Liz’s Latest Passion?

Elizabeth Taylor went in front of the cameras last week to shoot the first television ads for her new White Diamonds perfume. The setting was Acapulco. The costumes included $6 million in real diamonds and a gown by the Emanuels (the British design team that did Princess Di’s wedding gown). Listen hears that Taylor is trim and looking great, to flog her new fragrance. Expect La Liz, in all her sparkling glory, to glut the airwaves when the perfume makes its debut in June.

AMAZING FACE: Does the semiliterate grunt “Un huh” mean anything to you? If Ray Charles and Diet Pepsi spring to mind then you’ve been watching a lot of television. JC Penney is capitalizing on the jazz man’s latest flicker of fame. Charles and his band will put on a 30-minute concert at JC Penney in the Glendale Galleria at 6 p.m. on April 26. And the store is selling $15 T’s silk-screened with a profile of Charles and the expression “Un huh” that they expect to be a boffo hit. Carol Edwards, a Penney’s spokeswoman, said the chain has ordered three times as many Ray shirts as it did “Batman” shirts.

EEEEEEEEK: Here’s a fashion trend for arachnophobes: insect-repellent panty hose. That’s right, panty hose permeated with bug killer. Kanebo, a Japanese textile and cosmetics firm, has sold more than 400,000 pair since the hosiery was introduced last year. “Considering this product’s extraordinary character, it’s been selling very well,” said a company spokesman. The chemical used in the hose is harmless to humans, he said, but lethal to the spiders and cockroaches that are a common pest in Japan’s carpeted and air-conditioned high-rise office buildings.