the opportunity to let their inner fashion maven shine. l Strapless dresses were all the rage, particularly in this season's trendiest color combination: black and white. Hats were tamer this year than at previous races, but ladies more than made up for it with trendy wedge shoes, patent leather slides and fabulous handbags.

COLLEGE PARK -- You can know everything there is to know about leveraged buyouts and the bond market, but you won't get anywhere in the corporate world if you don't know the important stuff.Such as how to hold your wine glass. (By the stem, not the bowl: "You don't want wet, clammy hands, do you?")Or when it's appropriate to wear your college ring. (OK in a small town, but Never! in the city.)That is, at least, according to business etiquette consultant Peggy Newfield, who seems to know it all. Which fork to use, how to tie a tie, whom to introduce first, and how to make sure a check never arrives during a business lunch.

Q: Since you are so obviously opposed to white belts, what do you suggest that I wear with white pants or a light tan suit?A: While it is true that a white belt might seem the logical choice with white trousers and suits, this all-white image looks like a uniform and evokes memories of the Good Humor Man. Most white belts accompany leisure suits, bell-bottom trousers, or the plaid-shirt-over-plaid-pants horrors one sees from time to time.It is interesting which solid-color rules seem to disturb people.

Q Almost 20 years ago I threw away my iron, and all my husband's shirts when 65/35 came out. What a joy to just pull a shirt from the dryer and hang it up.Why am I now ironing shirts again? This new high-cotton blendoesn't cut it without ironing; 100 percent cotton is a disaster in wrinkles. Didn't I leave that era?Yet I have been unable to locate 65 percent poly shirts of thsame quality and details as the old blends or all cotton. Please help. There's no reason why we should pay to look wrinkled after 10 minutes, and certainly no reason why a working mother should iron.

A $5,300 reward is being offered for tips that lead to the homecoming of James White, an intellectually disabled 64-year-old man who left his Owings Mills assisted-living home a month ago. White, who is black, 5 feet 7 inches tall and 186 pounds, left his group home in the 9200 block of Leigh Choice Court on Feb. 26. White was last seen between 3:30 a.m. and 4 a.m., after which time staff found the front door open. White's sisters, Rosanna Miles of Rosedale and Addie Bagley of Baltimore, urged the public to provide police with any information.

A man who threatened to "blow the heads off" employees of a Brooklyn Park convenience store if they did not cooperate stole $62 from the High's in the 700 block of Church St. Wednesday morning, county police said yesterday.Employees told police that the man, who said he was armed, entered the store about 10:20 p.m., ordered them to open the cash register, then made them lie on the floor. He took the cash drawer and fled.Northern District police were searching for a white male, 5 feet 7 inches tall, about 140 pounds, wearing a black-and-blue flannel shirt, blue jeans, white shoes and a white ski mask.

Margaret Glover was driving home after dropping her son off for his night job at the Sinai Hospital incinerator when she saw a baby stroller on a street corner near the back of the medical complex."

Pastels were in and so were white shoes. T-shirts and skinny ties were all the rage. Socks, on the other hand, were out, out, out. The rule-busting costumes in the TV show Miami Vice set fashion trends for men like few other programs have and still affect fashion today. "It's hard to overestimate the impact of the TV show in terms of fashion, and not just because it introduced the world to pastels and wearing shoes with no socks," says Tyler Thoreson, executive editor of Men.Style.com.

1. There are two things designers and retailers will tell you about white this summer. It's the hottest (or coolest) trend of the season, and there are no rules about it anymore. That's almost true. You can certainly wear white before Memorial Day and after Labor Day. But a lot of us could still use a little guidance once we invest in more than a crisp white shirt or a pair of white shorts. With that in mind, we asked people in the fashion business for their rules, tips and suggestions for wearing white from head to toe this summer.

LOS ANGELES -- Daniel M. Petrocelli and his law firm probably won't get fully compensated for their work defending Jeffrey K. Skilling, as the former Enron Corp. chief executive appears to have exhausted his defense fund. But the payoff down the road could be well worth it, even if Skilling is convicted. The decision to defend Skilling is seen as a calculated business move by Petrocelli and his Los Angeles law firm, O'Melveny & Myers LLP, to burnish their reputation and expertise in white-collar criminal defense.

The holiday has come and gone. The beach season is now officially open. The slew of summer cookouts has begun. But for some, Memorial Day marked an even more crucial calendar event -- Fashion's Line of Demarcation. Finally! I can break out all the white clothes I'd stashed away over the winter. White pants, white shoes, white dresses! All the white that's fit to wear! Now it's all right for me to pull on some shorts and a tank top. And I can wear my open-toed shoes. For those folks, anyone seen in white before Memorial Day is as guilty of crimes against fashion as Michael Jackson was in his courtroom PJs. But today's style-setters say those who judge pre-Memorial Day white-wearers or toe-barers so harshly are stuck in O.F.F.

THIS BEING Labor Day weekend, it will mark the last time my white bucks will appear in public this summer. By Tuesday they, and all white shoes, must go in the closet and remain there until Memorial Day. So goes the "no white shoes after Labor Day" rule, a dictum of fashion I have never fully understood but I nevertheless obey. Violating it would bring down the wrath of the forces of propriety, some living, and some still capable of controlling my behavior from the hereafter. Among the latter is Sally deButts Goodhue, the former society editor of The Sun, who died in June at the age of 83. In that role from 1967 to 1992, Sally decided whose wedding announcements made the pages of the Sunday paper and decreed which behavior was "proper" and which was not. I liked Sally and for a few years when I sat near her in the features department of the newspaper, I amused myself by eavesdropping as she grilled prospective brides and their mothers over the telephone on matters of lineage and etiquette.

As entertainment, "The District," a new cop drama from CBS, would be an easy series to dismiss in a sentence or two. But, because of what it says about race and crime in cities like Washington and Baltimore, this series has dangerous sociological baggage. "The District" stars Craig T. Nelson ("Coach") as Jack Mannion, a New Jersey police chief who is brought to Washington, D.C., by the deputy mayor to tackle an out-of-control crime rate and a corrupt police department. Mannion, who favors black-and-white swing dancing shoes and will break into a show tune at the drop of a hat, is said to have a phenomenal record of cutting crime in every city he's worked.

The three questions Father Guido Sarducci is most frequently asked about the pope:3) Did he have the white socks before he had the white shoes?2) Did he wear white shoes before Pat Boone?1) Why did he do that milk ad, with the milk on his lip?Pope humor. With Pope John Paul II in New York today and Baltimore tomorrow, it's everywhere.Morning deejays are playing pope songs on the radio, offering pope merchandise for sale, even broadcasting ads for tomorrow's papal Mass at Oriole Park at Camden Yards that seem more geared to race car drivers than men and women raised on the Baltimore Catechism.

Pastels were in and so were white shoes. T-shirts and skinny ties were all the rage. Socks, on the other hand, were out, out, out. The rule-busting costumes in the TV show Miami Vice set fashion trends for men like few other programs have and still affect fashion today. "It's hard to overestimate the impact of the TV show in terms of fashion, and not just because it introduced the world to pastels and wearing shoes with no socks," says Tyler Thoreson, executive editor of Men.Style.com.

Margaret Glover was driving home after dropping her son off for his night job at the Sinai Hospital incinerator when she saw a baby stroller on a street corner near the back of the medical complex."

I GUESS YOU'RE excited about the big vacation," my friend said as she carried her suitcases into my bedroom. "A family reunion on the Gulf of Mexico. You're going to have a great time."