Hawaii
French fashion
can be a ballTHE highlight of this year's French Festival is, as always, the "Gala Fashion Ball." But this year you won't be reading about it in the Star-Bulletin since the ball is Oct. 30, the last day the paper goes to press. So we'd better tell you now that among the Hermes, Chanel and Christian Dior haute couture collections will be the spring 2000 pret-a-porter line of Sonya Rykiel and Jean-Paul Gaultier. One guest last year broke me up by suggesting the female models all looked like they were on Prozac and the males resembled serial killers. One garment on view will be the white pantsuit worn at the Oscars by Celine Dion ... Dog lovers are invited to toodle their poodle to the Royal Hawaiian Shopping Center's French Festival Poodle Contest and Parade on Oct. 23. There'll be prizes for best poodle costume, personality and owner-poodle look-alike. And those designers mentioned above also have created accessories for poodles which will be displayed ...
ONE thing about "Baywatch" exec producer Greg Bonann -- he's got a sense of humor. A letter writer wrote the Star-Bulletin saying he watched the first two episodes of the filmed-in-Hawaii show and called them "the most vacuous, inane programs ever filmed." He then suggested the governor might escort the filmmakers off the island at bayonet point. Bonann responded by thanking the writer for watching both episodes and added that the production company "always welcomes constructive criticism." ...
Upfront and personal
WHILE many showbiz figures shy away from any personal publicity, Al and April Masini have been open regarding their marital situation. They even issued a joint statement explaining that they intended to continue their working relationship, one that has been very beneficial to Hawaii from a business standpoint. That's the good news. The bad is that the romance appears to have gone out of their lives, and April has moved from their showcase estate on Hawaii Loa Ridge into a rented apartment. Whatever happens to them on a personal level, one hopes their professional teaming continues to help promote the islands ...LEAVE it to sometime isle resident Guido Salmaggi to celebrate Columbus Day in style -- he marched in the annual parade in New York City wearing a red, white and green carnation lei ... Teaming up to combine their musical magic on Thursdays and Fridays at the Kahala Mandarin Oriental are singer Loretta Ables and pianist Betty Loo Taylor. The latter performs solo on piano in the lobby bar on Tuesdays and Wednesdays ...
IF the hostess at L'Uraku Restaurant on Kapiolani looks like she ought to be a beauty queen, well, she is. Jennifer Hong does remove her Miss Chinatown 2000 crown, however, when greeting diners at the restaurant ... Johnnie Cochran was most forceful when he acted as lead attorney in getting a not-guilty verdict in the O.J. Simpson murder case, but to local attorneys who went sailing with him on the Vida Mia Sunday, he was one laid-back dude ...
Royal relative
IN town to celebrate the birthday of Princess Kaiulani is Melinda Cleghorn of Sugarland, Texas. She's the great-grandniece of the princess and on Saturday she'll attend the dedication of Princess Kaiulani Park in Waikiki and the unveiling of a statue of the princess. The statue was commissioned by Outrigger Hotels to preserve the memory of Hawaii's last heir to the throne ...
Dave Donnelly has been writing on happenings
in Hawaii for the Star-Bulletin since 1968.
His columns run Monday through Friday.Contact Dave by e-mail: ddonnelly@starbulletin.com