THE WORD ON WHAT’S HIP AND WHAT’S HYPE

All That Glitters

The ultimate in lingerie-inspired outerwear has to be Elsa Peretti’s made-to-order gold-mesh bra, $12,000 from (where else?) Tiffany & Co. (It also offers a sterling silver model for $2,200.) “Mesh feels very silky, very pliable, and it’s a hot fashion statement,” says Tiffany vice president Jo Ellen Qualls of the South Coast Plaza store. Peretti wears hers to yachting parties. But mum’s the word on who else has purchased the item. “We respect our clients’ privacy,” Qualls says. The glitter top was first shown under a sheer blouse, but, she says, “certainly an 18-karat bra should not be hidden.”

Patriotic Punk

Remember the Sex Pistol’s famed anthem “God Save the Queen”? It inspired a legendary T-shirt by Jamie Reid and Vivienne Westwood that’s still a punk classic. Now Old Ghosts Designs Inc. has silver-screened a Yankee version (“God Save America”) onto a tank Lycra dress ($40) and long-sleeved cotton Tee ($22). Designer John A. Grigley likes the dollar motif because George Washington “was almost named king.” Also because the economy’s killing the dollar. “But it’s definitely pro-American,” he adds.

Head Wrappers

Toss aside your baseball cap and grab a knit beanie. They come in basic black or colorful stripes and, like ball caps, emblazoned with sports or clothing logos. They’re a boon to newly shaved heads that are feeling, well, naked. “The baggy-pants set don’t want to go around all the time with a Bicked (shaved) head,” says Thom T. of Zac Attac in Huntington Beach.

Baby Cool

Hip babies don’t wear bears and bunnies. Parents in the know are going ga-ga over Swayambhu of Berkeley’s tie-dyed cotton rompers for infants 6 to 24 months. They’re purple, magenta and emerald with cookie-cutter lizard or fish prints up front ($22). Bulky cloth diapers? Snaps make that no problem. Janet Jackson, owner of Africarib Arts, says young, mall-hating parents love them “because they want something different.”

Hot Pants? Not!

Waitresses at the Ritz Restaurant in Newport Beach are wearing shorts that “cover everything, plus a couple of inches,” but they are not, repeat not, hot pants, says manager Becky Rogers. “They’re tailored, tuxedoed pants.” OK, OK, but party-lover Tina Schafnitz thought they were hot enough to wear with a T-shirt to a bash in Balboa. She got them from Lynn Buelow of Corona del Mar, who whips them up especially for the Ritz.